PLA juice not working... beads and does not evenly cover glass

When I first got the glass, I washed it with soap and water. From there, a good rinse, some PLA juice, and it was great.

After a few prints, it ended up getting some PLA stuck to the glass so I washed it with soap and water, scraped off the pla bits, and rinsed it real good. Now I'm trying to cover it with pla juice and it is too blotchy to use.

It looks like I'm going to have to switch to tape. Has anyone seen this? Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

If I'm honest, I'm not enjoying the tape experience. Blue tape. Sticks to the glass. It seems to make a chemical bond with PLA forming into some sort of network solid. lol!

The only way to remove the objects is to remove the tape. I can't even get under the parts with a razor blade.

I know what ABS juice is, but what's PLA juice? Do you have a heated bed?

I've been printing PLA directly onto glass with the bed heated to 70C. This works very well most of the time. I've recently started to use PVA glue (white glue) diluted 1 part glue to 4 parts water, and that helps even more. Once the bed cools down to about 40C, the parts just pop off the glass. But at 70C, they're stuck really tight.

Try PVA juice, works like a charm.

im using wood glue+water, sticks awensome!



this glue and water, 1:10. only one coat on bed heated to 55 degrees celsius, and it can take a lot of prints.

before applying i have cleaned bed with acetone to remove dirt or grease....

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2013 06:05AM by woo.

JohnSL Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I know what ABS juice is, but what's PLA juice? Do
> you have a heated bed?
>
> I've been printing PLA directly onto glass with
> the bed heated to 70C. This works very well most
> of the time. I've recently started to use PVA glue
> (white glue) diluted 1 part glue to 4 parts water,
> and that helps even more. Once the bed cools down
> to about 40C, the parts just pop off the glass.
> But at 70C, they're stuck really tight.


Heated bed, yes.

I had been using PVA glue diluted 1:5. It worked great the first time. Once the bed got too nasty, I cleaned it off and wanted to do that again but it won't coat the bed evenly. My juice is about a week old. I'm going to try tossing the juice and start with fresh stuff to see if that works.

woo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> im using wood glue+water, sticks awensome!
>
>
>
> this glue and water, 1:10. only one coat on bed
> heated to 55 degrees celsius, and it can take a
> lot of prints.
>
> before applying i have cleaned bed with acetone to
> remove dirt or grease....


Thanks for the acetone tip! I'll try that.

I appreciate the help, gents.

I will mention that, a week ago, when I made my first 3d print, the PLA juice worked great but parts didn't pop off when the bed cooled. They were hard to get off with that too but easier to get under with a razor blade. I've been printing with the heated bed at 60C.

i find if you wait till around 30C pla comes away quite easy (depending on the print) when using PVA glue+ water as a base. but iv noticed if you let it cool past the 30C its a bit harder to remove the parts then.

I normally just give the parts a sharp tap with my metal ruler normally shoots them off the glass then.

also dont know if it helps i apply my PVA mix when glass is at 60C instead of when its cool. drys nears instant then

I've been using the PVA glue for quite a while now, and I notice differences from batch to batch of the glue. I measure 4 parts water to 1 part glue, but I'm not too careful about it. If the solution is less dilute it seems to hold better. Once thing to note: make sure you shake the solution well before using. I think over time, the same bottle of solution will become more and more concentrated because the glue tends to settle out. If you do not shake it fully, you end up using the weaker solution at the top of the bottle making the remainder less dilute. This accumulates over time and the bottom of the bottle ends up holding too well. Sometimes as I notice the bottle level getting lower and lower, I'll add a bit of water just to thin it out.

I'm printing PLA with just the glass cleaned with cheap spray window cleaner between prints. The glass cleaner is a lemony one which might make a difference.