Hi, I’m having the Form 3L since January 2021 (1 year late)! And I have to say the printer is not really working well! Software is not finished, you have to check for update every day hoping your resin will become compatible with the printer and that you will be able to choose the resolution (50µm and 25 µm never available for now, you can only print in 100µm resolution!)!
But it’s not the only issue we encounter, most of our print failed every time! Last of them is with black resin V4! We added supports almost everywhere after 2 previous failed print and still the print is always a failure!
Does other user have the same issues? Formlab could you help us?
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Sorry to hear this. Seems to be a too common issue. I am waiting for mine to show up as well.
The machine seems to have been released to soon. I have ran across a few users that have praised it. One user on the forums here “AllOnScale” has seemed to be using it fairly well. They are supposed to be releasing an update second quarter of this year in order to use the .5 micron setting but i guess in my eyes they should be getting the machine to fully work first!
Hope you get a resolution soon!
I have received my Form 3L a 2 weeks ago, mid mars 2021. I did 2 prints. One with the Tough 2000, and another one with clear resin. Both printed well. No issue for me now. The only thing I saw, is the volume in the first resin cartridge is not correct at all. And also, The big front door arrived crooked. I arrange that myself. If the cartridge is almost empty, the printer think that there is none…
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Just an update here. I had a major issue with my Form 3L. A lot of parts printed in Tough 2000. Almost all the parts where not good at all. I found debris in the tank at the end. I had to filter resin… Not cool. I am doing an other batch print. It seem that one or two parts aren’t printed… I am not really happy of the failure.
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The major issues with the Form 3L for now are;
The resins cartridges amount of resin left inside is not correct. Full cartridge on screen, but the bottle is empty.
During printing, when the buildplate goes up; the Tank is missing onboard… Bip, bip… Detect, not detect…
The time estimate in Preform is a lot less than in real printing. I would say 25-30% more.
When I received the printer, the front opening door was not closing well. I had to play and adjust the hinge.
With the Tough 2000 resin, all my 3 last prints have failed. I had to clean and filter the resin tank each time.
If one part is failling near the other beside it, the other parts will be disformed and fail too.
Up to now, I had no problem with black and clear resins.
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My issues so far (and some already reported here):
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Cartridges always show more resin than they really have. On one occasion it showed both were half and they were empty. This caused the print to be halted for hours because it was forever trying to fill the tank and gave no warning.
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One print failed in a way I never experienced (in regular Form 3 at least): about 75% done and the build plate was risen a few centimeters to never come back down. There was no error on screen, it was as the print was still going but always stuck in the same layer. Tried pausing and resuming a few times but no luck, I had to cancel the large print after about 1 hour of nothingness.
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Preform always estimates way less than it takes. For example, if it says its 3 hours then it will take a bit longer than 4 hours to finish.
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No cleaning mesh option which doesn’t help with a tank as large as that.
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No prime option which really annoys me.
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All settings in Preform are beta and the layer height at 100. While that works for large builds, it’s not ideal if want to print a lot of small detailed ones.
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Weird loud beeping sound when moving the plate up / down to change layer. It’s not an annoying sound per se but kind of loud for an otherwise calm machine.
What I liked (compared to a Form 3):
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Fast printing. Probably because of the two lasers combined, not sure.
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Fast tank filling. Both cartridges dump resin at once and I believe (just because it looks like it, haven’t yet measured it) the tank doesn’t fill as high as the one in the Form 3. If someone can confirm it would be great just for my own clarification.
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Never had a failed print that was the machine’s fault. I had one failed but it was due to me trying extremely low touch points. So far I’ve done quite a few prints but only with Tough 2000 and Grey Pro, still have to try everything else.
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The Japanese scraper tool in the finishing kit. I know it’s silly but that thing removes rafts from the build plate without me applying any force. If anyone knows where I can find a few spare ones please do tell!
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As some have said here in the forum, it really seems we’re all doing some sort of highly expensive beta testing using a Form 3L. Not only the machine has its cost but also the resin for something that, from what I read, is sometimes a matter of luck. I’ve been getting great prints but scared every time I start one.
In the end it’s great to have such a large volume that prints faster but it’s still a beta machine in terms of software and firmware. It’s like a “hey, we made a larger Form 3 but we still don’t know how to make it work but we’ll get there some day” kind of thing in my opinion.
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Thank you for your well explained reply. I am experiencing almost all of your issues described.
I am doing a Formlabs test print presently. After checking the LPU glass. It seems like the front LPU is distortionning parts. Like I said, I am only experiencing problems with Tough 2000 resin up to now. I hope Formlabs will solve all the problems described soon. Please note : With the classic Clear and Black resin I have no printing problem now.
FORMLABS : COULD YOU HAD FORM 3L CATEGORY IN SUPPORT & TROUBLESHOOTING, PLEASE ?
After the successfull Formlabs test print, I am trying to take off the 3d prints. They are completely stuck on the Buildplate. Black classic resin here.
I am not able to take them off with the tools supplied at all. The parts broke completely when you try to take them off.
It is like the lasers are to strong. I never had this issues with my Form 2.
That’s weird. As I mentioned above all prints come off very easily with the scraper they sent in the kit.
Again, I still only used Tough 2000 and Grey Pro.
Black would be the next resin I would try so can you please let me know what kind of raft you used? Also, was this your first black resin print in the 3L?
One trick I use when something is really stuck (like when printing directly on the build plate), which happened a few times with the form 3, is to soak that area with IPA (or in IPA if you have the space for the build plate) and let it rest for a few minutes. Then I attempt to take it out again. Usually it goes on the first attempt but, if not, I have to repeat the process. Alternatively, when I’m on a rush or simply impatient, I pour IPA and try to take it out at the same time always giving it more IPA as soon as I see the previous portion evaporating.
If it’s a large and solid piece (and not a raft) then pliers are the thing I use to take it out.
Other than that you could try a hot gun at a very low setting (200~250ºC) or an airdryer blowing hot air. Always be careful not to heat an IPA soaked area and also don’t apply heat too long in the same place to avoid damages to the build plate.
No more ideas, sorry.
Thank you very much taking your time to answer. I appreciate. I will try your suggestions.
If you try Black resin, you maybe see that the resin is overcured, breakable and too hard to come off.
For the Tough 2000, it’s still hard but not to much. For the rafts, I use the standard settings with Preform. My first print was Tough 2000, then Clear and Black.
Got it, thank you.
I’ll skip the black and will now try a semi-large print with white instead just to see how it goes.
Talk to you in a few hours 
Super! Good luck!
Today, my reseller told me that Formlabs told them that there were issues with Black resin.
Thank you. Well, a heads up to the community (or at least us beta testers) regarding the black resin would be the least they could do but alas, here we are.
I had that same issue with my first resin cartridge, supplied with my Form 3 Standard. Their resin quality control really doesn’t seem good at all.
Good to know. I understand. Thanks. Just to let you know that this a brand new bottle. I think it might be more a Formlabs laser settings? Maybe we will see a change in next firmware update.
Yes… You are right.
I have just finish a printing job with the Tough 2000 resin again. I notice that all the print failures were coming from the FRONT LPU… Just in the case of that resin… So, I have tried to print only with the REAR LPU, and all the parts are fine in that case. Do Formlabs having an idea why it’s occuring?
Definitely high for a beta but the worst of all is that no one told us that we would actually be doing beta tests.
To add insult to injury I got an email from FormLabs that was like “Purchase another printer and you’ll get 500€ of material discount” but for all of us wasting material like crazy for something that doesn’t work as it should there’s nothing.
I’ve tried the white resin and it totally sucked.
Not only it didn’t properly print due to most parts not adhering to the support touch points (I got only 3 parts printed correctly out of a total of 15 and those 3 where the shorter ones) but I also experienced your “completely stuck to the buildplate” issue.
After almost 1 full hour trying to remove the mini rafts out of the build plate I finally managed. The IPA trick I mentioned you didn’t help much. What did help was to switch hands to get new angles. Sounds stupid but since I’m right handed, no matter what I do to change scrapper angles they stop working so changing to the left hand I get angles that my right one doesn’t know about and it works, After it stops working I switch hands and repeat the whole process. The problem is that it was literally millimetre by millimetre which shows that the way it sticks to the build plate is different than other resins I tried (and all in the Form 3). Usually I only need to touch a side and slip the scraper underneath the raft to remove the vacuum and take it all in one go but this time it seemed not to have any of that vacuum which led me to waste an hour.
The failed prints were due to supports’ touch points and not the LPU (I did use both). What actually printed (the first layers, including the actual supports) came out perfectly in terms of quality, it just didn’t stick to the touch points for reasons I have no knowledge about because they were actually a default size.
So, 12 hours of printing, 1 litter wasted and 1 hour of sweat was what I got from this.
I feel like a teenager again with a reckless “I want to do something extreme so I’ll try a different resin in the 3L today” attitude but the feeling isn’t as great as it was years ago, it’s actually the opposite.
My current score:
- Tough 2000: Perfect
- Grey Pro: Perfect
- White: A bloody mess
I do need to, yet again, make everyone aware that we can’t print a cleaning mesh. The white resin test made lots of mess due to the parts that printed in the tank instead of the surface and while I got most out, others unstuck from the tank but were nowhere to be found so I had to go with the annoying resin filtering experience to get them out.
I mean, how much harder (or different except for the size) is it to make a cleaning mesh on the 3L the same way we have on the 3?
So yeah, we have a “cleaning mess” instead 
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Hey! I know how you feel and I sympathize a lot with you. Yes I did all the same process as you describe really well. Filtering thick Tough 2000 resin is not a great experience too. It’s a slow operation. And while trying to find debris with the spatula, we are afraid of breaking the thin plastic of the tank. I suggest to ask Formlabs or your reseller for a free cartridge. When I received my Form 3L, I tought that everything was fine except the 100 microns layer thing.
When you offer a 3d printing service to customer and you don’t feel confident for the next print… I know there will be improvements soon. I hope so. Please Formlabs help us to correct our situation. And sorry for my English, I do speak French!
Hey I have a new issue- just adding it here since there’s no proper topic for 3L problems. I just received the printer two days ago and everything went fine until the filling process. I loaded a model that is estimated to take about 13 hours to print and I was observing the tank filling and all was good until the screen went black. The print continues; it all seems to be working ok but there’s nothing on the screen and it doesn’t respond to touch etc. When I open the door, which also is crooked as others have mentioned, nothing happens, i.e. it doesn’t pause! So the machine will carry on until something happens I suppose and I will call Formlabs Monday to see why the screen is black.
Has anyone else had a screen failure?
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