Anyone have a good way to clean the heated bed after printing? Also what is the best source to find a replacement heated bed?
The print sheet?
You can buy them on the snapmaker web page
They should be cleaned with at most rubbing alcohol or water
they might discolor a bit but not necessarily have ill results.
they can also be flipped over
Please help, I have rubbed the print sheet with alcohol and the filament does not come off. I am afraid to scrap it. Thoughts?
It’s easier to get advice if you upload a photo.
I think the filament has stuck to the sheet.
First, I think the reason the filament is sticking to the sheet is that the level adjustment is not proper. I would not recommend using the plastic sheet that came with the printer to adjust the level. It will cause the filament to rub against the heat bed. A gap of about 0.2 mm between the heat bed and the nozzle is sufficient for good adhesion. I use a metal gap gauge to adjust the height. Adjust the height first.
If you touch the sheet without gloves when peeling off the print, the grease from your hand will adhere to the sheet and weaken the adhesion. If you adjust the gap between the sheet and nozzle narrower here, it is a vicious circle. If adhesion deteriorates, clean the sheet with alcohol first.
Below is how I have peeled off PLA filaments in the past.
Print a cube about 3-5 mm high to cover the sticking area. No raft. Heat bed temperature should be high (80-100°C). Soften the stuck-on material and bond it to the cube. When the printed material cools down to some extent, peel off the cube. Hopefully, the stuff stuck to the sheet will peel off. It is better to try with a small cube at first.
Thank you! I will try.
When I used the Snapmaker filament that was included with my Kickstarter version of SM2 for the first (and last!) time, it stuck to the print sheet so hard I destroyed the print when I tried to remove it. I could not get off all of it afterwards (man, was I angry!). So I heated the bed to 80°C, let it sit for 5 mins, and then it was easy to scrape off the remaining plastic with the spatula, as it had gone slightly soft.Print sheet was fully usable after that again.
Stuff stuck on after you’ve removed the bulk of the print: scrape cold, not hot (unless you want to go REALLY hot so it becomes almost totally softened again). It may be pretty baked on, you have to go slow and try to pry, not gouge. Maybe a razer blade scraper if its really stuck on (the putty knife isn’t quite thin enough).
Then I’ve found I get the best effect cleaning if I scrub pretty good with industrial paper towel and 70% or greater isopropyl, while the surface is hot. Just have to be a little careful about not inhaling too much evaporating alcohol (plus whatever I wiped up) while doing it.
I wouldn’t worry too much about scuffing the print surface, mine looks pretty abused at this point but still works fine, and it’s got another side if worst comes to worst. I bought a spare but have never used it, and mostly still using one side now … 2 years? more?
At least for PLA that’s all true. As it got a little more scuffed I was even able allow a little less squish of the first layer. (I do tend to run the first layer pretty tight, almost no visible ‘rope’ cross section to the layer at all, to assure adhesion. Rather have too much and difficulty releasing than too little and it warps and distorts during print.)