3D Printer Question.

Is your Filament not Sticking to Bed for Ender 3? (Solved) - 3D Printing & Laser Cutting - MakeMendel

@AlanRail

The problem has not yet been solved.

Now I remember why I stopped that hobby and got into trains.

First layer bed adhesion is a bunch of factors. The first thing is, the nozzle height in comparison to the bed for first layer. The hot plastic comes out as a round noodle. Then because ideally you are following good nozzle/layer height to nozzle diameter ratio (1/4-3/4, with 1/2 being dead in the middle) such that the noodle is squished for more surface area contact making it flatter. As part of that, ideally the nozzle moves in a straight plane, so the bed surface must be level to that logical plane- a concept often called bed leveling. Again, you need the nozzle to be an equal distance from the bed surface over the entire plane of motion- to achieve that uniform first layer "squish".

Also at play, bed temperature should be set for the specific material to maximize first layer adhesion.

Bed surface prep- depending on what your bed surface is, determines what you use to clean it. Example, I always printed on glass, and to prep that glass, we cleaned with alcohol while heated, let it dry, then shot it with hairspray that was specifically known to work well, and let that dry into a thin film.

Back to your problem, I highly suggest reveling and checking if not calibrating nozzle first layer height. That would be one mistake a user could get out of calibration from one session to the next. That by far is a very common root cause of first layer adhesion problems.

What kind of bed does he have? His print surface is probably wore out if it's that textured adhesive sheet stuff. My prints won't stick at all once my sheets wear.

Beyond that, his bed might need leveled. He should run the print head around the bed and observe if the gap between the bed and nozzle is changing. It should not change.

What filament is he using? PLA usually doesn't care much ambient temperature in my experience. I'm assuming the ambient temp is reasonable like 65F-75F. Is the room humid? That will ruin the PLA on the spool and give you headaches.

What temperature is he printing at?

@BillYo414

Thank you for your reply to my topic. My son's printer is only one month old. It is a Creality Ender 3 model. Very little has been printed on it as of yet. I do not have the rest of the details for which you asked. I have printed your reply and will give it to him when he comes in from work this evening.

Clean print bed with IPA. Keep it clean between prints.

Verify the bed is heating at the correct temp for the filament.

Level the bed using a sheet of copy paper, repeat the level several times.

Download a test print on thingverse for the Ender 3, usually a single line square. Use that to set z height so you get a nice squish.

Down the line, you can add a BL Touch, it will level the bed for you.

No problem. These printers aren't too complicated. Just gotta get your affairs in order. The Ender 3 in particular can be a real workhorse if you dial it in.

I'm betting his bed is out of level. It happens. Either way, report back and we'll get this figured out one way or another!

Late to the party... but, I have an Ender 3.  Most use a single thickness of copy paper to level... however, I use a piece of copy paper and fold in two (2 layers of thickness) and adjust (level) the bed in all directions.  You want to ever so slightly 'feel' the print head touching the paper but easily be able to slide the paper around without it tearing, denting or getting stuck under the print head.  I have leveled the bed twice... once, when I first set it up and again after I moved the printer to a different location.  The bed has not been leveled over the past 200 or so hours of printing.

I spray my bed with cheap hair spray between prints... because I have too much adhesion.  Questions:  What filament is being used?  What are the temperature settings (Head & Bed) for the filament

My son has a couple 3D printers (and one of them is an Ender 3 Pro), and has used 3D printers for robotics, and had the following suggestions:

1) Heat the bed before leveling it.  The metal expands as it heats up so you want to level the bed after it has warmed up.

2) He always uses one layer of notebook paper because it is thinner and it works better than say the standard 20lb printer paper.  I realize others are suggesting thicker paper or even two layers, but his experience has been it works better with a thinner notebook paper.  The nozzle size has an impact on the size of paper you would want to use to level.  So if you have a bigger nozzle, you'd want a bigger gap.  Instead of getting into the details on that, maybe just experiment with a smaller piece of paper and see if that helps.