Hey, first of all thank you for the valuable feedback! What kind of plate are you using? I used the textured PEI that comes with the A1. I also have a newer version that I plan to upload over the next days, that should also have better bed adhesion. Another important thing is to make sure your build plate is clean (touching it with your bare hands leaves grease marks on it). Just use warm water and dish soap to clean it, rinse with warm water and make sure not to touch the printing surface too much. I actually use cotton gloves now to avoid getting grease on the plate. Let me know if that helps, otherwise I will comment here as soon as I uploaded the new version. Cheers!

Hey. thank you for the advice. I will try it in about 6 hours when my current print (with raft) is done, and comment back then. I am using the Creality Ender 3 Neo. It has a glass plate. Oh, the no touching one. lol. When I would see a defect starting to form in the first layer, I would try to press it down with my finger.

looking at the symptoms, it looks like the main problem is that i didnt level my bed properly and also the z-offset is cannot be set well given the issue with my bed leveling. will just have to print with a raft right now as I'm prioritizing the kids toys over waisted filament. thank you. these things are amazing