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I’ve heard a lot of good things about this material so thought I’d get a couple of reels. They arrived yesterday (white & clear) but I’m having real trouble getting them to stick properly to my PEI bed on the Prusa i3 Mk2. I can get bits of the first layer to stick OK, but corners and fine detail don’t lay down properly and some areas of solid infill lift and curl. I’ve tried a whole range of bed temps from 70C to 105C, nozzle temps from 240C to 260C, blue tape, Elmers glue, the lot. I’ve adjusted the Z height, bringing it way closer to the bed than I use for PLA or other materials. It’s not a new flaw in the printer 'cos I’m printing a part right now in PLA+ that’s working just lovely, as it always does.

The reels are brand new, only just removed from their vacuum pack so I doubt it’s moisture in the filament.

Anyone printing successfully with XT on the Prusa? Any tips?

(Out of interest, there doesn’t seem to be a problem with the second layer, only the first sticking to the bed).

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How have you been cleaning the print bed before printing _XT?

I printed quite a bit with my Prusa i3 MK2 and my experience is that it almost sticks too well.

My settings are 255C, 70C for the bed, 0.35 extrusion width(since XT is a bit more flowy, if you lower the extrusion width you will have better quality.

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(Moving comment)

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I have a few spools of XT that I have yet to try and I thought it was much like ABS? (I would have expected a hotter bed).

I’ve recently had issues getting ABS to stick to my PEI as well recently. I clean with an alcohol wipe. What are your suggestions for how to clean the bed before printing with XT (or ABS for that matter)? PLA sticks just fine. Using Hatchbox ABS.

-sorry! Not trying to hijack this thread!

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I use IPA for cleaning, which I believe is the recommended cleaner for PEI. I’ll try the 0.35 nozzle width.

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As do I, but I’ve been using these small, individually packaged wipes (easier). I just noticed that they’re only 65% IPA. Going to stop by Target and get a bottle of 91%+ IPA

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I use IPA too. One thing that helped me a lot on bed adhesion is to sand the PEI sheet using a 1000 grit sandpaper :slight_smile:

I know some people recommend using the green side of a sponge, but that didn’t work for me.

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IPA is always the recommended way I guess. Some people had success with Window Cleaner, but for me IPA worked great!

After a while using PEI Sheet, you might need to sand the PEI Sheet to print other materials. Use a 1000 grit sandpaper and sand it just a bit. Works great!

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Thanks for the replies folks, sorry for the delay responding, I’m moving house so it’s all a bit hectic! I’ll give the bed a light sand, I’ve got a bunch of fine papers (down to 4000).

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Hi there,

I have had the same issues with the Prusa i3 Mk2 PEI sheet… and even though I still have issues with different materials sticking to a various degree I have noticed two things that perhaps are not so evident: First: window cleaner aka windex. Well there are a LOT of different compositions of window cleaner around the globe and mine e.g. had some extra “anti condensation” added which created an invisible but very noticable “non stick” surface on my PEI. I finally washed it off with a lot of water. Then I had an application where I used gluestick. After that I cleaned with IPA and Acetone BUT had severe lack of first layer adhesion problems again. The IPA and the Acetone do not in every case remove the glue but smear it around and make an invisible slippery layer on the PEI. The only thing that worked was a lot of whiping with warm water and a rag, rinsing the rag a lot and repeating. That taught me a lesson or two about the properties of the PEI surface. Now I am much more aware about what I put on the PEI and what not and how I remove what I have put on in case I have had to put something on. If I don’t put anything on I use Acetone as a cleaner to remove possible grease stains.

Still different materials do stick on the PEI to a different degree and even the color pigments added to the filament have an effect on this so good luck. Please share your info if you have success…

BR,

Risto