Parts Sticking to Blue Tape on Only 1 of 2 Identical Printers!

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TechShopJim
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Parts Sticking to Blue Tape on Only 1 of 2 Identical Printers!

Post by TechShopJim »

Hi All!

I'm having a very strange issue with one of the printers in my small printer farm.

I run all Hictop Prusa i3 clones in my small farm (4 printers). They are all identical, have the same firmware, all have been upgraded with the aluminum carriage plates and better linear bearings. I have disabled the auto-leveling feature on all of the printers.

I'm running the eSun PLA+ black filament on all of them. I print on blue painter's tape with no other treatment and I run the beds all non-heated. I carefully adjust the gap to the same clearance on all the printers before printing.

The prints come out perfectly, and the parts pop right off the tape after the prints are done on all the printers except one. On that one printer, the prints stick tenaciously to the blue tape. I can't even peel the tape off the bottom of the prints. It is if the tape is fused to the plastic on the bottom of the part!

Here's a print off of one of the 3 good printers:
Image

Here's the print from the one bad printer with the tape fused to the parts:
Image

For the life of me, I cannot figure out what is happening on this one single printer. Does anyone have any idea of what might be happening here?

Thanks!

--
Jim
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GrueMaster
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Re: Parts Sticking to Blue Tape on Only 1 of 2 Identical Printers!

Post by GrueMaster »

How are you leveling? It could be simply that your print head is closer on this printer (by 0.015-0.1). It doesn't take much.

I have a bed leveling test, but it was designed for the CR10 300mmx300mm bed. It is very useful for the final tuning.
TechShopJim
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Re: Parts Sticking to Blue Tape on Only 1 of 2 Identical Printers!

Post by TechShopJim »

Hi GrueMaster...

That's what I thought, but I use the same feeler gauge for all my printers to set the gap (I use 0.018"). I'm certain that all 4 printers are set to the same gap, but just this particular printer fuses parts to the tape. Maybe I should just junk this printer or part it out and buy a replacement unit for $200 and not worry about it.

I'd like to try your bed leveling test. Do you have it posted somewhere?

Thanks!
Lez0
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Re: Parts Sticking to Blue Tape on Only 1 of 2 Identical Printers!

Post by Lez0 »

Another thought.
I was told that the hot end could vary by as much as 15°C from what is displayed, so you may have different temperatures across the range.
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Roberts_Clif
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Re: Parts Sticking to Blue Tape on Only 1 of 2 Identical Printers!

Post by Roberts_Clif »

This is a good example of why enabling baby steps comes in handy.

While you are starting the 1st layer you can see if the layer is too low/high and quickly adjust to a Z-Axis height that is except-able.
It is also a good example of enabling the skirt, during printing of the skirt will give you ample time to adjust the first layer adhesion.
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LePaul
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Re: Parts Sticking to Blue Tape on Only 1 of 2 Identical Printers!

Post by LePaul »

+1 for babystepping

I just modified my firmware on my FT-5, whose bed has a noticeable dip in the middle (some suspect the operator, too) :)

Using babystepping with 1.1.9, i can get that first layer perfect now. It might be worth a shot? It'll really test your vision! I know with my other printers, the large part cooling ducts can make it challenging to view those first layers...so use a skirt, offset it 10mm and do 4 lines. This will give you some time to dial it in and get that "smoosh" level your filament needs.

Also...I abandoned blue tape in 2014! Clean glass with hairspray is ideal on my Ultimaker 2+ The rest use a polypropelene bed surface from Tiny Machines.
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