cleaning the bed

my bed has kapton tape on it which came with the build and is layed across the glass with a very slight over lap in stripss of tape , ive ordered 200 mm wide tape so replacing will be a case of laying one main strip and then one strip of the thinner tape so i dont get the lines on the botom of my work,
is it correct that the tape can stay there for as many uses as you want provided its not damaged? you guys dont replace the tape every build do you?
but my main question is am i cleaning the bed too much, i poor a drip of acetone on the be then use kitchen towel to wipe it across the bed, my problem is i know its good to have your work piece stick o the bed but some of min are irremovable what every one consensus

Cleaning the bed before each print sounds like a good idea. The tape can last for a very long time though. I am not sure about sticking prints though as I am yet to successfully complete a print.

I gave up using Kapton tape months ago, but when I was using it, I cleaned it with isopropanol between prints. Now I print direct on glass for those filaments that will stick to it, and on glass coated with diluted solvent pipe cement for those that won't. Recently I've used a Pritt stick (PVA glue stick) to prime the bed instead, with good results.

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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].

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razzadazzas
my bed has kapton tape on it which came with the build and is layed across the glass with a very slight over lap

IMHO Its better to leave a bit of space between the layers than to have a over lap as those will ad 0.1mm to the surface

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ive ordered 200 mm wide tape so replacing will be a case of laying one main strip and then one strip of the thinner tape so i dont get the lines on the botom of my work

I use 50mm, with 200mm I think you will have to use the wet method

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is it correct that the tape can stay there for as many uses as you want provided its not damaged?

Yes that is correct, AFAIR Ian (RepRapPro) wrote that they used the same setup for several month

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but my main question is am i cleaning the bed too much, i poor a drip of acetone on the be then use kitchen towel to wipe it across the bed, my problem is i know its good to have your work piece stick o the bed but some of min are irremovable what every one consensus

You cannot use too much acetone, It wont make the print stick harder, clean is clean, also only use acetone while the bed is cold as it evaporates very quickly - you will want to give the acetone time to dissolve oil/fingerprints so you can wipe it of with the towel

Yes you may find some prints hard to remove, I usually remove the glass, place it vertically on a rubber surface and give the parts a sharp hit with a stick of wood, then look at the bottom side of the glass for where the part is partially slipping, I use this as the starting point for praying the part loose, a long slow pull will often make the part slip, quick cooling the glass under a cold water tap can also be of help

Erik

Also only use pure acetone (readily available from glass fibre suppliers), not the stuff sold as nail polish remover. Nail polish remover often contains oil to prevent drying out the skin.

Dave

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dc42
Recently I've used a Pritt stick (PVA glue stick) to prime the bed instead, with good results.

Works very well indeed, but be aware it may weaken the glass when printing lots of ABS. Actually this destroyed both of my glass plates, but I figure a coated alu plate would be more durable.

I usually clean my build platform with isopropyl alcohol from time to time and it works great.

Good luck with trying to put a 200mm sheet of Kapton on in one go. I've found it virtually impossible to apply it with out getting bubbles. Wasted about 5m of the stuff before resorting back to 25mm tape. Much easier to get a decent finish.

I normally leave the tape on until it starts to peel off and clean after every print. I use the cheap nail polish remover from Tesco. Used it as a stop gap while I was waiting for some acetone to be delivered. Works great in my opinion so I stuck with it.

In my limited experience adhesion is more to do with nozzle height than anything else.

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jsv555
..In my limited experience adhesion is more to do with nozzle height than anything else.

Me, my printer and toothbrush agree (toothpaste will not stick to toothbrush if not squeezed against surface)

Erik