Just received my printer today and of course I started printing right away. Not sure if I did something wrong but the first print did not come out very well. Looks like the supports did not come out correctly and the print is warped.
I noticed towards the end of the prints that the part was sticking to the resign tank. Or so it seemed to me.
Once the model was done I wanted to try a different smaller model and did the recommended checks (check the silicon layer of the resign tank). It is damaged now, towards the middle there are some slices cut into the clear layer of the tank.
I really just wanted this thing to work as I have so much to print. =(
It looks like your print is parallel to the plate, that creates a lot of stress during the peel process so I would put at least a 15 degree angle on your print, high side facing the hinge on the tank. If your object is solid I would also consider making it hollow, give it walls 1.5mm to 3mm thick and make sure you add some holes to prevent a vacuum forming, which would also add to the stress during the peel process. Not sure what setting you are printing at but I would print that at 0.1mm to speed things up too.
And if you have damaged the silicone in the tank I would suggest a new tank or replace the silicone in the damaged one - gouged silicon is bad for printing successfully.
Thanks for the reply. I printed in black @.05. All I did was upload my STL file from my soldiworks cad model into preform. Hit generate supports and sent it to the printer.
The print could very well be parallel (not sure) as I did not change anything after uploading the model and generating supports. The model is solid… I was actually going to install this on a car and bolt everything up before we have it sent to the CNC shop. The model would have had to support some weight during the test fit process.
When you refer to the peel process, I am assuming you mean when the tank dips and the platform moves up?
I will try it will the angle next time.
I don’t understand how I damaged the silicone layer in the tank after 1 print? I never even touched the thing.
OK after taking some time and reading the advanced guides I see the error in my ways. I did not realize that the resign actually connects to that silicone layer and is then pulled free. That is alot of force on the model to be pulled apart and I see why you want to angle the model now. My mistake. Really sucks that it damaged the resign tray though.
HI @Jason_Brown, I’d like to second @JasonSpiller’s advice (wow! let’s keep this a Jasons only thread :)) . Glad to hear you read through more of the guides on the support site. I’m also tempted to go from Solidworks to printer ASAP, but you should try hitting “Auto Orient” (and the automatic “Layout All” button), which can help you understand the best ways to set up print jobs. I would guess that hitting “Auto Orient” on that part will put it at ~20 degree angle to the build plate.
I’d also suggest than when you re try this part, you just use the 100 micron setting. For parts that size with that level of detail, they will actually come out better at 100 microns and will finish in less than half the time.
So I decided to move on from this bracket. I don’t want to waste large amounts of resign unless I know the print is going to work. Also as stated before, the first model damaged the silicone layer of the resign tank. <-- Really unhappy that can be damaged so easy. (one bad print just cost $59 bucks)
So now with no chance that item will print correctly I have moved on to smaller items.
I started with some basic fitting designs.
I move the models on the hinge side, around the damage. This is what I got. (now I started printing these before I created the thread so they were not oriented in the software.
That second fitting almost came out the way I wanted it to. It just got deformed at the end.
In between this and the next print I fished this out of the tank
Not sure if its resign or not.
I got very excited about that almost completed print and after reading the response to this thread I tried two more models spaced further apart and on the non-hinge side. The non-hinge side of the resign tank did not have any damage to the silicone layer.
The base and supports seem to be great. I let preform orientate the models and used the good side of the silicone layer.
The print settings have not changed. I am using black with .05
Needless to say, I am not sure what to do at this point. The parts of the models that are correct look fantastic. Just need it to complete the models.
Sorry if my spelling or grammar is off I am in a hurry this morning.
It looks to me like those parts failed due to excessive adhesion to the pdms layer in the resin tray - probably caused by the components being too thick (ie, not hollow) and the hollow failures could be due to a vacuum building in the hollow section - put a small hole in your model close to the build plate so that a vacuum isn’t created in your hollow sections. I had MANY failed prints when I first started (and ruined tanks), it’s as much an art as a science to get good prints, but I rarely get failures now - it has been a long, steep and expensive learning curve!
The photos which show a conical crater failure are probably caused by an unsupported minima. Basically you have a spot at the lowest point in that crater which was un(der)supported and it stuck to the tank rather than the part being printed. Then on the subsequent layers, the piece stuck to the tank blocks the laser and thus grows larger while the corresponding crater in the part also grows. You’ll find flattened version of the missing parts of those prints stuck to the tank and you need to gently scrape them off the bottom of the tank before printing again. If the silicone surface of the tank becomes damaged it makes this failure more likely to occur.
So I decided to take out the resign tank and check for the missing pieces. After I had concluded that the tank was junk at this point anyway I really started to look at the damaged area of the silicone and what I discovered was the area I had believed to be damaged was actually the harden resign from the failed prints. so I carefully started pulling and scrapping at it and everything came off in solid chunks. The silicone layer doesnt appear to be damaged after all. My faith has been restored.
I never print solid objects if I can avoid it - too many failures! So I normally hollow out prints:
The hole is closest to the build platform to prevent a vacuum forming in the cavity, causing failure.
That’s great to hear! Failed prints (especially if it’s many layers) will adhere quite firmly to the silicone, but the PDMS is pretty tough and you should be able to use the flat edge of the scraper to push down and gently lift off failed prints. The silicone layer will usually only get damaged if it gets gouged with the sharp corner of the scraper or tweezers.
Thanks for the image. Most of my prints will be solid objects. Although the current model I am working on right now has a hole going right through the center of it because it is designed for fluid transfer.
After cleaning out the failed prints I had some short success with a few models.
I started with the formlabs clip model because I know that is atleast designed to work.
The image shows that the very end of the clip did not print and I have some weird wing like things coming from the side of the print. Any ideas what this might be?
I cleaned the tank again after that print and tried printing a fitting I already have in production. I have pictures of this same file earlier in the thread that failed. I printed two at the same angle at two different parts of the build platform.
As you can see, one made it and one did not. Still have no clue why.
Next up was a thin bracket and a large solid model plug. Both printed well. The large plug which had failed during previous attempts printed out well. It had a small little creator that can be fixed with some resign.
So I let the fitting site for a day in the sun and then tried to use it. The hoes ends will not screw onto the threads. They seem to be warped a bit and the fitting will not screw on without me forcing it (re-threading it)… So I have a good looking print but its not a usable prototype.
Dear Jason,
we have a similar problem with our printer. We have tried several things like putting an new tank into the printer, cleaned dirt and did some test prints. But we still have the same problem. Did you find a solution for the problem? We are not sure what further steps we should take. Please let uns know.
Thank you
Regards
Stefan & Marco
It can be tough to diagnose issues like that, without taking a closer look at your machine. I suggest that you write-in to our support team at support@formlabs.com (if you haven’t already). They’re fantastic and will make sure to take care of you promptly! Be sure to include lots of photos (you can link to this thread), as well as screenshots of your model, or even the model itself. They’ll walk you through a number of troubleshooting steps and get you up and printing soon!
I am currently working with support to help diag some of my issues.
I got the cleaning instructions from support and I will be checking out my mirrors soon. I have everything I need to clean them except the 2.5 hex to take the case apart.
I have not printed anything else recently because I have gotten decent enough samples to do test fits and I just don’t have anything else to print. Outside of stuff I don’t really need. Not going to waste the resign.
I suggest you email support like @Sam_Jacoby said and get the cleaning instructions and work with them to help resolve your issues.
