I keep having failed prints and the formlabs support couldn’t help me. I saw customers here on the forum who got similar problems. My problem is that I setup twenty seperate equally designed small jewelry models. Like I already figured out it prints better on the sides of the build platform but for now ts not acceptable getting 7 printed models and 13 failed! This happens almost evrey time and I NEVER get all models printed together. also the failed prints are flat cured resin pieces stuck to the silicon ground of the tank. By peeling them off I am always very careful and didn’t damage the tank at all. At this point I just don’t know any further and am frustrated that even cleaning the tank for an hour after every print don’t help!I want to let speak pictures and hope you can help me with your experiences as I think this is a common problem. I hope for a solution as I really need my printer to work properly as I got a customer asking for prints!
the one picture shows the 7 models I got although it has to be 20! On the other you see the pieces I always remove from the bottom of my tank after every print!
First sight it looks like a bad laser and a very crooked tank. Change the z-offset so the platform lowers closer to the tank to get the parts to adhere. However it look like the parts aren’t printing right which is probably a bad laser. If they aren’t submit a ticket with a laser spot test result, and support will be able to help.
well it worked and every model was printed so I thought everything is okay now! But no it is not!!! Look what came out of my printer today. Somehow the base didn’t stick to the build platform. Also there is sticking cured resin of the models onto the ground of the tank. Every printed part is useless and messed up!
Yesterday it worked fine but today its total crap. I guess the models are adhering to the build platform and the tank to the same time. And when the tank lowers it pulls the base from the build platform down( ? ). Or is it the laser that makes the problem?
Marcus, really sorry to hear you are having printing trouble and that support was unable to help. I looked back on your ticket history and it looks like Meg from our support team sent you 3 messages when you wrote in, but we never heard back from you. Maybe our emails were being trapped in your spam folder?
It looks as though the calibration of your machine is off as Rocus mentioned. Happy to help you get back up and printing…can you send me a message to jory@formlabs.com? I’ll make sure your issue is taken care of.
I cleaned my tank again today and filtered the resin from small cured resin pieces. I took a picture of the bottom of the tank and noticed that its quite blurry! The thing I am wondering about is… the blurry layer is under the silikon! Any ideas how this could have happend?
Marcus I know Jory is helping you but I’ll throw in my two cents. Your laser test looked good. The fogging is not great but also doesn’t look bad enough to cause the problems your seeing. However your bases look too thin now so easing of the z-offset some should help.
Also in reference to the blurring it will happen to a tank over time it’s normal wear and tear. Once it gets to a certain point you need to replace the tank or replace the silicone in the tank. The fogging seems to happen faster with some failed prints.
Thanks you Rocus …I already set the Z offset 4mm lower and it worked. Now all parts are printed. I still have different issues that need to be solved. You the silicon can be replaced. Can you give me advice how to do it correctly? Which silicon I should use for example and how to apply.
next print same result… well I believe primarily now its the foggy tank which is reason for that. I will go with a new tank but before I use it I want to make sure not to ruin my tank again with failed prints. So can please s.o. help me prevent this by analyzing the main problem? If its the galvo how can I tune the x and y axis correctly? Someone already mentioned the laser looks a bit off focused. I would be glad to discuss this deeper privately per e-mail.
Marcus, we have been experiencing longer then expected wait times due to the influx of requests since our update. I will followup with a solution for you today via email.
We do not recommend tuning your own galvanometers and we have recently discovered that the laser test is inconclusive without proper cleaning. One of our engineers posted in another thread:
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I was having similar problems to many of you––failed prints with explosions, ragging, and rough surface finish. I ran the laser spot test test and saw a bad spot. While the laser spot test is a powerful tool to help determine the shape of the laser hitting your build surface, it is important to note, that spot is the result of the entire optical path. While a bad spot can be the result of a flawed laser, it can also be the result of dirty mirrors. Mirrors can get dirty from dust, resin spills, and fingerprints. Often times it is very difficult to see that the mirrors are dirty. When I cleaned the mirrors thoroughly. my Form 1 began working wonderfully again.
Below are two pictures of the same mirror. Under normal light the mirror looks fine. With the light of a smartphone flash pointed at the mirror from the back of the printer (where the laser emits from), the smudges become apparent. Check out this support article for mirror cleaning tips: http://formlabs.com/support/help/care/mirror-cleaning/ . My preferred mirror cleaning technique involves kimwipes and isopropyl alcohol. I spray some alcohol on the kimwipe and apply pressure while wiping upward on the mirror slowly (about 1cm / sec). I repeat about 5 times to get remove all smudges.
Of course, if problems persist, you should certainly reach out to our customer support team and they’ll get you back up and running again. Hope this helps!
…I already set the Z offset 4mm lower and it worked. Now all parts are printed. I still have different issues that need to be solved. You the silicon can be replaced. Can you give me advice how to do it correctly? Which silicon I should use for example and how to apply.
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