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Hello!

I noticed that after quite some prints, the perboard I’m using is starting to not stick as well to the pieces. Is it possible this is caused by the residual plastic in the holes not being as “sticky” after so much heating and cooling? Could the solution be poking all the plastic out and letting it fill back with new plastic?

I usually just use the scraper to get the piece off and cut all the little pis off, so they stay in the perfboard.

What are your thoughts about this? What method do you use?

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Hello Patrick,

what kind of material you print with?

If I print with my Up! Plus 2 printer with ABS, then I have to clean my board also after a while, because of the ABS is getting in the gaps from the board. (I use an acetonbed for this).

If I use PLA, then I’ve to poke all the plastic out indeed.

On my other printbeds I use Buildtak, but I have to renew that also after a couple of weeks / months (depending on how many I print).

I hope you can do something with my answer. Please let me know if not.

Best regards,

René

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Personally I don’t use the perf board very often, you can try to use masking tape on the perf board and for abs coat the masking tape with glue stick, that works well for me, I then only use the perf board for nylon or wood filaments ( high shrink materials) you can also use buildtak as well it’s a bit more expensive but works great. Otherwise the bits of plastic should bond with the newly laid plastic, if you using a heated bed, this may not be the case if your last print was something like nylon.

To to be honest perf board is cheap so buy a clean new one, you may also find its less warped as well.

Regs

Dave

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I have a few perfboards here and I try to print ABS on ABS-filled perfboard, and PLA on PLA-filled ones. That way the residual plastic will help bonding with the same type together. Hope that helps.

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I’ve found that the boards get a bit better the messier they get. Large flat based parts cause problems and tend to peel away form the base no matter what you do.

I set the nozzle height myself as the auto function never gets it right. Auto tends to set the height too low and so parts don’t stick very well.

I would try poking the bits out and see what effect that has. Have you changed material supplier by nay chance? there is definitely variation in material qualities and that can be a factor.

Cheers

Paul

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I’ve done 2 years worth of printing on my perfboards. Most of the time fairly large prints. I’ve never cleaned my boards, the holes are pretty well filled. I’ve never had a problem with the raft peeling off. Sometimes I wipe the board with some acetone before starting the print which helps with adhesion, my other tip would be manually adjust the nozzle height instead of using the auto height built with the up plus 2. That was a tip I got from 3D printing Systems at the 3D print conference in Melbourne this year. you want it close enough to smoosh the plastic for good adhesion but not too close that it jams the extruder.

Thats what I do anyway and it seems to work.

Chris

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We find that you need to remove all residual plastic on the board to get a successful print. Can be a bit fiddly but is worth the time spent. :slight_smile: Jessica @ Studio Nova

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Hi, it should not be necessary to clean out the holes of the prefboard. Due to the heat of the nozzle and the print bed the plastic in the holes meld. I’m using the prefboard for over 2 years now and have not cleaned them since.

If you experiencing lift you could recheck your nozzle height and bed level. Otherwise changing to buildtak is also a good solution.

Best regards,

Xander

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Hi there,

I’ve actually never tried leaving plastic in those little holes. I actually poke them out with a t-pin after every build. I know it sounds like a lot of labor but I haven’t had a failed print in over a year. And I’ve never had to replace the perf boards so I think it’s worth it. My guess is if you poke out the holes you’ll get better adhesion.

I I hope this helps!

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Personally I only print with MadeSolid materials, and they all stick great to blue painters tape, so I’m generally always using that. The perfboard is kind of annoying to get the parts out of the holes in my experience.

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Wow, how long do you take? :open_mouth:

I started doing that at the begining, but then the people who sold me the printer said I was good just scraping it off…

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Hmm, acetone bed seems much faster that poking haha How long in the bath.

I’m guessing there is no damage to the board? If not, how many baths can they survive?

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It takes 5 - 10 minutes to poke them out. Or I’ve found if you let the plate cool fully before removing the raft most if the material while come out of the holes with the raft.

I may try a few builds without poking out all the holes though. It seems like you’re getting mixed answers on this thread :slight_smile:

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I’ve noticed that : when you let the piece printed to cool enough time the removing is easier, so that all the pin removed from the board. But personal, I get very good result putting Blue Tape adhesive on the board.

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What I have done also, more than 1 year I use the board, I have re - drilled the holes with a dremel equipped with a drill bit slightly larger than the original diameter so that the piece printed and cooled can be removed easily.

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You could use Emagine Kapton sheet to protect the Perfboard

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I experienced the same problem. My printer came with three perf boards. The first two are filled with plastic both ABS and PLA. I decided to keep the third one clean by poking out the plastic as I go. ABS sticks better with somewhere to go. I know that supposedly the new plastic should melt and bond to the old plastic, but over time this ability seems to degrade. At least that’s been my experience.