Any ideas why the cover to my Form2 would go all crunchy crumbly in the rear corners? The left side has actually lost a bit from the very corner altogether. It doesn’t appear to catch on anything during opening/closing, and they are not points of pressure from either the lifting or hinge action*. I’ve only (and then not often enough) cleaned it with the odd swipe of Windex, probably not even reaching down to that area. The printer is in my guest bedroom/studio so environmental control is pretty stable. Once again, I’m at a loss. I can’t even blame a firmware upgrade this time!
*Upon closer examination, yes those are points of pressure during the opening/closing process, aren’t they? That area would get pulled apart after every open and squashed together on every close. Okay, not such a mystery now.
Hmm, things like IPA will degrade and weaken the cover a bit. That area will also see a bit more stress than the rest of the cover. We use Novus acrylic cleaner for cleaning tanks and covers as it doesn’t react with the acrylic.
I chewed on this problem with a FL rep for awhile. My conclusions are less that it’s IPA/chemical based because I really didn’t dwell on those areas while cleaning AND there are zero signs of damage in the areas where I know I DID clean thoroughly. My best guess is centered around the “stop” of the F2 cover lifting track being a soft rubber bumper. I can understand it’s designed to absorb the shock of opening, but it also allows the lid to be lifted “too far” by your average Sasquatch (hi there!) and introduce stress fractures exactly where I found them. But that’s not the exciting part: Formlabs is sending me a new cover, cost-free. On the condition that I not yank it open like the lid on my box lunch anymore.
I can’t convey enough my gratitude to FL in their generosity with the benefit of the doubt. If there’s a one-percent chance it’s a Form2 design flaw and a 99 percent chance I’m just an idiot, they’ll STILL work with me and make it right. Have I just been lucky? I don’t care, I won’t question it.
