Air bubles in the resin

Support & Troubleshooting
1

Good morning,

I noticed that when the build platform imerses into the resin, a few air bubles appears in the resin tank.

The resin is in the tank a week ago, and before each print I’m adding a little more.

Is there any problem with that? Will this influence the quality of my prints?

Waiting for suggestions!

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

The air bubbles won’t cause any problems, but leaving the resin in the tank for extended periods of time is not a good idea. The reason being that the pigment may start to settle, which can result in failed prints.

It’s a good idea to mix/shake the resin before each print to ensure that it’s adequately mixed. This is hard to do in the tank. Personally I keep an extra “dirty” bottle on hand that I strain my resin into between each print, re-shake it, and then pour back into the tank.

3

Jonathan’s suggestions are good. You can also use the included scraper to mix the resin by running it back and forth in the tank until the pigment becomes uniform. This of course becomes trickier if the resin tank is more full.

4

Thanks for the tips!

5

Rather than shaking, would swirling not be better? I’m not sure if it was with another SLA machine or the Form 1, but shaking seemed to introduce a lot of air bubbles in the recipe I had. These settled after a while, but not a great idea just before a print.

I suppose this method (i.e. shaking) would be good occasionally with bottles of resin that are left sitting, but in the case of the tank, I am tending to stir with wooden Popsicle sticks, or combing back and forth.

A very low power oscillating device might also be something to use next to the bottle as well to generate mild vibration. Not on the bot, but where stuff is stored, or on the finish tray, perhaps.

6

Jonathan, do you always shake your resin before printing on the Form? Maybe it doesn’t matter with the recipe Form has. I stopped doing it a while back but that was on another SLA machine (DLP based) where it seemed to be problematic. I’d like to know if you’re doing it on a regular basis with the Form, right before a print … and does your “shaking” involves: gentle, mild, or violent?