Just finished my first print, and it looks pretty good. My question is, do I need to clean off the build plate? There doesn’t seem to be any instructions as to what to do with that, or the left over resin in the tank. Do I just leave it in there? What if I want to change resins?
You need to make sure there’s no residue cured resin stuck to the build plate. I usually wipe mine off with a paper towel. That makes it a little easier to see if something’s still stuck.
You need to make sure there are no cured resin “flakes” in the resin tank, too. This is critically important to check if you end up with a failed print. I’ve had dozens of successful prints on my Form2 and have stopped looking for flakes unless I notice a defect in the print.
If you want to change resins, you have to swap in a new resin cartridge. The printer will remember what resin was used with the resin tank and will insist you change the tank to one that’s either new or previously used with the resin type you’re planning to use this time. You can override the printer and force it to use the tank anyway and there’s not a big risk associated with doing so. But depending on the resin in the tank and the new resin you plan to use, and how much of the original resin is in the tank, you could end up with failed prints. You can pour the resin out but it takes a while since the resins are viscous. If there are only a few drops of the old left, they won’t have any meaningful effect on the new resin.
But really, you are supposed to have a tank for each resin type you’re using.
After printing I’ll usually run the scraper over the build platform to make sure that there isn’t any stuck bits of cured resin remaining. If I’m going to be printing in the same resin immediately afterwards I’ll just give a quick wipe with a paper towel, otherwise I’ll wipe it down with IPA before storing it on a shelf.
You don’t need to do anything special with a tank after a successful print. You can leave the resin in the tank, and cover it with the included black plastic cover if you remove it from the printer. If a tank has been sitting for a few weeks or more, then before printing again it’s good to stir up the resin with the wiper. We have a support article on resin care: http://formlabs.com/support/materials/resin-care/
If you have a failed print then you may need to do a bit more: http://formlabs.com/support/printers/form-2/cleaning-after-failed-print/
I always wipe it off with a paper towel and then clean it with IPA. Leave the resin in the tank if you can, it’s a pain to clean the resin out if you want to switch to a different resin. If you want to remove the resin from the tank, I recommend using a plastic syringe to suck it out carefully rather than trying to pour it out which can make a mess. It helps a lot if you don’t get any resin on the outside of the tank.
I’ve been through about 50 prints so far with no failures, and I attribute that to how much I pamper my build plate. The first few layers are the most important for any print, so your build plate needs to be perfect.
When my print is complete, I always do the following:
- Use the scraper to remove all of the extra resin, and clean off the scraper with a paper towel.
- Use the alcohol bottle to coat the build plate lightly with alcohol, and clean with a paper towel
- Repeat the above step a second time
- Put some IPA on a paper towel to remove any resin or IPA from the sides of the build plate.
- Before using the build plate again, I always clean it once more with IPA to remove any dust or dirt. I take extra care to remove all IPA so no IPA ends up in the resin.
Good luck!
I had some problems with print sticking to build plate. Before i weny to change the offset i decided to clean a different way.
Resin removed and then wiped over with ipa.
Surface was then rubbed with a medium block of garryflex, and then loads of wiping over with ipa.
Dry.
This worked a treat.
That’s probably more than necessary. Just wipe off the resin, then use IPA and then wipe that off
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