I've been printing PLA on (60 C) bare glass for last 5 months. I'm cleaning glass between each print with 70% alcohol bought at pharmacy. I have ran out of this liquid and bought 96% one from another store. Cleaning with new liquid results in not sticking first layer .

I'm not sure which substances are present in 70% alcohol, but obviously they are important in my case. I tried cleaning with window cleaner also, but with no success. Does anyone have more experience with this? Does 70% one leave thin coat which helps to bond first layer?

Isopropyl Alcohol should not leave a residue.

I use 50%-91% Isopropyl Alcohol, the 50% Isopropyl Alcohol is even green in color and has not cause layer adhesion problems on My 3D Printer.

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Computer Programmer / Electronics Technician

My bad, I'm probably using wrong type of alcohol because mine is labeled as ethanol What is the difference for this purpose? I guess I was lucky with 1st bottle

Think I found an answer for you

Quote
labproinc
Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is the more common choice for cleaning electronics because it evaporates more rapidly than ethanol and also because it does not leave any traces of oils upon evaporation.
Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) is the preferable choice for cleaning because of its rapid rate of evaporation and its purity required to clean electronics without damaging them.
While Isopropyl alcohol is marginally more expensive than ethanol, its superior purity characteristics make it a safer choice, especially when cleaning the most sensitive electronic components.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/2020 08:23PM by Roberts_Clif.

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Computer Programmer / Electronics Technician

Thank you Robert

Now I need to source that golden liquid

I found that the secret of printing PLA on bare glass is to wash it initially in hot soapy water, rinse, dry it with a paper towel only, then avoid finger marking it. Before each print, wipe it with a little distilled malt vinegar. Do not use isopropanol, acetone or other organic solvents.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2020 03:23AM by dc42.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Quote
dc42
I found that the secret of printing PLA on bare glass is to wash it initially in hot soapy water, rinse, dry it with a paper towel only, then avoid finger marking it. Before each print, wipe it with a little distilled malt vinegar. Do not use isopropanol, acetone or other organic solvents.

Have never tried this will try.

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Computer Programmer / Electronics Technician

I am not an expert, but I have very reliable bed adhesion with quick wiping glass without removing it from printer. This way i need only 10 sec before each print and glass stays clean all the time. Anyway thank you for vinegar alternative which I will try definitely if I run out of working liquid

I ordered this one to try

[www.chipoteka.hr]

Update:
the IPA from previous post together with 96% ethanol are not good for glass cleaning (in my case). At the end I sourced another bottle of 70% alcohol from pharmacy. They told me it is 70% ethanol. I still don't know what's the catch, but I am glad I have liquid for perfect 1st layer

Maybe not similar,
but I print on aluminium and I prime the plate with 3Dlac.

This will glue the print when hot, but release when cold.
Maybe it also works on glass ?

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www.3daybreaker.blogspot.com

Orca V4.4 rebuild to Ramps with Mk8 and E3D, as well as a Rostock Delta Mini and an OLO in backorder :-)

I have continuing success using hairspray on the clean glass bed - just a light dusting does the job. However, you have to get the right spray - usually it should have a vinyl component. L'Oreal Elnett Extra Strong Hold is what's sitting next to my printers just at the moment, and that has something called vinyl decanoate in it, according to the ingredients list. Smells like a tart's boudoir when you use it though...

70% Iso has additives to keep the skin from drying, which is why they call it RUBBING alcohol. Over 90% has none of that. I don't currently have any so I can't tell u exactly what it is. But I use hair spray on a room temp piece of glass or nothing and 60° on PEI.

the only issue with hairspray is I need to wash it off occasionally

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2020 07:29AM by ruggb.