Failed prints all day everyday

Support & Troubleshooting
1

I was wandering if anyone has had similar trouble with a thin plastic layer forming in the tank, which prevents the object to keep forming. Of course I’ve checked the mirrors and ran the test print Formlabs sends you, and that one came out ok. The only one that came out ok, Every single one of my own prints has failed due to that thin layer that forms in the tank. Any help would be appreciated

2

Most probably you are orienting your parts in the wrong way. Could you show us a screenshot of how you orientate some of your parts.

It’s a little tricky to get the hang of orienting your part and adding supports in the right place to get a proper print, however, once you get the hang of it, it’s fairly easy. There is a lot of information and tips on this forum.

Show us how you position your models and based on those pictures we can give you advice on how to properly position them so your model will actually be printed.

The plastic which you are talking about is cured resin. that happens when a print fails because supports haven’t been positioned correctly or the peel forces on certain layers are too strong.

3

I usually load the file and hit the “orient selected” button, which gives it that tilt the guys at Formlabs recommend. Here’s the pick, and thanks.

4

Ok, as a side note, very nice model. Will it be functional? I hope so :).

Back to your issues. First of all, looking at the positioning of the model right now. Even if it would have printed, you’d probably end up with warped edges on the “band” because of the space between the supports. It seems like you have set the density to “very low”, and the point-size a little bigger than normal. It’s great to play around with these settings, and I wouldn’t really be able to give you any advice on this as sometimes the print will come out fine with the amount of supports you have now, but I personally choose for a little more supports with a smaller point size. I’d rather use up some more resin on supports than having to re-print the model because it failed or was warped. This ofcourse depends on the model/size and your own preference. I’m sure that others will choose to do the exact opposite. I guess it’s experience which helps you choose the right settings with a certain model.

Now, to improve the printing probabilities of your model:

  1. Orient selected is a way to orient your model, but in most cases it’s far from optimal.
  2. You should try to set your Y-axis at at least 30 degrees (more can be even better) compared to 5 degrees. This relieves the model of a lot of stress during the peeling process between each layer. Furthermore, set the X-axis so that one earpiece is higher than the other (they don’t have to be above each other, but having them at a steeper angle should increase the printability too). Somewhere near -50 degrees will probaby work.
  3. Always face the tallest supports towards the hinge side for improved succes of printing.
  4. You can auto generate supports. There is nothing wrong with that, but you’ll have to check the model after auto generating. Check if there are no parts floating in “limbo”. Meaning: When going through the layers one-by-one using the right scroll bar, check if no blue patches start without a support connecting to it first. Auto-generate does a proper job, however, with more complex models, it does seem to miss a lot of crucial places which definitely need support or the model will definitely fail!. So alway check your model and delete/add supports where necessary.

When following these steps, you have a much bigger chance of succes. Good luck with printing!

1 Like
5

Yup

Happens all the time, but sometimes the item forms too.

6

Just to be nit-picky: It is not that there is a layer of cured resin hardening on the bottom preventing the model from forming. It is that a layer was cured, and failed to peel off the tray. Then the laser cured another layer, making the hardened blob bigger and bigger.

7

Thank you for your tips, I tried that yesterday evening and it sort of worked, Most of the headphones (not functional, its for a sculpt am working on) printed, exept for a little part in the back, but I guess I can patch it with some clay. Thanks!

8

Kinda sucks that it happens more often than not :confused:
It’s a gamble each time, and loosing wads of cash.

9

Precisely, wish there was a fix.

10

If you’re going to try printing again, I wouldn’t mind trying my hand at orientation and support creation, But it sounds like it is already good enough.

11

This topic was automatically closed 14 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.