Does UV light still get through the orange cabinet lid?

Just wondering how efficient the Orange lid is on the Form 2 against uv light? Does a percentage of light still pass through it affecting the resin quality? I want to put my printer near a window and thought about covering it with a black cloth when printing and not in use.

It’s probably not the best idea to situate the printer in direct sunlight. You shouldn’t have a problem unless the sun hits it directly. But there’s a guy on this forum named Zak who’s got a business called “Z-Vate Industries” and he sells a really nice custom-made Form2 slipcover. I don’t remember what it’s made from, but it’s opaque and I think even has an anti-static treatment on the inside. The cover also has a “touch friendly” clear window situated over the printer’s display so you can operate the printer without removing the cover.

And it’s very reasonably priced.

I have one.

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From my research on commercially available amber plastic that is used as a filter, manufacturer’s tech sheets list the filtering of 405nm at only ~90%. So assuming Formlabs is using a similar formula of filter there is some amount of light getting through. Don’t think it’s much of an issue as if it was you’d probably hear some complaints about it. But yes, in direct sunlight I could imagine it being a problem.

Thanks @Randy_Cohen for the kind words! The cover is made from cordura, commonly used on luggage, backpacks and other performance gear.

Cheers guys, I will look into the cover if shipping to the UK isn’t too expensive :wink: For now I drape some black material over the printer. The blinds would usually stay shut so not much light gets in. Definitely shut when it’s sunny.

I’ve also been reading up cotton is the best material for not building up static charge. Is there truth in this I wonder?

also possibly interested in a cover for my form2 but curious about the Electro Static Discharges. Is the cotton one all cotton if so that would stop any ESD.

Talking about static, I took off the plastic wrapping on the case unpacking my F2 and getting tiny static discharges in the process. Also the orange case is extremely static as the hairs on my arm are sticking to it :-S hope this is normal.

The orange cover does block out reactive wavelengths of light sufficiently to prevent photo-polymerization of the resin for most environments. Direct sunlight can in some cases interfere with some materials over prolonged periods of time so it’s best to avoid.