PEI print bed surface experiments

[artexmg]

I was talking about pei delamination.

But i got the finger printed. Pei held untill the end.

PEI delamination ... I am scared now! ... did not know that was possible!

[teoman]

Pei is fine. It just seems as if the tape is giving away.

[artexmg]

Pei is fine. It just seems as if the tape is giving away.

Oh, I understand now.

[Generic Default]

I did this upgrade about a week ago too. I used .75 inch strips, which was kind of a pain. Bigger strips would probably be better.

I had a few tiny bubbles in mine, but by stretching the tape when putting it on, most of the bubbles don't show up. There were some blobs of adhesive before I started stretching it and I hope they don't show up in the prints. Luckily the PEI is stiff over small area and it flattens itself nicely. I have to get my bed up to at least 75C or ABS doesn't stick to it well enough.

I need a heated chamber and 24v PSU.

[Nylocke]

I noticed Amazon is out of stock for the .030" size in 12x12. McMaster has .040" in 12x12 sheets for a tad under $20. I just ordered a sheet of that tonight, I'll get it Tuesday. Ill share how it goes.

[teoman]

How much weight can the rostock build plate take?

I am planning on heating the bed with my spare glass on the pei with some lead weights on it. So ir is:

Lead
Glass
Pei
Tape
Glass
Rostock

[mhackney]

Nylock, the .04 from McMasters will work fine. I have that on my Kossel. I can't really tell the difference.

teoman, without the glass, with the weight spread over the entire surface, I don't think you'd have any trouble with 30 pounds. The snowflake plate is pretty stiff, just don't concentrate all of the weight in the center where it might bow.

Whatever are you trying to do!?

cheers,
Michael

[teoman]

I had very tiny bubbles under the bed.

But now i noticed that they have grown and merged covering several cm^2. So what i had in mind was to heat the bed to soften the tape and its adhesive and use weight to get it to stick. I did pile all of the weight in the center hoping to get a very very minor bow that would start pushing the bubbles out from the center towards the perimeters.

[teoman]

Here you can see it
all the lead piled up in the centre. I had it at 100 deg for several hours and the at 60 overnight.

I am now letting it cool down.

[Nylocke]

Pretty motivated to get them air bubbles out, eh?

I got my PEI yesterday from McMaster, pretty cool I gotta say. Mine is a bit under 12x12 (stupid tolerances..) and its also got the funny edge from being on the edge of the sheet they cut it from, but it should be okay, if not then its only $20 at least. Got some of that tape from amazon and its coming tomorrow. Gonna get going with it tomorrow, get some nice prints off.

So I'm correct in assuming that I can apply the tape, stick the PEI to the glass, trim the corners, sand them down to flush with the glass, and be good to go? Or should I let it sit overnight with weight on it like the silicone? Memory is a bit fuzzy in that area, reading the 40+ pages of this thread..

[teoman]

Wash or wipe pei before tape

I obviously do not consider my install a success

[artexmg]

Just using my new setup, adding the last missing element in the "sandwich", a copper plate.

Thanks Gary for cutting the piece for me!

[artexmg]

I had very tiny bubbles under the bed.

But now i noticed that they have grown and merged covering several cm^2. So what i had in mind was to heat the bed to soften the tape and its adhesive and use weight to get it to stick. I did pile all of the weight in the center hoping to get a very very minor bow that would start pushing the bubbles out from the center towards the perimeters.

Teoman, would this bubble thing be due to the use of a big surface tape? I have no idea, just speculating. I used the thin tape and it worked fine. Though, the stripes along the glass are not sexy

[teoman]

I do not think so.

[nitewatchman]

Just using my new setup, adding the last missing element in the "sandwich", a copper plate.

Thanks Gary for cutting the piece for me!

Most welcome, looks like it works!

[teoman]

A thanks from me too. Not for the PEI but just providing very usefull information such as piggybacking connectors (my connector consumption has doubled but i am happy)

[Nylocke]

I know its kinda hard to see (reflections off the glass) but does my application of the PEI to the tape seem okay? I'm not the greatest with adhesives, always seem to get them stuck to my hands...

no large bubbles, but some areas where it isn't completely "stuck" it looks like?

[teoman]

Can you apply pressure and make those areas go away? (Only to reappear a wee bit later)

[Nylocke]

I've tried real hard to no avail. I don't have any squeegees or rollers or anything, but I have a plastic protractor that I was trying to use. I got it up to 95C and it was still stuck pretty well, so I think its fine?

[teoman]

Give it a go then.

After the prirnt, have something ready so that you can put pressure on the build plate to really stick it in place (dunno if it will actually do anything but it cannot hurt).

[Nylocke]

It completed last night while I was asleep, so I wasn't able to do that. It's still on the glass after prying off the part, it wasn't exactly a small or flexible part either. It may just be fine, I dunno. Maybe sometime I'll try putting 100+ pounds on the top and I'll see what happens.

[teoman]

If it works now, dont fiddle with it

[artexmg]

Just using my new setup, adding the last missing element in the "sandwich", a copper plate.

Thanks Gary for cutting the piece for me!

Most welcome, looks like it works!

Yes, it works very well indeed!

[teoman]

My isopropyl alcohol wipes arrived.

[teoman]

Still no joy.

I have recalibrated the printer. Have lightly sanded the pei. I wipe the bed with isopropyl alcohol before a print. Initially it seems to put on a nice thick bead but towards the end of the print or for sections with a 4 -5 mm^2 footprint it just lets go.

Printing with ABS. Abs temps 217, 225, 232. Bed temps 90 and 100.

Any other ideas?