Powder coated steel sheet adhesion and warping
Hi all,
I ordered and received the powder coated (PC) steel sheet a few months ago. I have been off and on trying to get it to adhere but I cannot see why the adhesion is not there. I only ever print PETG on it just to keep the PETG away from my smooth sheet and keep it lasting longer for my PLA prints. At this point, the PC sheet does have some adhesion. It's not bad, but it is really not good. Its nothing in comparison to PLA on my steel sheet which to my understanding of PETG is strange. I have printed some small items on my smooth sheet by mistake and even those were difficult to remove so why doesnt the PC sheet act the same way? The prints hold to the bed but any part with some size inevdibly ends up warping at the corners and I would never ever start a print on the PC if I was not going to be around for fear it might remove from the bed. I noticed the user @Bobstro had last updated his notes on this topic last February so if anyone has some more recent updates, please let me know.
Anyway. Any one have similar issues and have some resolutions?
Thanks,
Canaan
RE: Powder coated steel sheet adhesion and warping
I've had nothing but bad luck with my Prusa coated sheets. I ended up switching to the BCZAMD textured steel sheet, which works great in my hands, for PLA, PETG, ABS. Tomorrow will be my first time trying to print carbon blend on it.
Visually, it's a bit coarser than the Prusa sheet. It has held up very well for me. I've been printing on it for two months almost nonstop and it looks like new.
RE: Powder coated steel sheet adhesion and warping
I like, very much, the textured pattern that the sheet gives to the bottom surfaces of the prints.
I know that some here poo-poo me for suggesting this product, but for large flat items on the textured sheet I'll dab some Layerneer where the sides and/or corners of the print will be. It's good as both an adhesion enhancer and as a release agent, and it goes on much thinner than glue stick.
RE: Powder coated steel sheet adhesion and warping
I print mostly PETG and occasionally ABS. I recently switch from the smooth plate to the PRUSA powder coated plate. The adhesion on the smooth plate was too high even on small prints. I found the same issue of poor adhesion and warping on the powder coated plate. I solved the problem using the glue stick that came with my PK3S. I coated the plate once while the plate was cool and I haven't had any problems since doing this.
RE: Powder coated steel sheet adhesion and warping
For warping look on youtube for info about this, the main problem is the difference in cooling from first layer to the layer above the first layer.
What could help,
bed temperature lower,(to get less temperature difference lower and higher layers).
Slow first layer to let it cool down, before the next layer comes.
No cold air over the printer, try a paper box around the printer, to hold wind away.
Pre heat printer a little longer.
And of course:
1. clean bed, wash with dish soap(hot water and a few washes), and dry bed so it does not rust.(or use it for printing). This is for sticking to the bed.
2. First layer needs to be 100%, so sticking to bed is the best.
Extra could be: bed hotter for whole print(yes for warping it needs to be cooler), first layer slower and print hotter first layer, glue stick if needed for some models, a big brim attach to model(and disable elephant foot).
I am using the powder coated bed with petg without problems.
Pei sheet and petg works of course, but you need to use glass cleaner on bed or glue stick on bed, so you get no damage to bed.
In general, small print I do with a big brim if possible , otherwise I print only at back of bed, not at the edges of bed, not a full bed, because at the edges it can come loose.
In general, big flat parts, use a big brim attach to model, and if needed use glue stick(and not all glue sticks are the same).
And every roll filament is different, and temperature(room, outside) can be a problem, and 3d print will never be easy.
RE: Powder coated steel sheet adhesion and warping
For warping a draft shield is possible.
RE: Powder coated steel sheet adhesion and warping
The warping problem I had was directly related to the adhesion to the plate because the first layer did not adhere properly on my MK3S at home with a new powder coated plate.
I prepped the powder coated plate once with the glue stick and so far have done about >15 PETG print jobs which were 4-8 hours each without adhesion or warping issues. I only coated one side of the powder coated plate so that I have a clean side for plastics that do not need the extra adhesion. An interesting note: The MK3s at my work with the powder coated plate seems to be fine without the application of the glue stick. It is also NOT in an enclosure. It is only used to only print PETG.
The Prusaslicer settings had the recommended fan settings and 1st layer temperature differences already. I do adjust the temperature based on manufacturer differences for PETG. I have found that PETG from different manufacturers can vary by up to 10C.
My printer is in an enclosure because I also print higher temperature plastics than PETG. We started with a Makerbot when they first came out with a higher temperture printer which was enclosed. It has since been replaced with the the MK3S. I would not consider printing higher temperatures plastics like ABS, ASA, or PC without an enclosure.
I have separate calibrations saved for the smooth plate, powder coated plate side with glue and powder coated plate side without glue. The calibrations are saved separately when done under the Settings -> HW setup -> Steel sheets selections.
I clean the bottom of the hotend and outside of the nozzle with a brass wire brush before starting any print job. I do this with the nozzle preheated. This has been very effective at keeping small blobs off the 1st layers of the print job which can also cause failures.