The small mirror got damaged and needs replacement. The new replacement mirror came in today but I need special epoxy glue and Grainger will have that in tomorrow morning. Reason I knew it was damaged, besides seeing it, was prints were crap and lots of flakes on the parts and the tray bottom.
Finally found the directions attached to one of the emails from FormLabs Tech. That was my only issue so far.
Quite a savings in $$$ to do it myself and it’s not a difficult job, I’ve done worse. My original Epilog laser auto focus jammed and the bed came up and ripped the X/Y arm out of the machine. Took me 8 hours to disassemble the machine inwards and un-jamb things then put it back together and it’s been running every since with no problems.
I have replaced the small mirror. If your epoxy releases, it is a relatively easy task. Mine wasn’t so nice to me. IF you have to break the old mirror, I do not suggest hitting the assembly with anything to try to shatter the old mirror. If you can nip the glass and get it to crack while holding the assembly (mirror at the lowest point) you should be able to get the pieces out of the way to clean the old epoxy off.
Not too bad a job. I have the machine all button back up and ready to run. I did strip out the hex on one of the side screws removing the back plate. Went to Harbor Freight and bought left hand drills. Ran the drill backwards and it drilled in and backed the screw right out.
When I got the galvo assembly removed and also the old mirror pried from the unit I found that the mirror wasn’t damaged at all. Just had a dirty film on it that I easily wiped off with a Pec Pad. Still went ahead and used the new mirror and also used the protective film that was on the new mirror to protect the old mirror which I wrapped and put in storage. Total cost $100.
Learned a lot about the machine and not concerned about taking it apart in the future if need be.
Printer is printing just fine as far as I can see right now. I’m printing a vacuum adapter for a micro sander I have and it’s about half done. The walls are smooth as are is the support structure.
I think mirror glue would bond too tightly as well as it would be too thin (at least the mirror glue I used once).
The “special” epoxy is: 3M Scotch-Weld DP 100 clear. The bond is supposed to be strong enough to keep the mirror from moving but weak enough to break with hand strength. It has the consistency of “regular” 5 minute epoxy and it just flows out of the way when the mirror is placed and pressed in place.
David is correct. Also, there is a trough cut in the metal supports on the inside angle, actually outside of the mirror edge. So, when you press down as you are suppose to excess epoxy goes into that groove. Another point is don’t put a whole lot of epoxy down.
But, all is not heaven, yet. Although there is the new small mirror nice and clean, also the large mirror is also nice and clean, new resin tank and new resin, I’m getting failed builds. What’s strange is everything is building well until about half way through the part. At that point piece piece almost looks to be broken off. When done there is a large flat blob of hardened resin on the tank bottom right in the center. This has happened on two builds. No fogging on the tank bottom and as I said the mirrors are really clean. So, I have no idea what’s causing that issue. I’ll keep at it for now and see if I can reason out what’s causing this failure.
Sorry to hear about the failed prints. Do they happen to both be at about the same Z height? If so, I wonder if there is anything up with the Z lead screw.
At about the same height. I’m planning on disassembling the galvo assembly again. The galvos weren’t touched and they were clean so I’ll check the new mirror and make sure it’s set properly and clean. I kept some of the parts and will take photos an post tomorrow.
One thing, no two, that are bugging me. There is always a thin hardened layer stuck in the tray. Also the base is one solid peace not smaller pieces. I’m starting to question the new perfom software.
The resin might be slightly under exposed so as the model gets longer it may break a layer that will just blob out. In other words the previous layers might not be cured enough to handle the force of the rest of the model. Over exposer will cause rapid fogging. Z too far away can do that too.
Here are a couple of photos of my issues.
The first try printed along pretty good until a point. In the second try you can see the blob that get stuck to the bottom surface of the tray. Ken’s comment sound correct but not sure how to overcome that.
The resin is new as is the resin tray and the small mirror. Only thing that I could think of was that maybe there was some residue on the back mirror from the protective film, adhesive, and I should clean the mirror. As I feel it’s easier to clean that mirror by removing the back plate and the galvo assembly that’s what I plan on doing.
OK, I took the back off again and found that looking at the small mirror face on it appeared to be clean. Looking at it edge on showed a large dust piece right in the center of the mirror. I dry dusted the mirror with a clean Pec Pad and that took care of it. After reassembly I also dry dusted the large mirror. That way I’m not rubbing the surface and unless I have something sticky on the mirror it’s best not to rub it.
Put everything back together and ran six small block that are parts for one of our kits. They came out the best they have ever run. Clean print, no flakes and smooth sides. The run was at .050" layers. I only use grey resin as most items are masters for making RTV silicon molds for casting in resin.
I have a the large piece (vacuum adapter), in the first photo above, now running. I’ll let you know if the problem is solved.
Well, best laid plans of mice and men. Seems that any part printed away from the very center of the tray come out perfect. But, anything printed that encroaches on the center of the tray, about the size of a silver dollar, will be corrupted with flaking and residue stuck to the tank bottom like in the photo above. I’ve put a ticket in to Formlabs Support. Lets see what they have to say.
The mirrors are clean, new tank, etc. so I’m starting to wonder about the laser and if it might have issues?
I’m close to the point of shelving my Form 1+ as I’m getting nowhere with this issue. Support is trying to be helpful but I get the feeling they are missing the actual problem. I’ve cleaned both mirrors and even the galvo mirrors using magnifying goggles. I know they are clean but they are asking for photos as proof. I’ve taken the galvo assembly 3 times already so i’m becoming a expert. I’ve lowered the Z axis .2 but won’t go further, don’t want a broken resin tank with resin all over.
I can print around the perimeter and get excellent clean prints as long as I stay away from the center area.
Sounds like you still have some dirt on one the mirrors. I use a Rocket Air Blaster as first resort which almost always does the trick. PecPad folded up into 1/4 and using the resistance of the pad alone dry usually works if there is dust still there.
I often find dust on either the main mirror or on the bottom of the tank itself.
If there is dust on the small mirror then the spot can be really small and cause havoc. I use an inspection borescope to have a peek see inside or you can just pop the back panel off and look.
Ken, the mirrors are absolutely clean. I’ve taken the back end apart 6 times, checked the mirror, cleaned, etc. Also did the same on the large mirror. Formlabs sent me a special print to do and send them photos of. That’s next on the lsit.
I’ll take your suggestion to heart.
