When the machine runs out, it will still “finish” the model and you will not be able to recover any of it. I have also foud that the accuracy of the resin estimation to be off by 30-40% (may be case by case) For example I had a model that said to use 135ml, and it used all of the 200 in the tank and still had about 5% left to go on the model.
Keep an eye on the resin tray!
Is it possible to full the take mid print?
Yes, they have instructions are here. http://support.formlabs.com/entries/23588897-While-Printing-
A sure-fire way to know you will run out of resin is if your print will take more than 12.5 hours. If your time is around that or more, to be safe I would top up half way through, regardless if the software tell you it will use less than 200ml of resin.
Thanks for the tip! 12.5 hours is now embedded into our memories! :).
isn’t it possible for the print to pause itself when it detects resin is running low? or is that not feasible?
I am sure it is. or at least know the resin needed is more than the tank holds. And stops mid way for refilling. I am guessing this would probably have to be in the firmware of the printer, as once the job is uploaded, it doesn’t need a pc anymore.
It’s odd that the resin calculation would be so far off. When making models in 3dsMax it’s pretty easy to check the volume (in cm3) to get a reliable indicator of how many milliliters of resin it’ll take. Perhaps PreForm has a bug with calculating volume at different scales or with support structures added?
It could be possible that the numbers are off because there is a somewhat thick coating of material left on the object as it comes out of the resin. I know I had a complex geometrical form with a lot of surface area that wasted a lot of material that way. I do agree that it would be great to be able to alert the printer to pause after a certain amount of resin has been used
Which tool in 3ds max Let’s you calculate volume?
I think it’s the one called “measure”. It gives you the bounding box dimensions along with volume.
I had this issue as well (ruined an 8 hour print). As a rule of thumb I now fill to very near the max line before every print. It’s good to know that 12hrs is around the time limit.
For anyone reading, in 2021, this information does not seem accurate anymore. My Form 3 does not have this behavior. When there is not enough resin, the current firmware just waits for me to refill it so there is no harm done other than a delay. It also doesn’t send a warning message but just keeps trying to fill the tank from an empty cartridge which isn’t so bad.