Hi all, I know there is already a Topic on the Form 1+ laser replacement.Laser replacment - However, it is closed by now. So my question to you @Dudemeister @VR2 - How much resin did you spend on printing before your laser burnt out? Does anyoneelse face the laser problem? Our Laser seems to be burnt out (at least that’s what the support says - it seems to be a common problem) but just after approx. 7 L resin. I find this a very small amount in comparison to the volume numbers you find here in the forum. We don’t use our printer every day so we printed 7L over 2.x years - however, the one-year warranty is over and Formlabs does not provide service/spare parts anymore. It is somewhat frustrating to have this expensive (useless) orange brick on the desk… Best Daniel

Hmm, I find it interesting that you are having this issue as well. Ours degraded over the past 1.5 years but I have run probably 20+ liters through mine. Been working with support for the past 2 weeks trying to figure out the issue and we decided this week it needs replaced. Support has been super helpful and I am now a pro at filtering out failed prints… Good Luck!

I can’t tell you how much resin we went through, but it was a year of solid use, 3-4 times a week. The laser had died before, and that was after a year of use also. Just trying to get into the laser itself is a nightmare. There was some red fiber filler under the plug of epoxy in the back hole, so I couldn’t see what was electronics and what was epoxy. I know I nicked a wire and the connecting board still won’t break free. I’m going to try and cut it with a slitting saw (eventually), just so I can take millimeter cuts at a time and try not to damage it any further, but I’m not hopeful. I did look at the Moai printers, which sell lasers suspiciously similar to the 1+, but I’m going to use that as a last resort.

Lasers don’t tend to burn out from use. They loose pressure through the shell, that’s what kills them. I have a large Epilog Laser unit, second one, 5 years is the best one can expect in life no matter how much you use it.

Thanks to all of you for your responds! What also came to my mind is that the problem is triggered by a Preform update in combination with a degrading laser. The reason I am thinking about this, we had great prints about 10 in a row and then from on print to the next only scrap - unfortunately I cannot remember whether the software was upated in between and we don’t have the older preform install files anymore. Could this be a reason? Sure, this wouldn’t help in the long term but at least we have the chance of some additional prints

[image] danielduecker: we don’t have the older preform install files anymore. Might find what you need there : [image] PreForm older versions General Discussion Hello to every Formers. days ago I’ve read on forum that someone could be interested into older versions of PreForm software. I’ve update on a free hosting website the old versions of the FormLab printer (for Windows only). I’ve collected them till the version 0.9 (sorry, maybe I’ve missed some releases) PreForm 0.9.0: http://www.mediafire.com/download/jt248x5v1cfuiei/PreForm_0_9_0.exe October 2013. PreForm 0_9_0_1: http://www.mediafire.com/download/9d8cd84bpa0lk37/PreForm_0_9_0_1.exe Octobe…

Great! Thank you! I give it a try

I know I’m a little late to this party, but Let me chime in on the OPs original question. 7liters of resin might not sound like a lot, but it’s not really how many liters were used, so much as how many layers were printed. 7 liters worth of material printed at 0.1mm is one thing, but 7 liters printed at 0.025mm, something entirely different, it’s 4 times more printing (laser time). It’s like printing 28 liters worth at 0.1mm.

Thanks for pointing this out @Dudemeister. However, we are printing 0.1mm only as we find this suffcient for our requirements. Another thing to mention here, as my collegue dived in the records. We got our laser replaced for 900€ abaout 1.5 years ago, saying 14 month after purchase…

I assume that Epilog is a CO2 laser. Totally different beast. They’re big sealed tubes with a low pressure gas mix in them. The lasers in the Form# printers are diode lasers. Much closer to an LED than to a gas laser. LED’s and diode lasers do wear out, but usually the time to half power is 5000 to 50000 hours. The laser modules in these printers seem to degrade differently, seems like the heat damages the optics or something as they lose focus, not power.

The laser in my printer lost a focus eight months after a printer purchase and less than 1 liter of resin used. I am really tired of cleaning of galvanometers and getting same, poor results…

Laser burnt out after only 7L Resin?

Support & Troubleshooting Form 1/1+

JohnHue August 3, 2018, 7:04am 6

Might find what you need there :

Topic		Replies	Views
Optical Degradation (Laser) Form 2	6	2841	July 24, 2019
Broken Laser? General Discussion	16	3415	November 2, 2019
What's wrong with my printer? Support & Troubleshooting	25	5873	June 11, 2014
What Formlabs offers when form 2 is dead General Discussion	41	4667	November 4, 2022
Dose Form 2 need a regular service or the laser head has a lifespan? Form 2	2	1674	October 24, 2020

Laser burnt out after only 7L Resin?

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