Rocky Beginning with prints sticking to FEP and How I won the battle

[Shouldbechill]

Hi All,

I joined firstly, because I hope my battle will help others avoid all the hair pulling, red face, po’d experience I had with my Elegoo.  I bought mine in December 2019.  Started ATTEMPTING to use it a couple weeks ago with non-stop calamity. The prints ALL stuck to the crappy FEP(my feeling is replace with a slightly thicker one to reduce flex...Anyway, I digress) Tried tape on the edges of the lcd...didn’t work and in my mind isn't conducive to a quality print.  Tried dry film lube...didn’t work.  Turned my brain on to realize what’s happening is the FEP has more friction than the work plate(and I’ll bet the work plate is vinyl powder coat...bad choice if you want stuff to stick)....The solution that worked for me was to hit the work plate with 600 grit wet/dry LIGHTLY in swirl pattern to the whole plate surface....then spray silicone onto the FEP and rub with cotton rounds(those ones the ladies use to become a whole different person) until both sides of the FEP area are mostly dry of any residual film...let sit a few minutes to air dry ....fill tray with resin...hit Print....chill with your favorite “you fill in”.....and BAMB....problem solved!!!  

I’ve had great success ever since.  I use the silicone between each print and I clean everything well.
 I Hope this helps others before they throw in the towel...Don’t quit?

[Maxer]

I'm having the same problems with build plate adhesion you've had and I just want to know how well this has worked in the time since you posted about it.  Before I sand the plate I want to make sure this is a good solution because I have a feeling Elegoo's warranty doesn't cover this.

[zemerick]

I'm having the same problems with build plate adhesion you've had and I just want to know how well this has worked in the time since you posted about it.  Before I sand the plate I want to make sure this is a good solution because I have a feeling Elegoo's warranty doesn't cover this.

I definitely fully recommend AGAINST sanding the plate. Without proper equipment, you can really damage the flatness of the plate, which is critical. In addition, the surface is already patterned to somewhat increase adhesion.

The problem is almost always a setting issue, which is quick and easy to experiment with, and causes no permanent change to your printer. The biggest one here is bottom layer exposure. The main reason this is set separately is that higher cure times means higher adhesion. So, you want high bottom exposure and low normal. This will give you high adhesion to the plate, and low adhesion to the FEP.

Other issues are poor level, poorly mixed resin, low temperature ( Elegoos resins mention a minimum of 20c/68f ) and just generally wrong settings for the resin.