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If the print isn't sticking to the build plate, does that mean I need new tape?

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by Stera8, Jun 8, 2017.

  1. Stera8

    Stera8 Member

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    I am trying to print something without a raft and it isn't sticking that great. Does that mean I need to replace the build tape on the C2?

    I printed something the other day with a raft and the one side of the raft lifted up.


    As a general rule of thumb...how often should I replace the build tape?

    Thanks for your help!
     
  2. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    When it looks like crap :) Or when things don't stick.
    It will show wear as you print on it and remove the prints

    Yes, I would suggest it is time to change it..
     
  3. Stera8

    Stera8 Member

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    Great lol

    Thanks
     
  4. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Hey, there is no hard and fast rule :)
    In general you will see it start to wear and lift from the plate and that is a good indication that you need to replace it.

    I went though my original ones already and am on the second set. Get more -- they are cheap
     
  5. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    @mark tomlinson can you repair those sheets like you do with buildtak?
     
  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    They are really paper so repairing them is ... not possible.
    I sometimes re-smooth them out and try to get the stuck to the bed again, it is like a paper decal.
    Peel-N-Stick
     
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  7. Stera8

    Stera8 Member

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    At my school (I'm a teacher), we have a replicator with the blue painters tape. Whenever I take prints off it usually rips. I love how this stuff does not have a tear at all, but I guess it is just losing its grip in the one area for larger objects.
     
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  8. Stera8

    Stera8 Member

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    well... I went to replace the "tape" this morning and found out I just never had it on lol. such a noob story.

    When I received the printer, I thought it was pre taped because their was that vinyl on it. I just went to remove it and I thought to myself "why is this so hard to remove...wait, why is plastic coming up" I then realized that this is part of the bed and that I never actually put tape on it!

    Just wanted to share that funny story ::facepalm::
     
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  9. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

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    Here, I would answer "that depends". If you've just consistently printed part after part (PLA with rafts) and they all did great and now the next in the series isn't sticking, then you could consider swapping the tape as an option. If you're relatively new to this and you haven't had a series of successes (PLA jobs with rafts, say, from the sample projects) then it would more likely be your z-adjust perhaps.

    In many of the sample projects (if not all of them), I see that the printer lays down a single line in the front of the bed from left-to-right. For want of a better name, I'm going to call this the a "tell" (a pun on "tail" and it's similar to the poker term). The right half of this line (if viewed from the side) should be flat rather than rounded on the top.

    Your work area—if it's anything like mine—will be littered with these tell's. Grab one up and look at it with a magnifying lens. The end near the vertical pull-off should be nice and flat across that face. The z-adjust shouldn't be so high that this line is rounded at the top and it shouldn't be so low that the plastic is now skirted (sticking up) on both sides of the extrusion nib. Just nice and flat across that cross-width.

    If you're using the OctoPrint interface like me then you can make z-adjustments while the job is printing that tell. It is extremely important to verify the z-increment (should be 0.1) BEFORE touching that UP arrow next to the z-adjustments! If the extruder is already close to the bed and the z-increment has been changed to 10 then a single click of that UP arrow will drill the extruder nib into your (plastic) bed and that's not good.

    So far, I've only replaced the tape square on my Robo C2 once (when I burned a hole in it as described above).
     
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  10. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Nozzle priming line/layer. Sort-of equivalent to the skirt. Difference here is that the priming line ignores all offsets because it is an explicitly called out height :)
     
  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    @OutsourcedGuru has some really good advice there, but bear in mind that more usage means more frequent changes.
     
  12. zemjw

    zemjw New Member

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    Total noob here, first post etc, and that's just answered one of the questions I was thinking about asking :confused:. Many thanks, however unintended :D
     
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  13. David Mortlock

    David Mortlock Active Member

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    Is there any alternative to the paper squares that Robo supply.

    Live in the UK and shipping is silly money. I would like to get something locally if possible.
     
  14. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Does your amazon have build tak or PEI available? Its pretty much a generic build tak surface.
     
  15. David Mortlock

    David Mortlock Active Member

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    I can certainly get those. I will put an order in

    Many thanks for your help
     
  16. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Your very welcome. I'm unsure why but I cant pull up the UK amazon right now or I'd get you a link. I'd start with buildtak as its cheap and easy to replace. PEI gets messey when replacing but needs it much less often :D.
     
  17. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Worst case you can try a wide roll of masking tape or blue painters tape. The material they use is not wildly unlike those.
     
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  18. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    painters tape? Is this 2013 again ;) in all seriousness some 3m tape with a slight rubbing of alcohol and holy cow that print will stick :D
     
  19. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    All I am saying is that what they are giving you is similar to painters tape. It isn't quite the same (not as thick for one thing) but it is similar.
     
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  20. Stera8

    Stera8 Member

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    I thought the sensor needed the black color of the tape to recognize? Does blue work?


    --If this is a stupid question... I'm asking for a friend of course.
     

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