Warped corners, curling edges and "first layer didn't stick" are the top reasons prints fail. Here's the complete fix order.
1. Bed temperature by material
- PLA/PLA+: 45–60 °C, clean PEI or tape
- PETG: 70–85 °C, PEI — with glue stick to prevent over-adhesion
- ABS/ASA: 90–110 °C + heated enclosure (essential)
- PA/PC: 60–120 °C + enclosure + glue or adhesion layer
2. Clean the surface — properly
Finger grease is invisible and fatal. Wash PEI with warm soapy water (not just IPA — IPA spreads oils). Dry fully before printing.
3. First layer tuning
Level the bed, set first-layer height to 0.2 mm, slow the first layer to 20–30 mm/s, and add a brim for parts with small footprints or high walls. "Z-offset" — the single most common culprit — needs to be just right: too high = no squish, too low = elephant's foot.
4. Adhesion helpers by material
PETG on PEI: glue stick stops it bonding too hard. ABS/ASA: 3D printing tape or slurry in an enclosure. PA: glue stick on PEI. TPU: bare clean glass or PEI works well.
5. Environment
Drafts cause uneven cooling and curling. An enclosure (even a cardboard one) stabilizes ABS/ASA and improves large PLA prints.
Our material pages list exact bed settings for every VOXFIL spool — start from our data and tune from there.
