Ordered A Glass Bed For The Ender 3 Pro

[Tony]

So my bed has seen better days with the learning curve (original magnetic bed) and is having a hard time holding onto new parts. So I ordered a glass bed for the printer.

I have some design ideas in my head for some items that I would like to make, I just need to figure out how to get them from my head, to a file. And I need the bed to hold since these will be pretty large prints.

Let me know if any of you have used these glass beds before and what you think. Below is the link to the one that I purchased.

Amazon product

 

[Tony]

Well, so far this was a complete waste of money. Absolutely NOTHING sticks to it, no matter what the temp. Could be the filament though, it's pretty old.

Let the testing begin....

 

[Tony]

Okay, update time.

last night, this glass bed made me its b***h... I could not get anything to stick no matter what I did. I had this printer sitting on a shelf just under the helicopters. and the angle to actually get in line with the bed to see gaps, set height and so on was not that great for someone that has almost bad knees and a horrible back.

To this morning, I removed the printer from the shelf (not as easy as you think, I have to take the rail off the shelf above to give room lol) and put it on my desk. Now, I can sit in a chair (no knee or back pain) and I was able to set the height. Maybe I used the wrong piece of paper, maybe I was pushing down on the Z axis, I don't know, but I was about 1:16th of a turn high on all corners. So I had it level, but it was just a little too high. And once the offset comes into play, it was just doing weird things. BUT! things should have still stuck to it and NOTHING did.

So when I woke up today, I had a little cleaning party with window cleaner. Some of that Sprayway glass cleaner that is ammonia free. This stuff is great! So I sprayed it on the glass bed then cleaned it off. Then for a second time.

Let me backup a bit.

Last night, I DID clean the glass bed with IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) and my paper towel had some black stuff on it. When I purchase something BRAND NEW, I expect it to be perfectly clean, especially glass (I know, metals, rust inhibitors... yea, I know lol). But even with cleaning last night with IPA, still nothing was sticking.

Back to today, cleaned with the Sprayway and I was able to finally print the bed level test print, and it stuck pretty well. Everything looked nice and even, good overlap on the first layer (test prints are first layer only)and had to use the tip of my knife to get up under the print.

Now, I did that print on the original filament that came with my printer. It's some white crap that I don't really like, but I was testing to see if the filament was the issue. I will be moving back to my bit rolls here soon.

And dammit.... I just looked over and one piece that I"m printing now is pulled up off the bed... Nope, more than one piece... Okay, I will try Acetone...

 

[Tony]

And when it won’t stick… brim it!

mans I changed to my fluorescent yellow filament. So far, so good.

 

[Tony]

Well, it looks like I need to find another way to wire the Ender 3 Pro. I was watching the print above at about half way, and I just bumped the USB cable that is coming from the Raspberry Pi 3b+, and it just stopped. It was not enough to even move the plug, but it was enough to freak out the machine. I may look for a way to do a direct solder job on the USB cable

BTW, the print above is for the new charger. See if you can figure out what it is going to be used for in the charging case lol.

Onto another print! One MUCH needed!!!

 

[Tony]

New print has started.

 

[Tony]

Another update. The picture above of the yellow outline (it's yellow, but being florescent, looks green) was part 1 of 3. This print had 7 solid layers that were the size of the outline you are seeing there in the image. Needless to say, those 7 layers took a while. Well, once it started building the walls, it made it to layer 16 and the printer hesitated a few times. And then on layer 17, it errored out.

I think this was actually a wifi issue, and not an issue with me hitting (bumping lightly) the USB plug. So, rather than running a cable across my office, I have put the files on an SD card, and I'm trying to now print the case that the above image goes into. And yes, I will have to reprint the above image as well, which sucks. Oh well, just means I need to do some updating on my network lol.

 

[Tony]

Running off of the SD card, this print has gone all night and is still going. It's doing it's job for sure. And no stopping!

Okay, looks like I need to disconnect the wifi and hard wire this in. Should fix all the connection issues so I can keep tabs on the print from anywhere rather than coming back to the office all the time. Yep, I'm going to put a webcam on my system! hehe.

Okay, now that I have the printer where it will actually print, it's time to start designing the new charger case pieces... if I can find my charger case..... hm....

 

[Tony]

Update, the stopping has something to do with that raspberry pi 3b+. I may need to reflash it or something. Not sure.

As for the glass bed, I have figured this guy out. You have to clean it with Acetone when the bed is hot. This is exactly what they say not to do, but if I clean it with the bed at room temp, nothing sticks. If I clean it with the bed hot, you have to let it cool before releasing a part. Once a print is done, the adhesion is fantastic and as the bed cools, it auto releases.

So my opinion at this time of the Creality Glass Bed with some kind of coating is if you are willing to clean it before every print (and I mean every print!), then it is a great bed. Maybe mine is weird, I don't know. But I have many completed projects now with this bed and every one of them, if I clean first on a hot bed, then start the print, they all turn out fantastic.

I'm sure I will be posting more in this blog style post (since there have been absolutely no comments) to keep y'all updated on how things are going with this bed. Remember, this bed was purchased so I could print the large pieces for the charge case.

 

[Tony]

Okay, WTF... Yesterday I printed a drawer for the printer to keep the tools and such in. It stuck better than duct tape to a duct and I had to wait for the entire thing to cool before it would release it. Today, I try to print the other drawer and you might as well be trying to stick tape to water. Cleaned with acetone, same, cleaned with window cleaner, same, changed bed back to the original bed, same. Guess I'm testing filament now.... Super frustrating.

 

[Tony]

So I started going with backup plans because of this bed. I have no idea what is going on with it. Last night, I was able to clean it with acetone and was able to do a test print to test the CL Touch that I just installed. Those prints stuck fantastic! So I go to print the top drawer that I still need, and no sticking at all. Yes, I cleaned the bed, with acetone... So I let it cool, and cleaned the hell out of it, didn't stick. I warmed it up to 30c and cleaned it again, didn't stick. Went to 55c and cleaned it, didn't stick, said the hell with it, went to 80c and cleaned it (yes, acetone can get very hot through a paper towel, and no, I'm not leaving lint), still didn't stick.

So today, I started a backup plan that I didn't want to do, but was pretty sure would work. I took a glue stick (the purple Elmers) and did a quick test print. It stuck like a hot damn where the glue was, but I didn't get the glue in all of the areas, and as soon as it touched the part where there was no glue, no sticking and jacked up the entire print. So, I just peeled off the plastic, placed glue where I knew it was needed, and I am 2:53:00 into this print....

Basically, I paid $15 for a sheet of glass 235x235mm. Lesson learned, but at least I have a nice flat surface to print on! So it's not all wasted.

 

[Tony]

Just a current pic of the print job using glue stick.

 

[bigone5500]

Tony I have that same glass plate and the one thing that I found makes it work like a charm is a cheap Scotch glue stick. I use the permanent variety. I would spread a thin layer where the part would be deposited and it stuck like a champ. After the bed cooled down the part would pop right off.

Amazon product

 

[bigone5500]

Oh, and I use small binder clips to hold it to the heat bed. At first I just removed the magnetic one and left the other part but after a couple uses I needed to wash the plate. But I couldn't remove it. I had to use my scraper and gently pry it off. I eventually removed the magnetic surface with the scraper and then used some goof off to get the adhesive off of the aluminum plate. After a couple uses I would wash it in warm water with dish liquid.

 

[Tony]

I am using small binding clips. In the picture above, you can see one in the back left. I do not have one in the front left because there is a quirk with this firmware where if you cancel a job, it can rake right across the clip damaging the tip. So I removed that one.

And I left my magnetic bed on, not for the magnet, but to keep it in place. I have read too many stories of he binding clips losing their tension, and the glass sliding on the aluminum sheet. I mean, I guess I could use double sided tape, but the original magnetic bed holds onto this glass very well. So even if I lose the binding clips, it can still stay in place and not destroy a print. Just what I was thinking anyway lol.

 

[bigone5500]

Do your clips protrude above the heat bed surface to the point that they contact the hot end? My clips only stick up about 2.5mm or so. I don't really print anything very large so I guess that's why I don't have any trouble.

 

[Tony]

Only with the curl that holds the handle. But, it never lifted the print head up when I canceled that job, and it was at the front of the bed, and it drug it right across it, damaged the tip, and I still have not found the silver handle piece lol.

 

[Pro_Stock]

I had a glass bed on my printer at work, but I always used the GeckoTek build surface sheets for most of my printing.
Never, ever had a problem with prints not sticking.

MatterHackers Gecko Tek Sheets

MatterHackers was always my go-to source for anything 3D related. Great service and helpful people!

 

[Pro_Stock]

Just remembered I also used Magigoo as well depending on the filament.

 

[bigone5500]

I gave up on my printer. Sometime or another I'm going to get the Ender 5 Plus. I'll just have to remember to unplug the power cord to prevent damage.