Print Settings for PETG: eSUN Solid Black Filament

[Jules]

I have never been able to get anything to stick to glue stick....ever

Me either, although some of the guys have been successful with it. i think it has to do with applying it evenly and heavily enough.

[MGuser]

A helping note about alcohol wiping: The stuff (wax, oils) you are trying to remove is invisible, so you can't tell if it's clean. To deal with this, get 4 unused paper towels, and put alcohol on one and wipe the bed, then repeat with the remaining towels. They will all look "clean", but the last one will have the least amount of wax and oils taken from the bed.

I print petg on clean glass only, no coatings, and it sticks so well that the plate must completely cool down before the parts will pop off. If however I touch the top of the glass, parts won't stick there (oils) even though it looks clean. And if you have ever used silicon glass mounting pads and want to now print on those areas, you must clean with acetone several times with clean towels, and then a 4-step alcohol cleaning, before there is any chance of filament sticking there.

[quaver]

A helping note about alcohol wiping: The stuff (wax, oils) you are trying to remove is invisible, so you can't tell if it's clean. To deal with this, get 4 unused paper towels, and put alcohol on one and wipe the bed, then repeat with the remaining towels. They will all look "clean", but the last one will have the least amount of wax and oils taken from the bed.

Well, the hairspray did the trick (Garnier Fructis #5). Print just finished and no indications of lifting. It was a bit of a struggle to get it to separate. Thanks for the feedback all.

[quaver]

Printed a second part in an area of the bed that was not used in my first print without cleaning and recoating with hairspray. Poor adhesion in the second location. Is this to be expected? I would hoping I could coat the glass and the print multiple times until all "fresh" zones were used, then clean and recoat. I take it the coating loses its tack due to soaking for hours at elevated temperatures?

[Jules]

Printed a second part in an area of the bed that was not used in my first print without cleaning and recoating with hairspray. Poor adhesion in the second location. Is this to be expected? I would hoping I could coat the glass and the print multiple times until all "fresh" zones were used, then clean and recoat. I take it the coating loses its tack due to soaking for hours at elevated temperatures?

No, but you might not have gotten the spray evenly distributed all the way from edge to edge with the first spray.

I used to actually spray until it puddled in the center, then smear it evenly with a finger until it was distributed everywhere. Let that dry, and that is the base coat.

Leave that on, and give a light touch up spray between prints. Clean the whole thing off and start over once you start to get thin spots in it.

(Honestly though, sooner or later you get tired of hairspray. Try a PEI sheet adhered to the glass. It holds without hairspray, and saves a ton of time messing around. 17$ on Amazon for the PEI, probably another $16 or so for the tape used to apply it.)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013HKZTA/ref=biss_dp_t_asn

https://www.amazon.com/TapeCase-squares ... TSTJ7RGEPC

[jimc]

Yes you dont have to wash off the old hairspray between prints. Between prints just a real quick mist over the plate and thats it. After about 10 prints wash off with hot water and start again.

[quaver]

Thanks for the feedback Jules/jimc. PEI and adhesive ordered. Will touch up the plate with spray until it arrives.

[quaver]

Installed the PEI sheet on my boro glass bed; spectacular results! Printed the ubiquitous "tree frog" Colorfabb XT (PETG) without a brim and I could not remove from the print bed until it cooled to room temperature. I plan to print Taulman Alloy 910 (nylon derivative) in the next week or so and Colorfabb HT when it makes it to the shelves. I'll post results.

[insta]

Installed the PEI sheet on my boro glass bed; spectacular results! Printed the ubiquitous "tree frog" Colorfabb XT (PETG) without a brim and I could not remove from the print bed until it cooled to room temperature. I plan to print Taulman Alloy 910 (nylon derivative) in the next week or so and Colorfabb HT when it makes it to the shelves. I'll post results.

Skip the Nylon test -- it doesn't stick to PEI at all.

You want clean glass with a layer of 50/50 dilution of water & Elmer's "Glue All" painted on. It doesn't have to be thick, my layer was still mostly transparent. The water is just to thin the Elmer's out enough to get a thin layer.

[Dor1]

Thank you for writing such an detailed guide. It has upgraded my PETG print tremendously.
I just learned from you about the Zebra plate..
1. Will it work for all materials as PETG, PVA, HIPS and Flexible and other exotics ones?
2. What settings need be changed in the FFF file?
4. Do we still need to add glue stick or hair spray to make it stick ?