Hi everyone,
I’m honestly at my wit’s end and reaching out in the hope that someone in the community—or at Formlabs—can offer advice or help.
My Form 3+’s LPU has completely failed with less than 50 hours of laser time. The issue began right from the start: after just two or three prints, I started seeing subtle “ghost layers” around the raft. At first, I thought it was a resin issue with Tough 1500, and since it disappeared when I switched to Clear v4, I assumed it was normal. Months later, I noticed that when washing my prints, a layer of semi-cured resin would rub off the surface, as if the exterior never fully solidified. Then, when I switched to White v4.1, the ghost layer returned — this time much worse. I thought it was a bad batch or something I was doing wrong, but the problem rapidly escalated until, at just around 48 hours of laser time, the printer would only produce rafts and supports, with no usable models at all.
Despite providing all logs and photos, and explaining that such an early failure is completely unreasonable for a machine at this price point, support could only offer a $100 coupon toward an $830 replacement LPU since the warranty had expired. I even asked if it was possible to get the $830 replacement value as consumables credit, just so I wouldn’t lose everything, but was told no. This has left me with essentially no choice but to pay out of pocket and expedite shipping — right in the middle of a critical, time-sensitive production phase for a client.
I’m honestly devastated — not just by the cost, but by the fact that a product like this could fail so early, which really raises serious questions about quality control. The whole reason I chose Formlabs, despite the well-known high cost, was its reputation for reliability and consistency (and to its credit, the printer NEVER failed once until the LPU died). But isn’t this clearly a factory defect? How can an LPU fail within 50 hours, and yet I’m still expected to bear the full cost of replacement? Is there anything else I can do? Has anyone else experienced a similar issue and found a way forward—whether through Formlabs, consumer protection agencies, or any other means?
I understand the warranty is over and customer service probably has limited power, but given how early and clearly this failure started, I can’t help but wonder: shouldn’t there be some level of consumer protection for defects like this? From what I’ve read, even if a manufacturer disclaims further warranty, if a product falls far short of reasonable industry expectations, there are still legal avenues for consumers.
Any advice, comments, or help would mean a lot to me right now. Thank you for reading through this long text wall.
Yusheng