I’m sure this has been asked before but when and how should you dispose of the alcohol used to clean your parts? My alcohol is pretty cloudy now and I’d like to dispose of it but I’m not sure if I can just wash it out in our bathroom sink or maybe if I should flush it in the toilet instead? Formlabs isn’t very clear on that front for legal reasons I’d assume.
Thanks!
Anthony
I would filter out the cured resin particles into a paint filter of sorts and anything that makes it though that should be able to be put down the drain just make sure you have water running with it so that it gets flushed out of your system. I would avoid putting too much resin down the drain as it may leech onto things and clog up your pluming.
I saved mine up in a large container that our cat litter comes in and then chucked it on the bonfire (before it was lit!). Really helped it get going.
HAHAHA sounds like it was a nice bonfire
Haha, nice. Thanks guys.
Pour the alcohol in a clear bag and put it outside in a clear container in sun. The sun will help evaporate alcohol and cure resin. When alcohol is evaporated of It safe to dispose cured resin with no alcohol in normal trash.
Burning of the resin puts off very toxic fumes.
The alcohol is cloudy because of the uncured resin in suspension. If you have a UV curing lamp, you can point it at the alcohol tank and after a while (depending on how much wattage you have) all the resin will cure and settle out in the bottom of the tank, leaving the alcohol clear and sweet like it was when you first tapped the bottle and poured it in.
I made a UV curing “jar” with an 8" acrylic jar from Bed, Bath, & Beyond. The alcohol tanks that come with the Form1 fit inside the acrylic jar perfectly. Every few prints, I just put the entire tank inside my curing jar and let it sit overnight. Then, I pour the contents off in to another container, straining it through a paper towel. Then I put the alcohol back in the tank and use it some more. I need to “top off” the tank every once in a while, but there is no need to dispose of the contents in bulk. It appears I may be able to extend the alcohol’s lifetime indefinitely.
This is what the strained contents of a “cured” alcohol tank looks like, after maybe 10-15 prints.
Hello Randy, your solution seems brilliant, could you please share a picture of you curing jar?
Thanks!
Thanks, that looks great. Cheers!
This is what the wash tank looks like, inside the curing jar. The resin fluoresces under UV light, even when cured. You can see the alcohol level in the tank and the blue glow that signifies I’m curing resin that’s in suspension in the alcohol. It’s not that clear in the image of the filtered results that I posted up above, but the resin tends to clump as it cures out, you don’t get a fine powder so much as little “dust bunnies”.
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