Hi there,
Recently we have acquired a form1 printer to help with our work, unfortunately it has had a very short lifespan before churning out a series of increasingly failed prints. We have only had around 4 successful prints from the machine before having difficulties with it.
the print failures started slowly, with pieces initially looking good, then not finishing correctly. to an entire model failing. I have worked with quite a few 3d printers and have never experienced this before.
Could anyone give me an insight in to what is happening? it is essential we get this machine running.
I have submitted a support ticket and am waiting for a reply.
Also can anyone give me advice on how to remove cured resin from the resin tray? it seems to be quite difficult.
thanks for your time! 
I use a plastic paint scraper to get it out, and a comb to pick up the remaining bits. My office has had an almost identical experience to what you describe. We opened a support ticket a couple weeks ago and have been working through it with Formlabs, but no luck yet.
Hmm, we probably need more details to go on to resolve the issue, Katie – but Christopher’s described the basic steps to cleaning out a resin tank. I’d take a close look at your mirrors as well (http://formlabs.com/support/help/care/mirror-cleaning/).
You might want to check out this video (https://vimeo.com/71556578) which has some details on the process, along with this support article: http://formlabs.com/support/help/care/resin-tank/
sadly the cured resin in the tray is pretty much welded itself to the PDMS layer.
the mirrors are spotless. i check them before prints just in case. im working through it with support now but its a strange one, ive had a few failed prints prior to this solid and hollow. its quite frustrating.
the only other thing i have noticed with the machine is when using fine detail 0.25 the quality has gradually been reducing, and the finish is more rough and uneven.
Katie, you should definitely open up a ticket with our support ticket, who’ll be able to help you a great deal more than I can. When you describe degrading quality over time, it makes me wonder whether your laser diode is degrading. They’ll walk you through the steps to diagnose that issue and arrange for a repair and replacement if necessary.
im currently discussing it with the support. But i have to wait for a new tank to be shipped.Yes i was wondering this too, it was a bit peculiar, i have only really used medium and fine settings. but the fine settings layers are becoming more visible, the details also seem to be a bit blurred.
after shipping does anyone know how long on average it takes an item to arrive in the uk?
Something similar happening to me after 5 print only. I open a ticket with the support team but, if you get a solution, that would be nice to share here!
Thank!
as soon as our new tank arrives i’ll report how the machine is working 
if it is the laser or something else!