Hello! I checked the topics for broken resin tray, and came up empty, so here goes.
Problem: After 6 prints (all good prints at .1mm res), I set the black resin tray cover over the orange plastic resin tray and, PING!..a chip of orange acrylic fell on to the printer base. Today I completed my 8th print, again with good results, but when GENTLY pushing the black cover on the tray, again, PING!, another piece of orange acrylic broke off in same back left hand corner.
I understand the trays are consumable, and I have no problem with that. I bought an extra. But I was of the understanding that it was the optically clear silicone what would not live longer than 1 liter before getting spotted and cloudy. No where did any of the web literature say the orange acrylic would become brittle and fall a part. Problem? Break is on the side wall, and is only .25" to .30" in height. Well below the height of the fill line. But now I think that the fill like might rise well above the broken acrylic wall when the build platform sinks down in the initial build. that would cause a leak of resin into the laser cavity. Not good.
Enough said, Help?
Tim — there was an issue that affected certain lots of resin tanks. It’s a known problem (see here) . Go ahead and contact our support team, and they’ll take care of you. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Sam, I’ll contact the support team. Formlabs is really becoming a stand up company. Nice to see, and worth the small investment in the machine to suppport a great customer service centered company. Way to go.
One thing you might want to consider is SKU numbers on the packaging of your replacement tanks and also build platforms as well. Right now, I would usually tell you the SKU of the additional tray I purchased with the original unit, and you would be able to cross reference the lot of the extra tray to see if it was manufactured after the “fix”. As of right now, there is no way of knowing. So, I’ll be asking support for 2 replacement trays. I hope the replacement trays are from a new lot. If not, we may be going " back to the well" a couple of times over the next month. I’m using this machine daily, and it’s become on of our most valuable purchases in the 40 year history of NHS Santa Cruz Skateboards.
Oh, one other observation: On my new tray, I can see marks on the side wall opposite the problem corner. These either may be shrink strain marks showing up in the optically clear orange acrylic, or actual scratch marks on the mold. They are in the direction of pull off the Core of the injection mold, so they may be ejection scratches as well. Look into this if you have not already.
Other than that, you guys may want to remove the pour feature in the mold completely. I never used it, as I poured from the RH corner and simply wiped carefully the drip on the exterior wall surface.
And, after probably .6L clear 02 resin through my first tank, even treating the tank carefully as I knew this was a potential issue, I can now count myself among the victims of the disintegrating left rear corner. TicketTime!
I could see using a clear tape to “patch” the wall, and would do so in an emergency. My tank is too far gone, as not only a 1 inch long chip on the backwall, but a second chip on the LH side wall. Taping would really be sketchy around the corner.
The “cause” of lifting the cover from the front does actually make sense, lots of leverage on the thin corner. Have started to lift the cover from the center “tabs” I’m sure that will help.