Stop fighting bed adhesion: the four things that fixed 95% of my failed first layers

@printfarm_priya · Oct 19, 2026 · 322 views
Difficultyeasy
Time15 minutes
Costfree
  1. Clean the plate with dish soap and water, not just IPA. Fingerprints and PETG residue laugh at alcohol.
  2. Level with the nozzle hot and the bed hot. Metal moves. Level cold and your Z offset is wrong the second it heats up.
  3. Slow the first layer to 20 mm/s and run it 5 to 10°C hotter than the rest.
  4. Your Z offset is probably too high. The first line should be slightly squished, like a flattened noodle, not a round string.

If you have done all four and PLA still lifts at the corners, your bed is warped. Mesh leveling or a glass/PEI plate fixes that.

For PETG: back the Z off a hair compared to PLA or it welds to the plate and takes chunks of PEI with it. Ask me how I know.

#3d-printing#bed-adhesion#first-layer#pla#petg

52 💬 11 comments

11 comments

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@benchtop_bea 2d ago

This is the kind of post that makes this place worth it.

12
@printfarm_priya OP 2d ago

Should be the same procedure, the part moved slightly but the steps match.

5
@torque_tina 2d ago

Bookmarking. I have exactly this problem and was about to pay someone.

7
@printfarm_priya OP 1d ago

Unplug it. Always. Takes two seconds and the worst case otherwise is a trip to the ER.

1
@sparky_sal 23h ago

Nice. What did the whole thing end up costing you?

6
@printfarm_priya OP 2d ago

Right around what the post says, give or take shipping.

2
@benchtop_bea 1d ago

Question: do you need to disconnect power for this or is it safe to leave it plugged in?

4

The "what went wrong" section is the most useful part of this. More people should do that.

3
@torque_tina 2d ago

Upvoted for the safety notes alone.

2
@solderpunk 1d ago

Would this work on the older model? Mine is about ten years older than the one shown.

2
@printfarm_priya OP 1d ago

Should be the same procedure, the part moved slightly but the steps match.

7

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