Laser degradation and solving this problem

Support & Troubleshooting Form 2
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I bought a used printer and in several prints, I got not good print quality. After checking all mirrors I understand that it is a laser.

laser1
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Contacting with support in my country gives not good result because its only 2 ways, changing to Form 3 or refurbished Form2. And this cost too much for me.
I found topics from @a_moran and his experiments with laser.
I tried to cut the unfocused part with iris it helps but not the best result I want.
laser2
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But I choose another way to solve this. I contact the factory that made lasers and they made me a sample.
Here is the first result of the optic test
laser5
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laser4
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laser3
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Need some calibrating on center position but this can be solved.
I hope soon we will got not expensive laser for our Form2.

8 Likes
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This is going to help a lot of people.

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I hope so, now we are testing it and soon will start producing

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Any of you know what the sizes of those pieces are supposed to be? I did a test print a week or two ago and had no idea what it should be.

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The best result is if you will get columns with no steps, just digits. And in the middle plate will be all details

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https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GW7x_NueaZ4DgMZarj5_MhzgtdGFzntf
This is manual for the optic test. And there are photos of a good results.

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That’s impressive, top marks.

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Hello
Can you give more détail on the laser used or the manufacturer ?

1 Like
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@sysrover Did you find out how to get this laser?

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I’ve been hoping for an update to this for a while also. I wonder if sysrover received a cease and desist, or something similar, preventing him from continuing or offering more information.

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I did see that post, but the stated results of the 4 on the test print being only slightly visible/readable isn’t a great result.

The pictures sysrover posted of the replacement look like a new, clean Form2.

I’m sure Formlabs is concerned about people finding ways to keep their old printers running, out of fear they wont “upgrade” to a new printer(Form3 in this instance). I think unfortunately for them, there are plenty of people who will look to another brand. In that case, Formlabs will lose out on the sale of consumables to someone who would be happy to keep running a functioning Form2.

2 Likes
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Hi Sysrover, if I may ask, where did you find the replacement laser?
I’ll be happy to install it, test, make adjustments, and help others by writing a manual.