Hello. My printer has notified me I may not have enough resin to finish the job that I’m about to start (I’m pretty sure it does) and it directed to the help section here where it has pictures of someone topping off the tray mid-print with a bottle of resin which I don’t have. My question is can I somehow pour resin from my other full cartridge into the tank? or should I just switch it? Not entirely sure how they work(as far as pouring from one to another), I would think there’s a more accurate explanation of how this works but couldn’t find it.
Thanks in advance and look forward to being part of the community!
If the machine stops filling you will get a warning on the printer and it will pause the print. Formlabs can correct me if I’m wrong but I seem to remember that you can just change out the resin cartridge at this point (assuming that it’s the exact same material).
So, wait for the error screen, change the cartridge, hit continue (try again?) and keep going.
Pouring from the new cartridge will mess up the level calculation and you might run out with that new cartridge unexpectedly. There is no level sensor, just a calculated use from the valve opening.
The printer estimates how much resin you have in your bottle. You can start the print and by pass this message if you think you have enough material to complete the job. If in fact you are running low you can pause the machine and add more material from another cartridge (typically from the same material type but you could experiment here and the machine wouldn’t be the wiser). There are two ways to pause the machine, there is a menu option, or you can open the lid when the laser is not in use and the machine will pause.
This notification is pretty conservative so it is entirely likely that you will have enough resin to complete the print. If this isn’t the case, you’ll get an error when the cartridge runs out that will pause the print. From there, you’ll have the option to insert a new cartridge or continue the print. If you continue the print, it’s possible that the tank will run too low and can cause your part to fail.