So I bought a Form1+ off of a friend but I cant seem to make it print correctly. He stopped using it after the form2 came out but he had no issues up until then. I’m using Formlabs Clear resin and it seems like it prints the first few layers fine but anything after that it doesn’t. I’ve attached an image of the test print with all default settings. The tray is a little cloudy in the middle but clear the rest of the way. Any help would be appreciated. This is my first SLA printer and I’d love to be able to use it lol
When was the last time it was used? Form1/1+ has an issue with dust on the mirrors, if it’s been 6 months or more then it’ll definitely have dust that needs to be cleaned: https://support.formlabs.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000009530-Checking-the-Form-1-Mirror
You may need to clean the small mirrors inside, in which case contact support beforehand
1 Like
I briefly shined a flashlight on the main mirror and I didn’t see any dust. But I’ll look at it more closely later today.
Not dust so much, it’s stuff in the air, Volatile Organic Compounds. Everything around us “outgasses” these vapors, carpet, wall paint, upholstery, etc. VoCs like to condense on smooth flat surfaces, which is why you periodically have to clean the inside of the windows in your house to remove a light grey/blue haze. That same process is occurring with the mirrors in a Form1 printer. Dust can get in too, and if it does it causes problems but usually only in specific areas of the build plate. VoC hazing covers the mirrors uniformly (in a way, undergoing something very much like the process used to put the reflective coating on the glass). Hazing will diffuse the laser beam and cause problems across the entire printing area.
It’s the Achilles Heel of the Form1, addressed with a sealed optics deck in the Form2. I have one of each and have had to disassemble and clean my Form1+ twice over the last 3 years or so. The onset of a problem is always very sudden. In both cases the printer went from working fine to not working well in the span of a couple of days.
100% if it hasn’t been cleaned in a while then it will need to be
I cleaned the mirrors after getting the instructions from support. Kind of amazed how simple this printer is compared to others I’ve used in the past. Way less parts involved. But I realized that the resin that came with the printer is all expired. Which really sucks because it came with 15 bottles but all have a 2014 batch number D:
Looks like it tried to expose, for kicks check the settings and make sure it matches the resin. There might be a chance you had the wrong clear setting.
Make sure you really shake the bottle up before using if it’s been sitting around for a while.
Worth a try right?
This topic was automatically closed 14 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.