Cleaning bed tricks

Z offset was too low. Common first timers problem. They really should tell people to try first print with .1 offset and then move closer depending on results.
Did it leave an actual divot or impression, or are you just seeing an outline or silhouette of it?
My bed has lots of places where you can still see footprint of what was printed but doesn’t affect it.
Clean the bed with isopropyl/rubbing alcohol. 70% or better. (higher better). Don’t use any other solvents. Someone suggested using a mr. clean magic eraser. I’ve never tried that. I sometimes use a razor blade laid almost flat and very carefully as a scraper (use that method at your own risk).
-S

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I use a plastic razor blade. Skirt comes off instantly with very little pressure and it doesn’t scratch the bed, then clean it with 70% isopropanol. Takes 2 seconds and it’s super cheap. This method also works perfectly when the bed is cold.

Something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sticker-Remover-Plastic-Removing-Scratched/dp/B0722HJ5ZQ

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Hey Folks,

I warm the bed to about 60 degrees and then use the provided spatula to scrap off any residue. Seems to work for about 99% of the stuff that’s on there (PLA) but it still leaves a tiny trace on there that I might use some sort of solvent for if I can find it…

Mux

Read this entire post for your answer.
-S

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I essentially destroyed the first side of my print sticker from this same problem, scraping the remnants off.

I have adjusted my z offset which made a significant impact on this issue.

I will also say that while sometimes it causes more problems than it solves, magigoo seems to be a really great product for adhesion and part removal after the fact.

I occasionally lose my print part way through when using it, so it is what it is, but worrying about material sticking to my base is no longer a concern.

I actually removed all of it yesterday and am printing direct to the surface right now, the z offset is absolutely key to this problem. Properly calibrated with the shim (i actually got a set of feeler gauges and used the .1mm gauge instead) and then bumping it out .05 to .1 has been a mandatory step in my setup of the machine.

Since almost no one uses backlash compensation, I’m wondering if how you set the Z height makes a big difference for most people.

Without BL compensation I’ve found that ending the calibration wizard on a +0.05mm up move that still touches the card gives better results than ending on downward move - and I suspect it may be the head settling down into the backlash during a print later, causing the issues.

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Looking at Wikipedia’s PLA article, they identify solvents. The first mentioned is “Ethyl Acetate”, found in some non-acetone nail polish removers.

PLA is soluble in a range of organic solvents. Ethylacetate, due to its ease of access and low risk of use, is of most interest. PLA 3D printer filament dissolves when soaked in ethylacetate, making it a useful solvent for cleaning 3D printing extruder heads or removing PLA supports. The boiling point of ethylacetate is low enough to also smooth PLA in a vapor chamber, similar to using acetone vapor to smooth ABS. Other safe solvents to use include propylene carbonate, which is safer than ethylacetate but is difficult to purchase commercially. Pyridine can also be used however this is less safe than ethylacetate and propylene carbonate. It also has a distinct bad fish odor.

You have to be careful with using solvents on the print sticker though. I don’t know that it’s coating has been formally identified as of yet from Snapmaker to know whether or not they can be compatible.

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Good advice. It feels rubbery, but it’s of course hard to tell.

When I give it a try, I’ll start on a sticker that if it doesn’t work at all, will be going into the recycle bin. If it does work, I’ll have six clean sticker sides. And of course I’ll mention it here. Couldn’t find it locally, and found a place online selling kits and chemicals for at-home learning.

Good news, it does - mostly - dissolve a modest layer of embedded filament from the sticker.

Bad news, it does attack the bed and it’s not going to be useful for a layer that’s stuck which is built-up more than 4 or 5 layers.

Try it yourself, if you want, but do it outdoors.

No thanks :slight_smile:

Z-offset adjustment has made the need for me to worry about that pretty much gone, and using magigoo acts as both an adhesive and a release agent, although I don’t use it all the time.

It is nice we can flip our sticker over, although I wonder if the gouging and stuff on the reverse side affects the printing on the better side (i recon it must a bit).

You can buy spare stickers from snapmaker consumables page along with filaments (which appear to be total freaking garbage), sheets for the laser cutter/cnc, hot ends and so forth,

and also one of the brands of filament on amazon also gives you free print stickers very similar to the snapmaker sticker, although smaller and i don’t know that it is magnetic either. Trying to recall which brand that was, Overture i am pretty sure. Haven’t actually tried one but I thought it was a nice touch.

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I tried acetone, it melted the plastic covering. I peeled the covering off both sides and now use blue painters tape, it works good now.

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For people who have extremely gouged print surfaces that sounds like a great fix. Strip the plastic coating off that’s damaged and replace it with either a painter’s tape or a sheet of PEI sticker

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Ok. I had a print stick and had trouble cleaning it off. I put it back in the printer and heated the bed up and then scraped it off using the palette knife that came with the machine. That got 98% of it off. Then I used isopropyl alcohol to clean the bed and now none of my prints will stick. I recalibrated the machine and it just won’t stick. I have now ordered a new one from Snapmaker and I also ordered some from amazon that are 12 x 12 that are magnetic as well. I will see if they work because I got 4 of them for cheaper than 1 from Snapmaker. They are only 1 sided but still. That gives me 4 sides. I wish there was a way to test your adhesion without actually doing a print. I know wishful thinking. :slight_smile: I will keep you enformed.

I would like to say that all my prints up until now have been fantastic. I run it on High Quality mode and even though they were really sticking to the board a little too much. They looked fantastic.

I had the same problem as I was cleaning between prints with isoprop, finally bought a glue stick and used this to season the bed, fantastic, much better results and no problems getting the print to stick or to come off, I just use a Stanly knife blade to remove the prints as its easier to start than the spatula.

When wiping down the bed has anyone noticed the surface deforming? After removing prints I can feel the surface of the build sheet is raised where the print was. This paper suggests the smallest a person could feel is 13nm so perhaps this isn’t something to worry about. Doesn’t fill me with confidence that this sheet will last though, differences will just get bigger and first layers will get worse and worse.

I’m looking more closely at using a glass system like others in the forum are already doing.

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I received my A250 at the end of October.
I used the calibration card that came with it to adjust the clearances.
After printing a few times, the filament stuck to the sheet and I could not remove it.

My mistake at that time was that I held the printing sheet with my bare hands and curved it.
The filament is no longer fixed on the printing bed due to hand grease.
I was so confused that I made several clearance adjustments and shortened the distance even more.

Skirts and blimps cannot be used in this condition.
This led me to wonder if the adjustment using the calibration card was a mistake in the first place.

On my previous 3D printer (Raise3D), I used a 0.2mm metal clearance gauge.
I used this to adjust the clearance of the SM2.
I printed with a clearance of 0.2mm between the print nozzle and the bed, a stacking pitch of 0.2mm, and a print speed of 12mm/s for the initial layer with no problems at all.
The filaments are PLA and ABS.
ABS is more prone to warping than the previous (BuildTak), but with some care, it can be done.
Sometimes the filament cannot be fixed, but cleaning it with IPA will solve the problem.
The first thing to do if the filament does not settle is to clean it.

Also, I’m using 11x11 for auto calibration.
Thanks to brent113 for the tip.

I am printing almost every day.
The current state of the print bed.

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Be careful when scraping, these sheets (and most like it) have a surface coating that if you scrape too hard will come off. That layer also is dissolved by acetone, witch is why you never want to use acetone on these sheets as well. Once that layer is off it is just smooth plastic and loweres you adhesion substantially. If you have already scraped it off you can use a glustick or blue painters tape as a replacement coating.

Thanks for all the quick replies and help offered.

@Tigercjn: I found the glue stick thing AFTER I went and ordered a new sheet from snapmaker. I am going to try and cancel that order as I found some sheets from Amazon that were magnetic and much cheaper. I am going to get them just to try them out and put that info up here after trying.

@buzzplop: I didn’t notice any deformations at all. I just put some isopropyl on the bed and wiped with a paper towel. Nothing showed up warped or anything. It all looked as it did before I cleaned it.

@Viperz: I did the original 3 x 3 calibration and printed 6 cookie cutters for my wife, a very nice teardrop victorian era ornament, and a flexi print frog. All printed perfectly and looked fantastic. The biggest of these was the frog and it only took up about 4" diameter in the middle of the sheet. I tried moving my object to one of the corners that had never had a print done there before and got the same thing so I am thinking the alcohol is what took off the coating. I found out that there are 2 strengths of isopropyl (70% and 91%) and I was using the stronger of the 2. I will try the glue stick tonight after work. I did do the 5 x 5 calibration afterwards and no dice there either so it must be the coating. Thanks for the heads up about the 11 x 11 calibration as well. I might try that tonight too! :slight_smile:

@Atom: I know NOW that scraping is bad! :slight_smile: Live and learn. At least it wasn’t that expensive of a lesson if it can be fixed for the $30 in sheets I have ordered or a glue stick can fix it. I will reply to this thread afterwards and let you know if how it all goes.