MK3 Heatbed experiences

Hi, does anyone have experiences to share with the MK3 Aluminium core heatbed (such as [www.amazon.com]). What appeals to me about it is the flatness of the Aluminium combined with it being drilled for three point levelling, which I think would make for an easy to level surface.

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See my blog at [moosteria.blogspot.com].

The hole at the back of the plate would make for a miserable adjustment. This Helios would be awesome if the company would get off there asses and get them back in stock. I've been waiting for months. Reading some Facebook comments makes me think that they are flakes. To bad, I would love to have one.
[www.panucatt.com]

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elwood127
The hole at the back of the plate would make for a miserable adjustment. This Helios would be awesome if the company would get off there asses and get them back in stock. I've been waiting for months. Reading some Facebook comments makes me think that they are flakes. To bad, I would love to have one.
[www.panucatt.com]

Thanks for the reply. Why would it make for a miserable adjustment? Is it because it's an inconvenient position to get to? I'm not doubting you, just trying to understand.

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See my blog at [moosteria.blogspot.com].

I have got one.

I fitted conventional Reprap bolts/springs at all four corners. Leveling is really a one off at the start then only periodically after.

Had heating problems on 12v, so then converted to 24v and latterly fitted Printbrite surface.

Very pleased with the performance now.

Yes. Do yourself a favor and read our Digital Dentist "Son of Megamax" blog.

Both of my printers have aluminium Mk3 heatbeds - they work very well for me (one is at 12v, the other is 24v). I have a sheet of black thick paper/thin card on top to keep my infra-red Z sensor happy, then a sheet of glass on top of that - underneath the heatbed I have cork insulation.

One modification I did make is to countersink the holes so that the M3 screws are flush with the surface; this is quite tricky as the holes are close to the edge. The result is that I can lay a 214mm square sheet of glass on top and use the whole 200mm square print area without problems.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2016 04:09AM by David J.

Do you use the hole in middle of MK3, is it fully supported? how do you level things.

The hole in the exact middle of the heatbed is for the thermistor to tuck into, held in place with some Kapton tape underneath.

As far as levelling is concerned - I have the heatbed rigidly fixed. I levelled it as well as possible using shims and washers, then I use an infra-red Z probe to auto-level each time I print. Some purists get upset about that, but it works very well for me.

I've got one and can say it's a big improvement on the mk2b bed I had before. There is supposed to be a version out there with an smd thermistor soldered on which would be a huge improvement as there's no centre hole. I've printed successfully direct onto the aluminium with kapton tape over the whole, but now I have printbite so the hole in the centre isn't so much of an annoyance.

Running it on 12v (turned my power supply up to 12.8v which helps) with fibreglass Matt insulation under it and a sheet of foil backed bubble wrap on top during warmup it gets to 110 deg C within 10 minutes easily.

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DjDemonD
I've got one and can say it's a big improvement on the mk2b bed I had before. There is supposed to be a version out there with an smd thermistor soldered on which would be a huge improvement as there's no centre hole. I've printed successfully direct onto the aluminium with kapton tape over the whole, but now I have printbite so the hole in the centre isn't so much of an annoyance.

Running it on 12v (turned my power supply up to 12.8v which helps) with fibreglass Matt insulation under it and a sheet of foil backed bubble wrap on top during warmup it gets to 110 deg C within 10 minutes easily.

Thanks for the information - this sounds good. Do you know if it consumes the same amount of power as the MK2b? From looking at the resistance of the heating elements, it looks like it should be similar.

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See my blog at [moosteria.blogspot.com].

Unsure. I have a 400w power supply which doesnt struggle, the fan barely comes on. The fuses have never gone on the ramps board either.

Mine arrived today, it's sexy, what a pity it wont look the same covered in kapton tape, I love it just the way it is. 3mm seems ok while things are cool, I held back on buying one for a while because the listing had incorrect dimensions for holes & spacing...but it fits like a glove, though I will probably be mounting it different in final config, when I get some 6mm plate. I will probably want it fully tied down through all edge holes, and might have to reconsider the leveling placement/method, and when I can get a black silicone heater, i'll have to figure out another setup.

Don't cover it in kapton then, hairspray onto the aluminium works. Printbite is also excellent so long as you buy expensive sticky stuff to stick it to the heatbed

When I get the 6mm plate I probably will be getting a can of insette too, but the techy looking print on the Mk3 will be lost in the toasty sandwich. Or I could put it the right way up, Ali' up and print on that...treat the bed as a consumable, just to see how long it lasts.

Yeah I'd mount it aluminium side up for sure.

Hi, i have one of these bed's, i print directly on the aluminum side.
It is a bit a pain to get prints to stick properly, but i had that with glass and carbon fiber as well.
I bought it in china for 11 dollars

My first printer printed directly on an aluminum surface with little trouble using PLA. I had lots of trouble trying to get PETG to stick though.

I have a new machine that uses an aluminum bed but am having trouble getting the corners to stay down during the print.

Things that I've found to help from the print-side:

- hotter first layer; PLA @ 230 first layer 215 therafter
- bed at 70
- first layer extrusion width @ 150%

Beyond that what other tactics have you used to print successfully on the aluminum surface (excluding taping).

- using fine-grid sandpaper on the aluminum to rough it up a bit?
- putting glass on top of the aluminum, what benefits did you see, do you still put tape or other adhesive on the glass?
- cleaning the printbed really well out of the box with rubbing alcohol, I find that it pays to use this or a good window cleaner frequently on a new bed.