I ask this because I’ve been keeping track of what the computer says is my resin use before the printer gives a warning there might not be enough in the printer to complete a print. Right now, I’ve calculated I’ve used 733 ml, I have a print that is now using bout 245 ml. So I should have a healthy 20 ml left when I finish this print. But how accurate is the amount of resin in a Cartridge? I hate the line I sometimes get when it pauses for me to load another cartridge, but technically it should be fine. Whats your experience? I feel like I’m constantly chucking carts with 60 to 100 ml left in them.
Can’t answer the question you asked but don’t pitch cartridges with resin left in them, you can simply pour what is left into a partially used cartridge and thereby not throw away a used cartridge that still has resin in it.
1 Like
Thats a great idea…
You’re going to lose some resin due to how much will be on the outside of prints and on the build platform, along with whatever sticks inside the cartridge
Besides that, there does get to a point where you don’t have enough resin in the tray to print, it needs to cover the area where the part is printing and if there’s not enough there then it’s not going to be able to get the resin where it needs to go.
Must be a gamble then, print made it this time. I’ve had them not make it when it got low as well
even when the cartridge is empty, if the resin level in the tray is up to the top arrow- you should be able to keep printing for quite a while depending on the cross sectional area of the print, and how viscous the resin is. If on the wiper return, the resin covers the build area without a ‘dry spot’ before the platform descends you should be good.
Formlabs resin is sold by volume, not weight, and the cartridges when full are not full of resin all the way up, that is, they are somewhat oversized for a full liter of volume… — ergo, I would bet that they can safely meter exactly 1 liter of resin into each cartridge without regard to small variations in the shape or even thickness of the blow molded cartridges.
However… the software is just estimating based upon the volume of the model and the supports, with a standard fudge factor for how much resin might cling to the print. I don’t think it can correctly factor how much might be clinging to the sides of the cartridge interior, nor the tank itself- and be aware that a good print will still require you to have at least enough Extra resin to wet the bottom of the tray- and that resin can never be fully used up.
( so your first liter of resin in a new tray should be factored LESS the amount it takes to fill the tray. That surplus resin, however- will still be in the tray on your second liter- so you get the full liter of printable resin out of the second liter…with, again, the minimum amount of resin needed to print remaining in the tray as an ongoing carryover. )
The software calcs remaining resin by being able to identify specific cartridges… so Be aware that salvaging resin by pouring the remainder into another cartridge will throw off the software’s ability to calc resin remaining.
I had a Durable cartridge unaccountably read as “expired” when it was only half used… I salvaged the resin by pouring it into another durable cartridge after having used the new cartridge enough to make room… ended up with a cartridge that the software says has only 100ml left when it is actually more than half full.
To alleviate this I usually pour the rest of the resin directly into the resin tank. Usually there is not too much left in the cartridge and I am not overfilling the tank, if I am afraid to do so I just wait for the printer to print a few dozen ml and then pour again.
This works because the tank’s level assessment is a closed loop system, as opposed to the cartridge level system which is open loop thus open to unplanned variables.
I never throw any away. I keep hitting ignore and continue until no more resin comes out of the cartridge. You have to watch it and make sure you don’t run the tank dry.
1 Like