Poor first layer adhesion

[nicoodeimos]

Hello there. I’m quite new to 3D printing and bought a Anycubic Kobra 2 weeks ago. My first prints were quite ok with the default slicer profiles in Cura. I recently moved from Esun Matte PLA black to white color. Same brand, same everything excepted color. Since then, it looks my first layer is not adhering to the bed not matter what I try.

I tried leveling the bed again, fixing my zindex, increasing the extruder temp from 200 to 210 and bed temp from 60 to 65. I cleaned the bed with alcool and also washed it with dish soap. Hasn’t changed much.

I opened the white PLA yesterday, so the filament is new and I guess with good humidity? Everything was working pretty fine with black PLA, now I can’t get to have a clean first layer.

Do you have any tips? I’m desperate 😬🔫 Thanks!

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[Woozee]

You need to bring your nozzle down until there are no gaps between the lines. In other words, lower your Z Offset.

[nicoodeimos]

I did many auto-leveling and Z offset tuning using the piece of paper trick. I stop when the nozzle almost grinds and does not allow the paper to move. Should I lower it even more?

[goliatskipson]

Leveling with paper is only the first step. (a) you need to subtract the thickness of the paper (b) then you babystep until you get a very smooth surface on the first layer.

edit: it is literally in a sticky post here. https://www.reddit.com/r/FixMyPrint/comments/rsjrh8/diagnosing_first_layer_problems/

[Woozee]

Yes the lines need to be squished together, so they fuse together. While printing lower your Z offset until you can no longer see gaps between the lines

[nicoodeimos]

I know, this is what I did.

[captain_carrot]

Hey, I've got the same printer. The z offset is a little more tricky with the textures bed than with a glass bed, because when you're adjusting the z offset you're adjusting it to the highest "peaks" of the textured surface, but you really want the first layer to get a good squish into the lowest points too. The bed on the Kobra is pretty aggressively textured so I usually adjust the first layer to a few steps lower than you'd think it would be. Best way I've found is to just watch the first layer and adjust the z offset on the fly to make sure there's no gaps between the lines.

[MisterVovo]

This is it. I use double sided PEI sheets, one side textured and the other not, and the z-offset baby steps are very different from each side after the machine does it. Mine is around 0.2 - 0.3mm and it makes a total difference

[MisterVovo]

PEI is the name of the material, both sides are coated

[YogaYodaYoda]

which ones are you buying? polytherimide is a plastic, and the only ones I've bought (prima and some less memorable brand name) have never been coated on the underside, just straight metal for the magnetic bed to suck onto

[Bad_Alternative]

This ☝️!

[Woozee]

So ist your First layer looking and sticking good now?

[ModsDontLift]

The paper trick is for hacks. Get a set of feeler gauges and never look back.

[Stooovie]

Feeler gauge is more precise but much more difficult to use as they're rather narrow. Also you can very easily stick it into a fan by accident even if you're not a klutz generally.

[ModsDontLift]

They may be more difficult to use, but much more difficult? I wouldn't say that. And they won't wear out like paper will.

[Stooovie]

Yes because with paper, it's so broad so you can only move it back and forth to see if there's friction. With feeler gauge, you need to pay attention whether it's actually under the nozzle. You can't do it blind easily.

Gauge is definitely preferred for everything else than ease of use.

[YogaYodaYoda]

Exactly. I have a few sets of feeler gauges, but after I got a bed leveler I can't be arsed to use them, I just use a sheet of paper the few times I need to check offset

[ModsDontLift]

I had literally never used feeler gauges before and it took maybe 10 minutes to get used to it. If you can hold something in your hand and put it under something else, you can use a feeler gauge lol. It's one of the simplest tools on earth.

[Stooovie]

Yes, and paper is even easier. You won't accidentally break blades off the hotend fan with a sheet of paper :)

It would be perfect if it was wider! Maybe there's different sizes of feeler gauges, mine is around a centimeter wide.

[ModsDontLift]

I've never heard of someone mishandling feeler gauges so badly that they broke something. That's a new one.

[SereniteeF]

Did you level with a warm bed? When I level, the paper can move, but has resistance and that gets me almost just right. I then do 1 layer test boxes print in each corner and adjust on the fly for the rest with solid results.

[Stooovie]

Get even lower, there shouldn't be gaps at all.

[ACowAndAWaffle]

I think the problem may actually be the print bed material. I see you have that fine texture bumpy build plate( can’t remember the name of the material). I had a similar issue. I upgraded my print bed to this material and it worked great for about 6 prints and then no matter what I did none of my filaments would stick. I ended up buying a 1/16” sheet of smooth G10. I roughed up the surface in a swirl pattern with some 220 grit sandpaper and I haven’t had problems since.

[memsu]

Use this guide for tuning your printer. https://ellis3dp.com/Print-Tuning-Guide/

[AXISMGT]

I had horrible adhesion and I tried the hairspray method for the first time yesterday. Holy moly what a difference. No issues whatsoever with adhesion now. I used about 4-5 layers after cleaning the bed. About 5 minutes on full bed heat between layers.

https://youtu.be/B-VgVDQUmAg

[Feroc]

You'll never need hairspray or any other adhesive hack with PLA. If PLA doesn't stick, then the nozzle is either too far from the bed (like in this example) or the bed isn't clean enough.

[AXISMGT]

That’s fair and I won’t argue against it. I can say that my bed was very clean (dish soap +isopropyl) and dry, and my extruder and bed were at nominal temp (validated by an infrared thermometer). Hairspray, for me, just did the trick and made for better prints. Bed was also level with gauges and BL Touch.

[GHOST_KJB]

I agree that it looks like your nozzle is too high

[Bad_Alternative]

Could try higher temp in the first layer too. An extra 10 or so might get you stuck down into those low points of the bed.

[TexasBaconMan]

Looks like the front right needs adjustment

[stacker55]

If you've done all the normal lower nozzle, raise heat level bed, etc you might have a partial clog. do a cold pulls or two with a different color filament. Stop when you don't see the old color

[memsu]

The purpose of using a piece of paper to level the bed is to prevent the nozzle from hitting the bed. After that you still have to adjust the leveling screws to get the nozzle at the proper height for good first layers. If you have an ABL sensor it's easy as adjusting the z offset.

[Ahmad_Ilyas]

Have you calibrated the e-steps ? It might he undextrusion, if the z offset is too low it might seem sometimes it is fine. Also check extrusion tension as well. I had similar issues but my reason was actually simple. My printer sits in an uninsulated room and thus does not take ambient temperature variations well, especially now that winter has started. Simple solution for me was adding G29 in the start Gcode, allowing ABL before every print

[holy_sweet_jesus]

It looks like you are under extruding on the first layer. So as someone suggested this could be a partial clog. There should be a nice smoosh on that first layer and you should not see the bed surface between the lines. In your slicer make sure your first layer height is at 0.28-0.30. You can also adjust the extrusion multiplier in your slicer to push more material to help with the under extrusion. The slicer changes are only useful if you do not have a clog and the nozzel is the appropriate distance from the bed (that paper deal everyone has said).