Why is the wiper and heating funktion disabled for the open mode in the last firmware? This was a great feature before the new firmware comes out. I use 3rd Party resins very often. Specially Dental Resins from Detax. They work very well in the form2 when the heating and wiping funktion is enabled. But now the prints fail from time to time. We need the funktion back quick. The open mode ist much better with heating and wiping.
Sorry about my bad english - greatings from Germany.
When were they ever turned on for the form 2? Ive had mine a few months now and open mode has never had them on… Formlabs cant determine what type of resin is in the tank, and heating that resin could make it slosh over when the wiper passes through.
I would be in favor of using a SLOW wiper function with heating, about 1/4 the speed of the wipe outside of open mode.
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FL should allow the heater and wiper functions to be enabled by the user
Andreas is right. There was made an announcement and a firmware concerning this topic. It seems it was withdrawn by Formlabs. I haven’t seen any statement explaining the reasons. 
In a previous firmware they were turned on. Due to a (in a few people eyes) unrelated issue, they rolled back this option.
Announcement was removed from the forum, but I found it back in an email. We are still waiting for a statement why it was rolled back.
So you guys want it on, however my guess is you would still want support and warranty for your Form 2 if the resin spilled over and ruined your printer , right?
thats the problem. If they turn it on, and it disables your warranty (which it should) you will complain. If they dont turn it on you will complain…
I get why they havent, even though I myself would like the option, I would fully expect it to void my warranty
Their announcement already said that they tested several 3rd party resins without any drawbacks with the wiper and heater on. We just like to know why it was pulled. Some users already mentioned that they are fully OK with it if it would void the warranty.
being in sales, where i do have to deal with customers all day long i would say it is something like this.
Options
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Leave it as it is with no wiper or heating function. Make 10-30 maybe 50 people already slightly upset, continually upset. They are already your customers, you already have their money, and you feel you are protecting them from themselves.
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Turn it on, user screws up, floods his printer. Goes atomic on FL support even though he knew the risks and the warranty was voided, he will lie about how it happened and expect FL to fix it. Take to the message boards, twitter, Facebook etc torching FL name everywhere he goes.
So what incentive does FL have to really turn this option on?
Thats how i see it going down.
I had a massive spill - but it was with Formlabs resin in a Formlabs cartridge. It dumped over 100 ml all over the circuit boards. I was able to clean it out with no permanent damage.
As @fantasy2 pointed out, Formlabs stated they tested it with 3rd party resins and posed no problems. What resin out there is so different that it poses a catastrophic risk?
To me, this is the most disappointing turn of events as a Form 2 customer. I was elated when they announced the feature, then removed it without warning, explanation or giving us any clue if these features are going to be re-introduced or not. I put a project on hold for a month - but finally had to give up on waiting for a response.
They likely care because satisfied repeat customers are paramount for a successful long term business.
What date was the announcement?
I cant say it excactly but i think it was in the last days of November 2016.
I want it back very quick. I think i speak in many user names. FL should give us the option to enable or disable the heater and wiper funktion by our self for the open mode.
December 8th:
[quote]December 8
We’ve been listening to your feedback and are releasing a number of new features and enhancements to both PreForm and the firmware.
Open Mode
After a fair bit of testing, we’re expanding Open Mode to now enable both the heater and wiper. We tested a number of third-party resins to verify that there was no significant off-gassing with the heater and to verify that most resins would not overflow during the wipe movement. For very viscous resins, we recommend removing the wiper.[/quote]
I only like to have open mode to use cheaper resins for jobs I cannot do at the moment. The formlabs resins are still superior to anything available in the market so for the jobs I already do, I still need their resin and as a result they won’t lose any business(but probably gain, as I will have more work and probably need extra printers!). We still need their trays so no business lost from that point as well.
The alternative is buying another printer from a different brand, which is a loss in market share for formlabs. I don’t like working with different brands and types of machines at the same time as this reduces flexibility. So I still prefer buying a more expensive formlabs machine instead of a photocentric3d machine.
So @dunginhawk, from a sales point of view, it can be an advantage for formlabs to be more open. It’s all about market share these days and I’m very sure I’m not the only one.
im 100% with you guys. I want the feature, and I think it would be smart for Formlabs to enable the feature.
However, im playing devils advocate for the sake of the other side of the argument.
I think most of us agree that the biggest “Issue” is resin overflow from a wiper hitting viscous resin. Why not offer the ability to manage the speed at which the wipe slides? that seems fairly easy to do as they already have to be managing it somehow in the backend.
If I can enable open mode with slower wiper movement and heater, than im all game…
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In the announcement it notes off-gassing as an issue too. I am not advocating one side or another here, just pointing it out since most people seem to be focused on warranty issues regarding wiping and spillage, and not potential off-gassing issues.
I personally like using their resins, have no desire to use 3rd party, and look forward to them coming out with more.
You know - I was just thinking about it. Almost seems like disabling features for 3rd party resin is in violation of anti-trust laws.
A relevant aspect includes: “… anti-competitive practices that tend to lead to such a dominant position”.
How does enabling features only for Formlabs resin and intentionally crippling 3rd party resin performance not lead to a dominant position for use of their resins?
Another thought is, when the wiper is disabled, it would be nice if the Z platform didn’t raise more than 1mm or so. Currently it clears the wiper - even though it doesn’t need to. Sure would speed things up.
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I dont think it puts their resins in a dominant position… I still print in open mode , and they still succeed 90% of the time… I truly dont see a huge issue with the heating and wiper in open mode. Open works just fine for me as it is :).
That said, I still think formlabs resins are the best there is for use in their machines, but you arent forced to use them.
You aren’t forced, but are certainly discouraged from using them. But here are some related facts:
Fact: resin settling can be a cause of failure, or inconsistent print quality (the longer the duration of the print, the larger this concern becomes).
Fact: the less viscous resin is, the higher the quality print. Not heating 3rd party resin makes it more viscous all else being equal.
Fact: exposing the PDMS to oxygen with the wiper decreases the shear forces. Shear forces can be a major issue for deformation and delamination.
That means that even if there was an identical 3rd party formulation of Formlab’s resin, Formlabs resin would work more consistently, higher quality output, with a lower rate of defects and failures. That seems to meet the very definition of anti-trust laws to me. Intentionally crippling competition is a giant red flag for anti-competitive laws.
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I hope Formlab will read all the posts and gives us a statment.
I think the most of users wants the heater and wiper funktion. When you have a very viscous resin then uninstall the wiper.
Shortly after 1.11.14 was released, we saw a few support tickets regarding failures in Open Mode which raised concerns that we want to investigate. We’ll continue working on it and have some exciting developments coming up soon
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