Creality Ender 3 V2 - Wham Bam PEX Build plate

[@Doile911]

The Wham Bam plate is good,
the printer prints as it should.
I'll be honest i can't deny,
it took me many prints to try,
but i am glad i made this purchase,
god would know i have a purpose.
for many spools i have consumed,
and even more prints have been doomed.

[@fancytableshoes]

Wham Bam on Ender 3 made me say "Hot Damn no warp on PETG!?"
Never had good luck with the stuff 😔

[@Harry_B647]

It's not just you mate, my wham bam PEI sheet was a piece of crap also... wasted 60 pounds on it nvm

[@EGSHL]

Me and my carbon fiber extender buildplate . I love it. It loves me.

[@NeedItMakeIt]

$$$ big money aren't they? Can you share which one you bought? I may like to try it.

[@TechieSewing]

Looking good and nice, not annoying ASMR ;)
I always remove PEI from the printer and let it cool on the table for a bit, then flex to remove the parts. Without skirts I then don't have any reason to touch the bed and only clean it every few weeks or more.
That magnet looks really strong.

[@NeedItMakeIt]

I've been printing a lot, and it is working well on some tough prints, the magnet seems to be holding well, even at 110C for ASA. Those little bubbles keep appearing and then disappearing on the next print, so hopefully it keeps going that way. I think it may just be the bond with PETG being too strong. I should probably switch to ASA or ABS for everything. Thanks for the tips, do you use PEI with the textured side?

[@TechieSewing]

@@NeedItMakeIt I use smooth one more but also own a double sided PEI and use the textured side there. Textured is good if you use the bottom side as a visible one, hides all the lines nicely.

[@florinadrian4434]

Just put the screws first on the bed and then stick that magnetic build plate, drilling holes is a bad idea and you could damage the PCB if you are not careful.

[@dangerous8333]

I have an E3V2 with the stock glass bed and I print everything on it. I have 4 printers with 3 glass beds and no glue, hairspray or tape has touched my beds.
I only clean it with isopropyl alcohol. I haven't watched a first layer on that machine in months. FYI, if you're trying to print ASA without an enclosure, good luck. 😂
If your settings are properly dialed-in glass beds work great. I'm not really sure why some people have problems with them. I have a feeling it's because they switch between brands of filament and different brands like different z offsets and heat settings. I think some people think they can set it for one brand and then switch brands and think they don't need to adjust it.
I print everything in the same brand but if I need to change brands for some reason I just adjust the z offset/heat settings and it sticks fine every time.
I feel bad when I see people waste money on these machines thinking more upgrades will improve their printing. Only thing I've done to the E3V2 is bed spacers, all metal hotend and extruder, and Jyers firmware. Like a $100 total only because I got the Micro Swiss hotend.
The prints come out just as good and just as fast as my friends Prusa.
As I like to say, people can upgrade to death all they want. The proof is in the prints. You can assume your printer is better with all the upgrades, but if mine prints the same, is it?
Just food for thought for those of you that think these upgrades are necessary. Just trying to save you some money. Just learn to dial in the settings.

[@dalem04]

Same, I don't have any issues with my glass bed.
But I did also spend a long time dialling in bed temperatures and getting a perfect first layer.
I will also say that I clean it with alcohol before every print, and if I let it sit for a while or get any issues give it a gentle wash with hot water and dish soap. Makes a big difference. I can get away with maybe 3 or 4 prints without cleaning.

[@gotmilkbutt]

Until you have a NEED FOR SPEED

[@rolandmine6693]

WHAM BAM 💥 TESLACAM!!!

[@NeedItMakeIt]

NICE!

[@NeedItMakeIt]

I thought people would be more along the lines of WHAM BAM TOOK MY MONEY... SCAM!

[@rolandmine6693]

@@NeedItMakeIt I swear I always have to make sure I’m buying my printers from the right creality, sometimes I forget which one is real. There are so many identical fakes

[@shaneskillzrepresent]

i just use blue painters tape - works for everything petg, pla, asa

[@NeedItMakeIt]

You don't mind the little lines in the bottom?

[@yzzoarts]

For those with a small budget there is a perfect solution for perfect adhesion:
1. Get a piece of mirror, cut it to the size of the machine table - at the glazier's you can do it for pennies while you wait. This way we will have a perfectly smooth table because the mirror will always be super flat.
2. Now you need to make a "glue" from sugar and water. Just mix in a 1:1 ratio until the crystals dissolve. 4 teaspoons of sugar will last you a very long time. It must be kept in a well-sealed container so that the water does not evaporate.
3. Before printing, preheat the table to ~50 degrees Celsius and apply a thin layer on the mirror with a tissue soaked in the "glue". If there are small "drops" on the table, smear them immediately because on a hot table this "glial" quickly solidifies.
4. After finishing the print, just wait a few minutes - the print will fall off the mirror by itself.
I've been doing this for ~two years now and I've never had any problems holding up even large prints.
Happy printing! 🤩
(i used google translator)

[@Wolfhammer3D]

It's definitely not recommended to clean with acetone after prints. It should be 000 steel wool and IPA between every print. Never had an issue with my Whambam PEX or XTR.

[@NeedItMakeIt]

I just re-checked the instructions and you're absolutely right, they call for IPA and steel wool. Acetone was my thought on removing and residual grease, but probably best not to use it outside of just the first cleaning.

[@andyb7754]

I've got 2 E3V2 printers and put the Wham Bam Plates on them. They work great but I still use a glue stick because every now and then a print releases (no glue or old glue).

[@NeedItMakeIt]

That's great advice, I was thinking about that for PETG. I will try that tomorrow. Thanks a bunch!

[@smokingsolder39]

Have the PEX on 3 Ender3 Pros. While they all have all hot metal ends, I have no complaints. I'm not sure, but I have had the Wham-Bam PEX flex plates for over a year, maybe 2. I clean them between every 2 or three prints with Windex and a scotch pad. What can I say? Works great.

[@NeedItMakeIt]

I'm having good luck so far as well, some prints do lift a little, but they are printed heavy and they are large prints as well. The print doesn't fail, just a small amount of lift, and no printing in an enclosure yet, so maybe it is worst case scenario. Thanks for the feedback!

[@Sttreg]

Really nice ! I would love to know how these compare to the energetic ones on ali express. I was hesitant on getting the wham bam when I switched my plate, but the all the cost combined was too expensive for a plate, so I went for the aliexpress solution instead

[@smokingsolder39]

I run the beds at 80 degrees or higher, and never an issue. They stick down very flat. If you run OctoPrint, you can use a plugin to test your overall flatness at any temperature.

[@hologos_]

Aren't the bubbles caused by printing PETG directly onto the PEX? In the manual, they say a seperation layer should be used, PETG tends to bond to PEX.

[@Gorilla_Jones]

I print PETG on Wham Bam PEX and it bonds well as it should and after using a scraper they come right off.

[@Andyah]

belt sits on the wrong way on the y-axis..

[@DaveDDD]

It looks like it’s twisted so the belt’s teeth are engaged with the drive gear but not with the idler. Instinctively that both makes sense but also doesn’t - I’d love to hear about the benefits/drawbacks of this configuration from anyone that’s done it before.

[@NeedItMakeIt]

I did this on purpose, but I don't think there is any benefit. If you print with PETG, the sheen shows every little irregularity and I thought that maybe the teeth on the belt were causing this, the very regular intervals. I'm not so sure that's the case, could be related to the motors/steps etc.

[@NeedItMakeIt]

That's right, you have a keen eye!

[@mofous]

I really need to move on from printing everything with a 0.4mm nozzle.

[@-Viceroy-]

Just a stupid thought: Can the plate be prepped by sandblasting or sodablasting?

[@dangerous8333]

There's nothing wrong with the glass beds. Lots of us using them successfully everyday.

[@DaveDDD]

@@dangerous8333 The main issues I have with glass beds are the weight, the removal of the occasional stuck print when calibrating for a new filament, and waiting for the bed to cool before removing the print and starting another one. The weight only matters if you’re trying to go really fast (like, Klipper fast), and the occasional stuck print stops happening once you have enough experience, but the ability to hot swap a bed is pretty nice if you’re doing back-to-back batches. Popping one flex plate off, putting another on, and being able to start the next iteration almost instantly while the first is still cooling just feels unreasonably good even if it’s only saving you like 5 minutes of waiting for the bed to cool down/heat up. Probably not worth the upgrade price for most people, but it’s still a pretty slick feature.

[@Harry_B647]

i had a wham bam pei sheet on my old ender 3 before i moved to a prusa MK3S+ and all i can say is that it was worse at sticking prints to the build plate in comparison to the original glass bed lmao it was shit

[@NeedItMakeIt]

That's helpful info. Not everyhing is always as good as it sounds, I'll have to continue to test it.

[@conorstewart2214]

I just got a PEX bed, not from wham bam and it seems that printing ABS slightly damaged the surface in some areas, printing PC on it removed a small chunk and definitely seemed to have damaged the bed other than the chunk, almost like it had melted it slightly. The PC wasn’t sticking so I increased the squish onto the bed and then it stuck far too well. Don’t know if that is just the quality of the bed I got or if it is a problem with PEX beds.

[@NeedItMakeIt]

I have two small pieces which are similar to what you're talking about, so far they haven't caused a problem. I think for some materials, glue stick might still be a good idea to act as a barrier for this problem. ABS and Glue stick don't get along so that's probably not going to be great for that one. ASA either likely. But I will do some testing and see what happens. Thanks for confirming similar issues to what I've been seeing. Overall I am still happy with it using PLA and PETG, but the higher temp materials could cause problems.

[@conorstewart2214]

@@NeedItMakeIt I got the PEX specifically since it was meant to be fine with higher temperatures than PEI, hence PETG doesn't bond permanently to it. Everything I could see from wham bam and other sources said that PC might have trouble sticking and didn't require a release agent but glue stick was recommend to help it stick better, so I was very surprised when it stuck too well to the bare bed. I think it probably did melt the PC into the bed a little, I also used a very slow speed of 10 mm/s for the first layer which helped it stick but also probably gave the nozzle enough time to melt or soften the PEX.
Next time I will try a normal PVA glue stick and if that doesn't work I might need to try one of the PC specific adhesives. I managed to print PC before on the stock ender 3 pro magnetic bed but I don't know what it is made of, it could be made of PC itself and it did stick very well but I don't think it damaged the bed, on that bed it did warp but it stayed stuck to the bed, it just warped the bed itself since it was very flexible, the spring steel or glass beds are better for that because they are stiffer.

[@SeanTaffert]

try printing PC and tell me what you think. I found it stuck almost too well.
Also, you should NEVER use acetone to clean PEX.

[@conorstewart2214]

I might be remembering wrong but I’m wham bam’s cleaning video didnt they recommend to use acetone?
I printed PC on a PEX bed, not a wham bam one and it wasn’t sticking well at all so I lowered the nozzle to get more squish and it seems to have slightly melted the surface in places and in one place it bonded well enough that a chunk came out of the bed. Wham bam themselves say they have printed PC on PEX and it doesn’t need any release agent and instead that it doesn’t stick that well, so I don’t know what went wrong with mine.

[@AndrewduToit]

Seems these Wam Bam plates are becoming popular I am thinking of getting myself on for my Ender 3v2, Where did you get yours?

[@dangerous8333]

You don't need this. Just learn how to dial in the settings properly. The glass beds are great once you figure that out, and you don't need glue tape or hairspray. Just isopropyl alcohol.

[@AndrewduToit]

@@dangerous8333 I use isopropyl alcohol to clean the glass bed. But stuff still come loose or pull up. Specially petg.

[@Harry_B647]

@ Andrew du Toit Dan is right, if anything it made my prints stick to the bed even less than the original glass bed don't buy one

[@conorstewart2214]

@@dangerous8333 I have used a glass bed for a long time and a PEI or PEX bed does make a big difference, you get much more reliable first layer adhesion.

[@conorstewart2214]

@@Harry_B647 well your experience is very different from most peoples so chances are it is something to do with your setup.

[@jacobmurray3621]

I ended “Upgrading” from a glass bed I think I’m going to go back

[@EGSHL]

I did carbon fiber and it doesn’t require coating. Best $100 buildplate ever

[@conorstewart2214]

@@EGSHL $100 on a build surface is a little ridiculous, you can get carbon fibre build plates a lot cheaper than that.

[@jacobmurray3621]

I wanted to do a carbon fiber bed carrier to lose weight. I haven’t considered a bed too. That would be a game changer also bet I could skip the aluminum plate and just have the heater attached onto the carbon fiber. Maybe not a great idea since I want the build plate to be removable.

[@plang42]

Triple zero not Triple nought 👍

[@mikedixonphoto]

He said "Aught" or "ought," not naught. It actually means the opposite of "naught" and is not a substitution for zero. Aught means the smallest part, whereas zero means nothing.

[@3D_Printing]

Ender 5 Plus not sheet