Jim. The Ultraviolet Sterilizer Cabinet is this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007ROD0ZE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And I learned this from the amazing Robert Vignone. Check his webpage, Mold3D: http://www.mold3d.com
Tons of information about sculpting and 3D Printing. Tips, tricks and all sorts of references, like this Ultraviolet Sterilizer Cabinet!
Good luck and patience!
Frank J Guthrie
frank@710films.com
www.710films.com
Courtland,
Donāt waste your money and time on the airbrush compressor and the computer vacuum: they are overkill and you may damage the printer!
The Rocker Blaster is more than enough, trust me. The cleaning of the BIG mirror and the small Galvanometersā mirror you will do once or twice per year, thatās all. Then you will only use the Rocket Blaster to āpushā the dust off the mirrors, since you will always have dust in the printer, since its not enclosed in a vacuumā¦
I do this for every print: I check the mirrors before every print, and if I see any dust on the mirrors I use the Rocket Blaster to blow the dust off the big mirror and I also blow towards the āholeā where the small Galvanometersā mirrors are. What I showed in this simple tutorial was my first āopen-surgeryā on the Form # 1, to get to the small Galvanometersā mirrors - since the assembly is located in the back of the Form # 1, but ever since then, Iāve not had to open the printer, just check the big mirror, blow and thatās it!
I clean the big mirror every three to five prints with Isopropyl Alcohol and Sensor Swap. I use these swabs:
The material is the same as what FormLabs recommends we use to clean the mirrors - Pec-Pads Non-Abrassive Wipes. You can find them in Amazonā¦
Good luck and patience!
Frank J Guthrie
frank@710films.com
www.710films.com
How do you avoid streaks with those narrow little pads / swabs?
i think my mirror needs contact cleaning, but its a tricky a job.
@Frank_Guthrie How did it go with the Sylgard 184 kit?? Where did you buy it?
I ordered a new tank and did a large print on it (which failed) and ghosted most of the tank. 1 Print, so crazy. Its just to expensive to be replacing these tanks all the time.
Anyone have any luck using the black resign on the gray setting? I read somewhere that the gray will not ghost up the resign tank as much?
Love this thread by the way, I keep coming back to it. I ordered everything I knew I would need to clean it before I even got the printer.
Hello Formlabs Forum,
I realize this post will revive this thread but I think the information is good and it gave me a place to start.
Iāve been having a string of failures and have been putting off (in a state of denial perhaps) cleaning my mirrors. I do have a ticket open with support and they are of course great to work with.
But just wanted to shareā¦having worked in the camera business beforeā¦the process for cleaning optics (lenses) and camera sensors is the same / very very very similar to caring for your printer.
As mentionedā¦never ever use the Air-In-A-Can stuff. The āRocketā blasters move more than enough airā¦remember, weāre working at the micron scale.
One technique that I havenāt read anywhere (not to say it hasnāt been mentioned, I just havenāt seen it mentioned)ā¦the first step I do when cleaning a camera lens or sensor (and will apply to the Form1+ printer mirrors)ā¦using a Lens Pen (they have a retractable brush on one end and āfeltā pad on the other)ā¦itās best not to ābrushā or āwipeāā¦the static of the bristles or pad will lift dust particles off the surface. Just ever so lightly ādabā or touch the dust speck and lift away. Then move away from the machine and use the Rocket blaster to blow off the brush/felt pad.
Also, when using Pec Padsā¦donāt just pull them apartā¦that can create āfuzzā that will cling to the surface. If you carefully āpeelā them apart youāll have better luck.
The ālolipopsā mentioned in this thread are good but honestly I prefer using my finger (as long as youāre careful to make sure your finger doesnāt overhang the pad and create a smudge. I fold the Pec Pads into 1/4āsā¦and then make one pass per 1/4ā¦making sure that each pass slightly overlapsā¦donāt be shy to use up Pec Padsā¦seems wasteful but you want a clean square each pass (the logic behind only one pass is that you could potentially redeposit debris from the previous passā¦or worse, damage the optic / sensor by scratching it). All passes should be mead in the same directionā¦then I usually go back and do passes 90 degrees to the first set (more Pec Pads). Also, it doesnāt take much pressureā¦better to make lots and lots of light passes than pushing too hard.
I know Formlabs recommends rubbing alcohol and Iām waiting to hear back what their thoughts are on āEclipse Optic Cleaning Fluidāā¦I have used that product for years with my cameras and have had great results (I have no affiliation to them, just a product I like using). The key is how quickly it evaporatesā¦only takes a few drops per Pec Pad 1/4.
Thank you to the OP for this threadā¦the information is still relevant and solid advice.
I use eclipse fluid on my mirrors when needed. Much less streaking to deal with. Formlabs may not recommend it but if itās good enough for the sensor on my Nikon itās good enough for an instrument mirror.
I would never used canned air or a compressor. The rocket type blowers are by far the best bet and theyāre pretty cheap.
Hi there,
I had exactly the same Problems. Flakes and defects all over the part. The higher the part was the worse it gets. So I startet a few test.
Clear resin resolution 0.1mm
(new Tank / new Bottle resin)
Result:
as you can see bad quality. So i tried a new print with resolution 0.025mm
Result:
even bader. New try with:
Black resin resolution 0.1mm
Result:
The best result so far but far away from perfect and far away from the results which I made when the printer was new (May-June) So i started to search here in this forum and found this and a lot more topics. I tested the laser and saw big halos around the laserpoint. So i cleaned all Mirrors and Galvanometer mirrors as @Frank_Guthrie described. After the cleaning the laserspot was much more focused as you can see on the pictures:
Before:
Some of my findings:
PS: Iām now prinintg the model with 0.05mm resolution and clear resin again Iāll keep you up to date.
Pascal
