New to 3d printing and got a Taz 6. It’s been going quite well so far and have done a bunch of prints. A couple weeks ago I noticed my PEI sheet had a few air bubbles. I squeezed them out and it was working fine again but then on one print I saw that not only had air bubbles came back, but an entire corner of the sheet was lifted off the bed. After looking through the forum I decided to replace the PEI sheet.
This sheet is noticeably thicker (0.8mm). My question is, after I install it, do I need to set it up so that the extruder prints higher because of the thicker PEI sheet? If so, how do I do that?
The Taz 6 bases its printing height by the top of the washer, so if you put a thicker sheet of PEI on the bed. As long as it is under the leveling washers the height appears to be the same, and all you will have done is reduce the total printable height by the difference in the thickness of the PEI sheet.
I’ve used a few sheets of them and had the same issue with each one.
First of all, I’m not sure it’s actually PEI. It’s thicker, and it warps badly eventually. One side will pop off the glue after a few weeks or months. Forcing you to replace it. I’ve had MUCH better success with actual PEI directly from Lulzbot. It’s a lot cheaper, and usually instock, both are issues withe real PEI, but I wasn’t happy at all with the Gizmodorks stuff.
After the Lulzbot PEI sheet started bubbling up from the base I replaced it with that Gizmodorks sheet and used a sheet of 3M to adhere it. It has been great. First, it is PEI (not sure why you would think it isn’t). As long as you do a good job putting it down, it should last as long as the stock sheet did. The only issue is that the 12"x12" is slightly smaller than the bed (about 3/8") so make sure you center it well. Finally, at $20, the GD PEI is actually cheaper than the LulzBot sheet ($45).