Dear group. I’m at my wits end with my Form 2. A printer that has performed really well for a year or so is failing print after print. Got to the point where I think it may be past it. Just invested in a litre of Rigid 10K and a new Resin tank. Used the auto generated supports etc to see what happens. Still fails. Am I flogging a ‘dead horse’ or is there something I’m missing. Parts of my print stick to the resin tray regardless of what I do/try. Any help anyone can offer would be massively appreciated. My best, Scott.
Hey Scott, have you tried sanding the platform with the Wetordry 3M P600? I was having the same problem printing my Temporary material.
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Thanks for that. I’ll certainly give it a try. Was quite a new platform to be fair. It’s weird, I assumed my LT tank was getting old as I used a lot of Grey Pro resin. I switched out to clear, the Durable - all dedicated tanks - same results. Maybe it is the bed… Will try that in the morning. Any tips on cleaning the cured parts that are stuck to the fragile film? Weary about scraping it with a metal scraper. £80 brand new tank and all! Thanks again for the speedy reply. Much appreciated.
New platforms with such a material need a little bite to them. Sometimes the smooth surface of the new platform is not beneficial. I find that my prints turn out much better after there is some surface roughness to the build platform. I know it sounds weird but in most cases my form 2 still out performs my 3L in quality.
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Hi @Definethelight,
I’m sorry to hear about the print failures you’ve been encountering. Another procedure you could try is Correcting non-adherence which lowers the Z-axis offset. Aside from that, I would recommend getting in touch with our Support Team for a closer look in case of any optics or file-related issues.
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Thank you. Makes sense that a rougher surface offers a better ‘key’ for that first layer. I did replace the build plate recently to see if that helped. I’ll clean the print off and give that a go roughing it up a bit.
Thanks Jesse. I’ll try first a rougher build plate, then an adjustment to the Z axis. Appreciate you taking the time to help me. Kind of up against a deadline with a prototype, and am frustrating the client more than the printer is frustrating me! Thanks again.
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An update Jesse… I A) Lightly sanded my build platform, B) Ensured the optical bed was clear from obstructions and cleaned the glass too. C) Removed all debris from the new resin tank after that failed print above. D) Set the Z offset to -0.5mm. I had a successful adhesion on a small test print, but the supports didn’t go all the way to the printed object. May be an orientation issue. I’ve created a steeper angle on the print and have just started that going. I’ll see what happens in the morning assuming it doesn’t pass for the ‘Motor Jam’ issue which strangely is never caused by an obstruction. That’s always happened throughout the life of the machine - I’ve just learned to live with that! Fingers crossed for some success this evening.
Hi @Definethelight,
I appreciate the update. The best way to narrow this down further would be to get in touch with Support directly. They’d be able to investigate a potential optics issue or another root cause for the nonadherence as well as advising about the “Motors Jammed” error you encountered.
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Thanks Jesse. I’ve submitted a support form. Would be more than happy to have this machine serviced as it’s an invaluable tool for me. Appreciate your assistance.
Any news?
One thing to check and I hate to even suggest this, but have you looked at the laser head? The LPU?
We had a spillage accident a couple years ago. We never noticed it had spilled over. The little hammer looking float in the tank had stuck and we waisted nearly a half liter of resin. We didn’t know till we saw the pool of resin on the bench a couple days later. i had noticed that we had intermittent prints… Some worked, some where partial, some didn’t print at all.
In the end, we had to replace the LPU lens which isn’t hard, but it’s an expensive piece. Once we had cleaned up the inside as best we could, with the new LPU lens, it went right back to printing correctly. That’s the only time I’ve seen the printers acting strange (discontinued supports, lost part structures, half a part…etc)
That’s interesting. I too had a spillage a few weeks ago - all be it a small one. As it happens, I’ve been up against it with a clients prototype and ended up ordering a Form 3+ to get me up and running again. Formlabs still haven’t delivered the machine as they are low on stock of the resin tanks. Just ordered a tank from a reseller - they had over 120 in stock! Think I’ll get the form 3 early next week now (Fingers crossed). I’ll certainly strip the Form 2 down at the weekend and see what its like inside. Will clean the Galvo mirrors etc. Will update this post. That’s for checking back - really appreciate it.
Hi there. Just re-read this suggestion. My issue related to a Form 2 not the Form 3. That said, My Form 3 hasn’t actually produced a print yet. Just put a post up about that. The Mixer keeps detaching and becomes wedged between the Build platform and the Tank.
The Form 2 had a much better tank sensor, that’s for sure. The only issue i’ve ever had with my old Form2 was the horrible cartridge sensor. it had to be rubbed, cleaned, re-bent, poked, prodded… coaxed to even recognize that I had put a cartridge into the machine. I would still be willing to use that Form2 today if I could get that sensor to work right. That machine was awesome.
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I had a similar issue. New tank, bad mixer (sweeper). I put another new tank in place and it worked fine. I think it’s the sweepers. It might be possible that the manufactured sweeper isn’t as repeatable as is first thought. Perhaps the engineers could come up with a newer form of sweeper that doesn’t have the notched park spot… maybe another magnet use to hold it in place. I just think there seems to be too much variability between the sweepers that would guarantee the sweeper arms lock into parking or that the magnets grab the LPU as it passes.
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I agree totally… Especially with injection moulding shrinkage etc. These parts don’t look very forgiving to variations in manufacturing tolerances. I was pulling my hair out with that first print experience. Trust me, there’s not a lot of hair left to loose! Just taken delivery of 2 additional tanks. Am about to try the Rigid 10k… See how that goes.