Heat beds are used because they dramatically improve print quality by keeping the extruded plastic warm and thus preventing warping. Heat beds work to prevent this warping effect by keeping your part warm during the whole printing process which keeps the material at or above heat-deflection temperature (the temperature at which it is malleable). Keeping the parts in the heat-deflection range ensures that the part remains flat on the print bed
Heat beds are used because they dramatically improve print quality by keeping the extruded plastic warm and thus preventing warping. Heat beds work to prevent this warping effect by keeping your part warm during the whole printing process which keeps the material at or above heat-deflection temperature (the temperature at which it is malleable). Keeping the parts in the heat-deflection range ensures that the part remains flat on the print bed.
## Types of Heat Bed:
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Heated beds usually yield higher quality finished builds with materials such as ABS and PLA. Regardless of the heat bed you are using, you should generally use these temperatures (heat deflection points) for PLA and ABS:
1. For PLA 50-60°C
2. For ABS 100-110°C
### Heated Beds Using PCBs as Heating Element:
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[We recommend the PCB heat bed](http://bootsindustries.com/heat-bed-3d-printing/) as the heating elements. These are available with the budget 3D printers. However, these won’t last long if your 3D printing projects are complex and require frequent jobs with 3D printers. In short, they are meant for smaller projects that do not take much longer to complete.
### Recommended PCB HEAT BED:
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• The [MK2A heat bed (200mm x 200mm)](https://www.amazon.de/-/en/MK2-a-heated-bed-300-x-200-mm/dp/B01NBEX91J) is a good example of a PCB heat bed. These heat beds are used by many 3D printers due to their great performance and affordability.
• This particular heat bed has 2 integrated LEDs and an integrated resistor which makes it rather ‘plug and play’ when compared to other solutions.
