Hey there, first post – hope it’s okay to put out a request for some advice. I just started 3D printing a few weeks ago (got an Ender 3 S1) and contrary to seemingly everyone else online, I’ve had no issues whatsoever with bed adhesion, rather the opposite.
Mostly to this point, I’ve been using ‘EconoFil’ PLA from filaments.ca (which was tricky to remove until I bought a better bed spatula-thing). Yesterday I got a roll of Overture ‘Eco-PLA’, which I’ve printed with a couple of times using organic supports, and both times has left a really stuck-on, almost chalky layer of filament on the bed. This isn’t so bad if I’m printing with the same filament afterward, but the Eco-PLA is ‘Midnight Black’ and I want to switch back to the Econofil for another model, which is ‘Bone White’ and I don’t want the bottom to get stained with the leftover Eco-PLA.
Has anyone had any similar issues? Any foolproof technique for removing stubborn, very thin layers?
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June 27 2023
As a bit of an update:
I realize my post was kind of unclear – the issue I was specifically trying to address was the stuck-on, ‘chalky’ layer of residue that was left by the Overture filament, not removing prints in general.
That said, it looks likely that my particular issue could be wet filament. I’d assumed that all brand-new filament (having arrived vacuum-sealed with desiccant) was going to be sufficiently dry. I tried using my bed as a DIY filament dryer and that yielded a bit of progress. My slightly-annoying workaround (until I have a better dryer) is to print a tiny 2-layer ‘sacrificial’ square to pick up any left-behind residue when switching to a lighter-coloured filament.
(Also, total fedi-sidenote: I was confused why multiple people were giving the exact same suggestion, but I think it’s a fediverse thing – not everyone is seeing all replies, I guess lol)
I have with a specific PLA I use at work which has a lovely texture but leaves a chalky residue on my build plate. I’ve got a magnetic black bendy plate, not a PEI covered flex metal plate. I end up having to bend the plate to peel off prints. I will agree that glue stick is a good way to remove too sticky prints. I will throw the whole thing into a sink and run water on the plate. This dissolves the glue and releases the print. Just for context, the last print that got stuck was a 22cm pizza slice shaped print. That was murder to remove.