Check this out. more failures, this is just awful. By far the worst investment I’ve have ever made, even worse than buying a Dell computer. I’ve saved over half a year to afford this machine, am just out of collage, barely make above minimum wage, trying to make work to improve my lot, and it just doesn’t work, Support just tells me to clean the mirrors and to give them more money buying more resin and it all goes to waste, buying this has all been a catastrophe.
Do you feel better after venting? Good. Now lets do something productive.
Upload your .form file and post pictures of what it is supposed to look like.
If I had to guess without any useful information, i would say that you don’t have a vent hole, thus causing internal pressure causing your parts to ‘explode’.
1 Like
Ok, its very frustrating you know, but thanks for your help. Am trying to print a simple shoe for the sculpture am working on. It’s hollowed out if that’s what you mean by vent hole? although it doesn’t look like it exploded, just has gaps in it or stops printing halfway. I would upload the .form file, but its 157 megs, the .Obj is not decimated, but theoretically that shouldn’t be an Issue.
However I am putting the tallest part near the hinge side
Well explode is really too violent of a term, but what I mean is that during each layer when the platform comes down the volume of resin inside the hollow has to have somewhere to go, and if it cant escape, it will make its own hole somewhere you don’t want it.
For the vent hole in the part to work properly, it needs to be one of the first portions printed so that way during every future peel and compression cycle the liquid resin has somewhere to flow.
Unfortunately, it looks like that could be tricky with this part. The toe pointing straight up might be your best bet… probably sole side up to get the hole as close to the bottom as possible.
For a file that large, you could probably use WeTransfer.com to send the file to yourself, and then post the link they send in the email.
It may be easier to simply print the part solid.
@Paul_Schommer is almost definitely right, and if so it’s really disappointing support didn’t identify the problem correctly and tell you how to perform the print properly as it’s a fairly textbook case. Anyway he’s also right that printing it solid should fix the problem but your print quality will be diminished by this approach due to excess striation. I would strongly suggest finding an orientation where having a small hole to patch on the side closest to the build platform won’t be a problem, then adding a 3mm-5mm hole in that spot and orienting the part so that hole is facing downward. Then print and use a small amount of resin and a 405nm laser to patch the hole.
Well I want to sat thank you, a still not sure if by vent hole you mean the hole I used to hollow out the 3d model, but I followed your advice and it seems to have worked. I still wish support would step up, do the right thing and replace my resin tank. It already started to fog up and most of it due to failed prints.
1 Like
Thank you, That’s a great tip about the 405nm laser since the prints always seem to have holes in them.
Also, since the resin tank already started to fog up, how can I know when the prints don’t come out because of that? by any chance you know of a picture I could see of when the resin tank becomes useless?
Rocus, is this the kind of laser you mean? http://www.amazon.com/1Pcs-405Nm-Violet-Purple-Blue/dp/B00MKVQIJY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426709649&sr=8-2&keywords=405nm+laser
Sorry, but I have not had a tray become useless yet, but check out this thread where I had a clouded tray. That was just from the pigment settling and was fixed by lightly scraping the base layer of the tank with the putty knife.
Unless you have more than 2L of resin printed on a single tank, I doubt that the clouding is the issue. I just started my 3rd bottle of black resin on one of my tanks, and it is still printing nicely.
@Paul_Meza I got a 100mW one instead of a 5mW one. The 5mW will probably take a really long time to cure. The tray is unfortunately a consumable so they won’t cover it usually. You should also be sure you actually understand why this orientation fixed your print and how to do this in the future, as not understanding it will almost definitely result in more failed prints. If you don’t understand it either @Paul_Schommer or I can explain it in more detail.
Would something like this work? http://www.lasers-pointers.com/en/green-lasers-pointers/3-100mw-green-laser-pointer-532nm.html
What am thinking from what you guys said is that in essence I should avoid creating a bucket, where the resin can become trapped?
That’s good to know, thanks again. 
You are looking for something with a 405nm wavelength. Perhaps 400-410 would work. But 532nm is just too far out of range to cure the resin properly. Same goes for the UV LEDs/lamps for a cure box.
Paul is right. 532 is in the middle of the “visible” spectre. You’re looking towards bordering the UVA spectre. Probably laserpens on batteries aren’t what you’re looking for. I’m guessing the only 405nm laser pens are ones which need a power supply (other than batteries). Or they’ll be extremely expensive.
What about this one? it’s 100mw and 405nm
http://www.dhgate.com/product/2015-100mw-405nm-purple-blue-adjust-focus/215414574.html?utm_source=pla&utm_medium=GMC&utm_campaign=laser666888&utm_term=215414574&f=bm|215414574|103013-Gadgets|GMC|Adwords|pla|laser666888|US|103013004-LaserPointers|c||0LRF|&gclid=CjwKEAjwiq-oBRC9gvHCsvDdn2cSJACV3DFRyq5CJWHaCrk2u3ES-j96B8P-bhzncgxBv6fDMmbLGRoChj3w_wcB
Yes! Great find. I’m ordering one right now.
Wait though, I did a google search, reviewing the website and it had terrible reviews http://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/www.dhgate.com
First I did a search to find the right tool and then I have to find the right place to buy it!
Yes, I did that too. just search on google for the same image and you’ll find dealers closer to you which might be more reliable!
Haven’t looked into lasers in a few years, but I think trying to find a 100mw unit under $50 is asking for trouble. I think your best bet is to either settle for having to plug it into the wall, or pony up the $50-$80 for a quality laser.
Just my $0.02
100mw is no joke. Get eye protection
1 Like