I’ve been logging my printing since I got the printer.
In my spreadsheet I’ve printed 366 ML, my dashboard says: 0.4L and somewhere I saw the number 377ML or so, pretty close to what I’ve logged! I’ve got a 12 hour print which I started this morning, it will use 220ML of resin, I just got an sms that my resin levels are low. But I assume that I dont have to be worried?
How should I go on now? Should I monitor the level in the tank from now on? What I’ve understood the printer stops and I have to confirm if I want to continue printing if it thinks that its empty right?
Im picking up a new resin cartridge tomorrow, should I refill the cartridge that Im using now from the new one, or whats the best way of doing this?
It makes an estimate how much resin you have left by keeping track of the amount that you use to print. At some point, it will try to dispense resin from the cartridge and it won’t detect any increase in the tray which will indicate that the cartridge is empty. You can still print however and your print should be fine as long as there’s enough resin in the tray so that it flows back over the bottom where it prints.
I wouldn’t recommend that you refill a cartridge, if it’s empty just replace it with a new one.
Ok, but should I “trust” my own log which seems to correspond pretty well to the “used resin” in the dashboard and just ignore the warnings? At what point should I replace my cartridge? When I see that the level of resin in the tank is getting closer to the lower mark and the cartridge doesn’t fill up the tank anymore?
If I’ve used 700ml according to my logs and the dashboard, and I have another print that would run over night and use 220ML, would that be safe to start? I accept that I don’t get exactly 1000ml out of each cartridge, there are probably some resin on the inside of the cartridge, some are washed off in the IPA bath after the print etc.
It will refill the tray to a consistent level during the print, after a some amount of layers it will pause for a moment while it checks the resin level in the tray, if it’s lower enough then it will dispense resin from the cartridge and then check again to make sure the amount that was dispensed, if the amount didn’t change then it will assume that the cartridge is empty and it will pause the print and pop up a warning message. You can then tell it to continue if you know that there’s enough resin in the tray to continue or you can replace the cartridge with a new one.
If you’ve used 700ml then you won’t have enough resin left for a 220ml print so if it hasn’t said that the cartridge is empty then it will soon. If you don’t want to waste time then you’ll want to be around for a bit until it sends the message that the cartridge is empty.
Ok, so one should count with getting around 800ml from a cartridge? Or how much?
If we assume that resin on the build plate is scraped off into the tank etc, no spill etc
You get exactly the amount of resin the cartridge contains. 1L. If you print 1L of objects you’ll be scraping the resin tank dry on the last layer. Why do you think you will get less than 1L from a 1L cartridge?
Well some resin aparently ends up in my IPA bath, Im just finishing my first cartrige, just want your suggestion for the process.
Im at 700ml used now, and I have a 210ML print to start now, then I should be able to just start the print now then, and it should finish fine. Although if it senses that no more resin is added into the tank while filling the print will stop and I can either use the resin in the tank or put in a new cartridge. (No point NOT replacing the cartridge if I have a new one waiting)
Something to keep in mind is that the tank uses around 200mL of resin. This means that you’ll be able to print approximately 800mL worth of objects before the cartridge runs empty. Once this happens, the print will pause and ask if you’d like to replace the cartridge or continue. If you continue, the print will go on using only the material in the tank but if the resin level gets too low, it can lead to a print failure.
Yes the print just stopped, 6 hours left on the print said 595 ML before the print was started and I have probably printed approx 50% of 220ML so 110ML. Thats 595+110+200 in the tank = 905, so roughly 100ml in the IPA bath + inside of the cartridge etc. I’ll adjust my pricing matrix to 900ml/cartridge I think. The cartridge felt really empty as well when I removed it.
Yeah, you need to maintain a certain amount of resin in the tray so that after each layer prints there is enough resin so that it covers the bottom of the tray before the next layer prints.
So if you calculated 300mL left and you have a 210mL print, then that would give a 90mL margin. That margin might not be enough to keep the tray filled to an acceptable amount and you know it will be less than 90mL since you lose some resin that sticks to prints and the inside of the cartridge.
I would argue that it doesn’t matter how many mL you get out of the cartridge, and that there’s no point in trying to keep track of it. Simply assume 200mL remains in the tank from when the printer complains that the cartridge is empty. If you’re halfway through a 300mL print, you’re probably OK. If you’re starting a new 300mL print you’re definitely not OK, load another cartridge before you start the job.
I make it a point to try and use up as much resin as I can before replacing a tray (rather than decant the old resin in to a new tray). I keep an empty cartridge I can insert so the printer doesn’t keep adding more to the tray. Most times I end up with a few mm remaining I don’t use because there’s nothing small I need to print. But I’ve had prints finish successfully even though there was so little resin left that after an hour or so surface tension in the remaining resin had “pooled” the resin and left areas of the tank “dry”.
My experience anyway, you don’t necessarily need a lot of resin in the tank to print the last few layers of the print, so just go with “200mL remains” to decide what to do when the printer complains the cartridge is empty.
Ofc its not needed to log the printing, since the logging in the dashboard seems to be accurate as well.
I’m just focused on watching when the printer has reached ROI, hence the logging of all costs connected to it.
My print stopped during the day when I was out, I returned home 2 hours later, replaced the cartridge and resumed the print. Worked great and the cartridge feels really empty so it cant be a lot of resin left in there…