Absorbent Pad in Bottom of Form 3+

General Discussion
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I got the alert that my tank is nearing the end of it’s life and although I’m not one who pushes the boundaries, I like getting my money’s worth. I certainly don’t want to try and clean out the bottom of my machine if a leak occurs. I am wondering what would be the problem with lining the bottom of the chassis with an absorbent pad such as Pig mat? It’s appr. an 1/8" thick and absorbs about anything. Apologies in advance if this is a dumb question.

2

Hey @danalex,

We don’t typically advise inserting anything into the body of the printer, especially while printing. Off the top of my head, as long as the mat isn’t impeding any of the motor movements or LPU then it likely shouldn’t be a problem, however I would like to ask my Engineering team if they can think of any reasons why to not do this.

3

Hey @danalex,

I checked in with a few members of Engineering and other departments and there is a good chance that it could accidentally get kicked up by the X-stage (LPU housing) as it moves along the X-axis that could potentially jam the motors and fail a print. Additionally, a resin spill would still potentially get on the lead screw, optical window, and other parts of the printer that the absorbent mat wouldn’t protect.

4

Even assuming the pad can absorb Resin, which isn’t a given no matter how “absorbent” the pads might be. I’d try an experiment to make sure it actually worked before seriously considering this.

But also, yeah, if a tank springs a leak the resin is going to end up in a lot of places that aren’t the bottom of the machine and it’s those other places that really matter. A resin spill on the bottom wouldn’t be desirable, but resin there wouldn’t interfere with the operation of the printer. Resin on the LPU and lead screw will be the real concern, and that absorbent pad isn’t going to help…

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Thanks for the reply’s! I agree that the a leak into the bottom of the printer is the least of the worries. I was just thinking it might speed up the cleanup. If you guys believe that a pad could potentially hinder the movement of the LPU than I probably will not attempt.

Thanks again,
Dan

6

Hey @danalex,

Happy to help!

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