# Taz 5 Poor Adhesion **URL:** \ **Category:** LulzBot TAZ\ **Created:** [January 11, 2026, 7:03am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836 "2026-01-11T07:03:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 7:03am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/1 "2026-01-11T07:03:47Z")
Working with my Taz 5 that I inherited awhile back and running into issues. I replaced the PEI sheet and had good success with prints. I haven’t used the printer in a few months and just tried using it again. I got one good print using PLA then the next print won’t even start printing. It looks like the first layer is almost clear then if there’s color it starts to drag it around. How can it change between one print to the next? i read somewhere here about sanding the PEI. Is this a possible solution? I’m printing PLA at 230 with the bed at 60 I believe. Should I change my temps? any help is appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Wrathernaut](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/wrathernaut/32/13542_2.png) [@Wrathernaut](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Wrathernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/2 "2026-01-11T15:00:07Z")
Sanding the PEI shouldn’t be necessary, but a quick spray with window cleaner should take any dirt and/or oils off that would ruin adhesion. Past that, some pictures or video of what’s happening would help diagnose what’s wrong. ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/3 "2026-01-11T15:54:54Z")
I wipe it down with IPA before each print at least. I’ll try a print again and get a video. ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 4:47pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/4 "2026-01-11T16:47:46Z")
![IMG_7914](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/9/90a6b3ac8f96e9f702ea620ea96ba4f775686080.jpeg)Here’s a couple videos. [](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdAEjUEsR1Y) [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/2/2cd398eae7965bd71d8a32e93adfb2188edf2758.jpeg "Bad adhesion 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6nvMsvHc4M) ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/5 "2026-01-11T16:58:50Z")
CuraLE wants to use 205 for PLA, and that extrudes when I load the filament, but it just seems very low. ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/6 "2026-01-11T20:29:48Z")
Printed at 230 and this is what it looks like.. maybe I am doing it too high.. ![IMG_7920](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/0/0d5b3f11a89a5ae6b734b293739c2c48ff8ce234.jpeg) ![IMG_7919](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/3/3b5e84f293c46c14e78a3e20f8ef4eff2569f7d4.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 12:51am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/7 "2026-01-12T00:51:13Z")
Lowered to 205 and got this mess. [](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS47qIvFZ20) ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 1:30am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/8 "2026-01-12T01:30:44Z")
Another update. Cleaned out the nozzle and dish soaped the bed. Adhesion looks good, it is just uneven. How can the corners be level but not the middle? ![IMG_7938](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/5/5d8d0f763291f3df44f6ab134a78b4bfb500392d.jpeg) ![IMG_7935](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/8/84185c6e0bf1b70bd4272c6e9daee8fb0ae02576.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Wrathernaut](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/wrathernaut/32/13542_2.png) [@Wrathernaut](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Wrathernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 4:35am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/9 "2026-01-12T04:35:37Z")
Nozzle looks too close. increase z offset by like .15mm. It’s barely clearing the bed if at all, so nothing is coming out. The bed may be heating unevenly to cause the center to be a bit higher than the edges. Allow it to heatsoak at like 50c for about 10min before a print. The bed might level back out. ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 6:33am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/10 "2026-01-12T06:33:27Z")
I went back through and releveled everything. The print started out great. First layer was clean. But zero adhesion between the rest of the layers. ![IMG_7946](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/a/a9911729a247226749f27f9f005e6daf4f6afb23.jpeg) [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/uploads/lulzbot/original/2X/b/bfb77dc7c15fe9b6a6ef14d306a9b83d47135708.jpeg "January 11, 2026") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53QX7TrqiGU) Here’s a video of it ---
**Author:** ![Wrathernaut](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/wrathernaut/32/13542_2.png) [@Wrathernaut](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Wrathernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/11 "2026-01-12T17:03:07Z")
That’s heat creep causing underextrusion. PLA with that toolhead is a bad match. 2.85mm with a hard, brittle filament. Single hobbed bolt for a drive gear with a brittle filament. Bad part cooling with that single axial fan. Bad heatbreak cooling with the small blower fan… The Taz 5 in stock configuration works pretty good with ABS, it was not designed for PLA (which wasn’t even that common that long ago). ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/12 "2026-01-12T20:04:34Z")
Ah…. That makes sense then why there was a bunch of ABS with it and not PLA. I will try to print some ABS instead and see if that is part of the problem. Also, I was checking the esteps with the PLA and only 20mm extruded when I commanded 100mm. Would that be because of the single drive extruder and PLA combo? ---
**Author:** ![Wrathernaut](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/wrathernaut/32/13542_2.png) [@Wrathernaut](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Wrathernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/13 "2026-01-12T20:52:26Z")
You should still have 100mm of filament go through when trying to do 100mm. Single drive gear doesn’t affect that unless it’s malfunctioning due to heat creep, or the gears fill of chewed up filament from heatcreep jams. ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/14 "2026-01-12T20:57:43Z")
Okay. I got rid of the PLA, cleaned the gear, and loaded some ABS. Gonna give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 1:36am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/15 "2026-01-13T01:36:59Z")
This thing loves ABS… ---
**Author:** ![Wrathernaut](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/wrathernaut/32/13542_2.png) [@Wrathernaut](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Wrathernaut)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/16 "2026-01-13T14:59:10Z")
That is what it was made for. Just be sure to use in a room with adequate ventilation. Styrene fumes aren’t the best. ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 5:19am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/17 "2026-01-14T05:19:05Z")
Put it next to my bed. Great dreams. /s ---
**Author:** ![justible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f14d63/32.png) [@justible](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/justible)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 5:27pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/18 "2026-01-18T17:27:53Z")
Hi. Did anyone ask how old the pla was and how long it had been exposed to the air? Moisture is very bad for filament. If this was the same filament as before, that’s probably the issue. In case you’re interested, I upgraded to the magnetic PEI bed and the BLTouch leveling system, and am having much better results with my Taz Pro. ---
**Author:** ![31cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/f4b2a3/32.png) [@31cat](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/31cat)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 6:28pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/19 "2026-01-18T18:28:23Z")
The PLA is probably a year old. Been exposed the whole time probably. Do you think you could have a link for the magnetic bed? ---
**Author:** ![justible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f14d63/32.png) [@justible](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/justible)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2026, 9:08pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836/20 "2026-01-18T21:08:06Z")
People use food dehydrators and even ovens to dry their filament. Google might be best there. I’ve not done it, but filament that old may easily be the problem. I checked, and darn it, the Taz 5 didn’t seem to have the magnetic bed upgrade. Reach out to Lulzbot tech support. Maybe they have a suggestion or two for upgrades. I upgrade my print head to a meteor, which I think they use on the Taz 8. My gosh that’s much simpler than the head from 2020 I was using. But it was expensive. The BLTouch device was cheap and easy to install (though you then reinstall your printer into Cura so it reflects the change). Ask customer service if they have a mount to install that to the Taz 5 like they did for my Taz Pro. [Next page](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/taz-5-poor-adhesion/27836.md?page=2)