Looking for better PEI to Glass bed adhesive 200MP 468MP fail ABS temperatures

On my 4th PEI bed. Run ABS only on 1 of my LB Mini printer. 110c bed softens the ubiquitous 468MP tape with 200MP adhesive. Parts warp, PEI lifts off (de-laminates from) the glass. Time to replace the PEI and adhesive.

Recommendations for different high temperature Transfer Tape and adhesive, please.

I haven’t tried it… But 3M has another tape, 9082, rated to 280C for short term tolerance. The 468 is only rated to 204C for short term tolerance.

I think Lulzbot will eventually be looking at this, but it appears to be out-prioritized by other work at the moment.
https://code.alephobjects.com/T4401

Theres a small roll of it on ebay for $50. I might give it a shot.

Original poster back after about 2 weeks. I apologize for over-ranting. My ABS printing is doing better. Still think we need a different adhesive.

Seems I missed the meaning of “72 hour dwell” on the 468MP and 200MP adhesive product datasheets. I would call it “cure time”. It means, the adhesive will reach full strength after a 72 hour cure time.

Still believe, nay, am certain, a different adhesive is needed for bed temps above 100c. The pretty picture at

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Ultra-High-Temperature-Adhesive-Transfer-Tape-9082/?N=5002385+3293241972&rt=rud

Show 9082 tape as recommended for metals. 468MP tape’s 200MP adhesive is in the “Plastics Pyramid”.

200MP is also shown as Low strength for Low Surface Energy (LSE) plastics. Me thinks PEI is a LSE material.

Same graphic shows 300, 300LSE and 350 adhesives offer High Strength for LSE materials.

No conclusions, just more data.

Good info. So 9082 can take the heat, but may not adhere well to PEI if not designed for plastics.

I really like the concept that Prusa has, with the spring steel plate powder-coated with PEI. No adhesive, no bubbles. But they’ve had significant problems getting production quantities of acceptable quality – so not sure whether that will be a good answer or not.

I can say I’m tired of replacing my PEI. Really only a problem with ABS, due to the 110c bed temp. I try to avoid ABS for that reason, but it really is the right material for a lot of things.

I upgraded all my Mini beds to thicker 4 mil PEI sheets. It’s stiffer than the original thinner PEI and does not bubble even if the 3M adhesive releases it’s grip in spots. I just wipe the bed after every print and and it remains adhered and flat. If I get any deep scratches I just lightly sand them out and clean the bed and get back to printing. I didn’t even have to adjust my normal bed temps. I’ve had the same PEI sheets running for up to 2 years. Here’s a link:

https://www.mcmaster.com/8685k41

Thanks for the link. CoParaTech, are you printing mostly ABS?

@coparatech - Thanks for that PEI link, I’ve wanted to try a thicker sheet and that looks perfect. What adhesive did you use, and was it sourced from mcmaster as well?

I don’t print ABS, I print mostly HT & nGen, as well as PC & occasionally nylon. The thicker PEI handles it all. I used a sheet of the standard 3M, 468 I think, that I had laying around. Sometime I can see a slight color change where the adhesive is trying to release I think, but the PEI remains flat and doesn’t affect the print surface, so no bubbles or lifting anywhere. I didn’t see the 3M adhesive on McMasters, but they have it on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BK8PHZK/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_QQNhCbVBZGTS9

@coparatech - Thanks for the links!

I found a seller on Amazon selling a “set”, 8"x8" of the 1mm/0.040" PEI and 8"x8" of the 468MP adhesive, so I think I’ll give that a try.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074XJLWL6

I wish the sheet/adhesive came “assembled”… The same seller offers the thinner sheets (0.020") with adhesive already laminated, but apparently not the thicker 1mm sheets. So I get two chances at creating bubbles, LOL.

Excellent. I think that will work out well. 4 mil is probably overkill, but after replacing so many PEI sheets, I went big and haven’t had to replace one since. :wink:

Just remember to adjust your Z offset to compensate for the increased height of the bed.
Happy Holidays!

That isn’t making sense to me… The washer thickness sets the distance from the PEI when probing. The washers sit on top of the PEI, so the relative distance between “probe contact” and “PEI surface” should be exactly the same, right? Or did you make cut-outs for the washers, so they sit on the glass rather than the thicker PEI, to avoid having to add length/shims to the tubular spacers?

Just to follow up… I decided to go with a 0.020" thick PEI with pre-laminated adhesive available on Amazon.

The install was quite a bit harder than with the stock 0.010" sheet. First, because the 0.020 sheet is stiffer it is more difficult to apply and get all the bubbles out as you gradually lay down the sheet onto the glass. Second, trimming the excess was much more difficult: Whereas I’ve always been able to easily trim excess 0.010" sheet with just a hand-held razor blade, the 0.020" sheet is much harder to cut. I resorted to a utility knife, finally got it all trimmed, but it wasn’t fun.

When I peeled off the top protective sheet, I found the PEI was perfectly smooth and shiny – not matte textured like the sheets from Lulzbot. Grabbed some Scotch-brite gray (equivalent to 00 steel wool I think) and textured it myself.

Ran a test print and everything worked perfectly. No need for Z offset changes as washers are still on top of the sheet, and no need for shims or longer spacers under the washers, as the extra 0.010" is easily accommodated by the “cushion” of the ninjaflex bed corners.

Only time will tell if the .020" holds up better than the stock .010" sheet. It is my impression that a lot of the bubbles occur due to the sheet “stretching” during part shrinkage, so the thicker sheet should provide more resistance to that. I’ll try to report back here in a few months with results.

Excellent, ScottW, I think it will be a long time before you have any issues with that, if ever. :wink: Mine are still going strong. The thicker sheets just won’t bubble or warp and handle scratches and scrapes much better. Just sand it down and scrape is gone. The thicker sheets are practically bullet proof. They should be stock on new printers. :slight_smile:

I print ABS-PC with a 110°C bed temp and notice no problems with adhesion of the PEI to the glass.

FWIW, I print ABS on a FlashForge, and have never had to use a 110°C temp with their print bed stickers. 100°C works fine, and in fact ABS sticks a bit too well, and requires heating the bed to 60° for model removal. Maybe try using one of their stickers on your Lulzbot?