Well, well… It seems that I’m not beating a dead horse after all.
Maybe we can get a few more Form 1+ users that have used the latest Grey v3 resin to chime in. This way we can get some traction with FormLabs if need be.
While I’m not happy that this has happened to others, I am glad I’m not the one unique case that FormLabs can dismiss as “oddball” or defective.
And switching to a Form 2 printer which even after the discounts still costs nearly $3000 is not my idea of a solution.
Totally agree, Dudemeister.
I can’t speak about the grey resin, but I can tell you that a Form 1+ can go from a good print to a total failure in one print, and the cause be dirty mirrors!
I finally broke out my bottle of Gray V3. The parts printed perfectly. The 6 parts ran for about 3 hours and change with a Z layer height of .05mm. The parts are not large but I gather if I was going to see a failure making the resin un-usable on a Form 1+ I should have seen something off in the prints.
My models are similar in size to the head in your picture and smaller.
The layer lines are almost not visible.
David,
Is this an older original F1+, or is this one that was refurbished/fixed by FormLabs recently?
So, here are the 2 prints, side by side.
Same plate placement and settings, .05mm layer heigh.
On this print it worked great, so I guess @ScottBarbour is totally right, mirrors must be as clean as possible.
@Dudemeister did you clean the mirrors as showed in the youtube tutorial?
Because after I did that cleaning, print results were way better than the latest prints I did when it was working ok, before I had the issue in this topic.
I installed new mirrors (small and large) and FL just replaced the laser and calibrated the printer.
Yes, the mirrors were all cleaned as per FL instructions (which they sent me directly). But while it helped with some of the surface pitting I was seeing in some prints done with Grey v2 or Black v2, it dind’t help with v3 at all.
My prints would fail mostly like yours. FormLabs tried to get me to clean the mirrors again, which I did, but still no help, yet I could pull the v3 tray out, put the tray with Grey v2 or Clear v2, and could print without any problems.
That is when I tried the Black v1 profile for the Grey v3. With that setting I was able to get a good print, although the surface quality was not the best, so then I tried Black v2, and the quality improved. It was not as good as the other resins, but at least I could get finished print.
I think one of the issues I had with the old printer is that the laser was either calibrated for a lower output, or maybe it was getting weak, although I don’t see how that could be after only 200 hours of laser time.
So I can only surmise that the newer resins require a “stronger” output that the newer printers, or ones that have been recently refurbished can do, but older printers might not. This would also account for why I can print using the Black profile, since it has longer exposure times than the Grey v3.
I don’t think it has to do with “stronger” output but a consistent properly calibrated output. If the laser output degraded and the tables are now off now by X mW output, the resin wouldn’t cure properly. This makes sense with you using the black resin profile (I think). I have to check and compare the laser output for the gray V3 and black V1 resin laser power.
I hope (since I do not think the Form 2 has it) the next printer that gets released, they have a sensor to recalibrate the laser to account for degradation of the laser over time. I gather they did something with the Form 2 but I do not know exactly what and how well it is working.
I didn’t stand a chance printing with Gray V3 before the laser was replaced. It was way too flaky with clear V2, Tough V2 and V3.
I’m not sure if the software (PreForm) regulates the laser output based on profiles, but I’m pretty sure it regulates/changes the exposure time.
Either way, the issue is related to the laser’s ability to properly cure the resin. I just find it rather strange that the output would degrade after such a short time. Based on what I’ve read, a 120mW violet laser, driven at maximum specification should last about 8000-10000 hours, driven at only 50mW, which is what I think the Form 1+ does, it should last at least that, or longer.
Yet according to my odometer file, my laser time is 655658, which is about 182 hours.
I’d like to replace the laser, but FormLabs won’t sell the part.
The resin profile adjusts the galvo tracking speed and laser power differently for each resin and for different parts of the part being built. The raft infill and raft outline, the supports and the support outline, and the model infill and the model outline all have variations depending on the resin being used. This has held true for the profiles I have looked at and are the reason they are able to be edited in the ini file provided by formlabs for OpenFL.
Since replacing the laser requires the printer being re-calibrated, Formlabs selling the laser as a customer replaceable part is pointless. you would still have to send the printer in to be calibrated. You could take apart the printer that doesn’t print properly and disassemble the laser to get the components needed to make a replacement. Replace the actual diode and see what happens.
Since you have 2 Form + printers now, you could take a look at your laser calibration table. IF they are exactly the same, I would be very surprised.
I can’t speak to laser time and life expectancy. Is that for continuous use? Does the rating change for it being cycled on and off for each line being “drawn”? I don’t think for the DVD application the laser pulses. I was under the impression the laser was turned on and stayed on for X time until it needs more data or it stayed on for the duration and the reflection off the disk being seen by the sensor determined the bit stream for the data.
Where can I find the laser calibration table?
The life expectancy rating I put there, is based on a DPSS laser
To read from the laser calibration table, you will need to use the API. It is not a small undertaking getting everything installed and configured correctly but all the information is here: https://github.com/Formlabs/OpenFL
… Yeah, I don’t think that is where FL sourced the diodes they used in the Form 1+.
I originally thought that FormLabs might be using DPSS (Diode Pumped Solid State) lasers, but after researching a bit more, they are using a basic 405nm violet diode, similar to the ones found in BlueRay writers. The basic spec is 405nm, 120nW 5.6mm OD TO18 casing. It’s attached to a controller PCB, that is not an off-the-shelf part, so laser replacement will require desoldering the existing diode from the PCB and resoldering the new one in place.
You got it! Not the most difficult task under the sun unless they potted it.
I think you meant “mW”. 120 nanoWatts isn’t very much power. 
Sorry, my aging fingers keep hitting the wrong keys. 
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