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Prints Difficult to Remove From Bed

· 3 min read
Pranav G.
Pranav G.

Prints Difficult to Remove From Bed​

What Is It?​

A low layer height, improper bed level, or extra bed adhesion can cause the prints to stick firmly to the print bed. Certain materials like PETG stick too well with glass beds and hairspray. In many cases, the prints either broke halfway or had a piece of bed surface stuck to their bottom layers.

To avoid this issue, you must calibrate your first layer height and use the appropriate printing surface per your material. The key is to strike a perfect balance such that your prints stick well enough not to get knocked off quickly but not too firm that it becomes difficult to remove.

What to Check?​

  • Print Surface and Filament
  • Initial layer height
  • Build Plate Adhesion

How To Fix It?​

Install a Textured PEI Printing surface​

Glass print beds require you to use additional print adhesives such as glues and hairsprays to offer strong print adhesion. If you over-apply these adhesives, it might cause the prints to stick firmly to the glass bed and even rip apart the glass pieces when you forcibly remove the 3D prints.

A textured P oly E ther I mide (PEI) sheet has a rough surface finish, facilitating strong adhesion and easy removal of your prints. The prints automatically pop off once the print bed cools down. It works well with various filaments, including PLA, ABS, PETG, and Nylon, and has excellent durability compared to other bed surfaces.

Alternatively, you can use Smooth PEI sheets, which offer the same performance and are readily available. But, you'll need to use a slightly higher initial layer height to prevent strong adhesion of prints with the smooth bed surface.

Use a Spring Steel Print Bed​

A spring steel print bed's flexibility helps you easily remove the prints without using prying tools. Often, this bed magnetically attaches to your 3D printer and uses PEI sheets to offer excellent adhesion performance.

It's beneficial when you're continuously 3D printing objects and comes in handy for small and large 3D prints.

Level the Print Bed​

If your nozzle is too close to the print bed, the first layer will dig into the print surface, resulting in strong adhesion. If the nozzle is too far from the print bed, the initial layer will not adhere to the bed leading to print failure.

You must ensure the print bed is leveled correctly to achieve appropriate bed adhesion. Michael from Teaching Tech has a detailed guide that features a quick test print that will help you level the print bed quickly.

Don't Use Print Bed Adhesion​

If adhesive glue, hair spray, or painter's tape results in strong print adhesion, you need to reduce their use to prevent print removal issues. You can get a PEI printing surface or install a spring steel print bed to achieve good adhesion and easy print removal.

You can also skip out on brims and rafts, generally used to hold the prints firmly in place. Otherwise, you can reduce the value of brims perimeters and raft thickness to strike a good balance between print adhesion and removal.

Use a Print Removal Tool​

If any of those solutions, as mentioned earlier, do not work for you, the best way to remove a firmly stuck print is to use a print removal tool. Often these are included with the printer itself, but you can quickly get it in any hardware store.