I stopped using formlabs printers back in 2018, which stopped my research into their cartridge chips. Now I am back since I bought a broken form 3 for cheap and was able to repair it. So I am coming back to research into their cartridges.
I am looking specifically for a v4 cartridge from 2018-2019 with cartridge ID starting with 2D. if you have one please let me know! Ideally it would be gray.
(I know there is universal cartridge now, but I want a “free” and open source solution)
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you post; it’d be nice if you finished your project you were talking about back then.
I’ll have a look at my cartridges and see what I have. 
HI, Gray V4 maybe yes, but don’t know what is the is starting with 2D? Mine are RS-F2- and from end 2019. I’ll check my old stack
The id starting with RS is the cartridge type. There is also a cartridge ID.
You can see it in dashboard website, under material, select a cartridge. It will have it at the bottom of the page next to the manufacturer date. Newest one start with 4C
Another way to see it is to look at the chip itself, near the bite valve, where is gold contact is. The contact goes to a tiny black square chip. The chip will be somewhat hard to see, you might wanna just take a picture of it. And read it from the picture
The newer cartridge chip says 4CPPS on it. What I am looking for should say DS 2431 on it. ( or anything that is not 4CPPS)
@JohsonChou I wasn’t able to find the number of the chip on the cartridge I have. All I could find was a sticker and the contact pins. I’ll see if I can throw it in my printer and see if I can get an ID that way.
This one looks very promising.
If there is a way for you to put it in the printer to confirm it would be great.
Ι had a look at my Draft v2, but couldn’t find anything as well. Preform doesn’t mention anything about it as well. Can you share some photos of what we should be looking for?
Insert the cartridge into your printer.
Go to your Dashboard and select “Printers”:
Click on the printer concerned then click on the Resin type in the dialogue:
You’ll then be given all the info on that cartridge:
Hope this helps.
ok found it!!
Unfortunaly it starts with 4C, man. date is 11/2021
any way for me to get this catridge? This one looks great.
Sorry, although the dashboard says it’s got 0ml left it isn’t actually empty yet. I also need it to store the resin that’s still in the tank. I might have another one but I’d need to have a rummage. I’m guessing you’re in the USA so shipping from the UK might be somewhat prohibitive. Does it have to be Grey V4 or can it be other (perhaps older) resin cartridges?
needs to be v4 because as far as I know form 3 only support v4 and up.
Yeah, I am in the US.
Do you have experience working with arduino at all? (and have one) All I need is data from the chip. Technically you don’t need to send me the cartridge, just the data. I can show you how to dump the data from the chip. It won’t damage it.
I do have a little experience with Arduino, ESP8255 ESP32, PIC etc. but I’m more than a bit rusty!
It is pretty simple! It is a one wire chip after all.
I can write up a sketch and you just have to copy what showed up on the serial console to me.
It should a simple connection too. Ground to ground, a GPIO with a like a 4.7k pull up to the data pin.
Here is the library for reference: GitHub - tommag/DS2431_Arduino: Arduino library for Maxim DS2431 1-Wire EEPROM
Just be careful the example file they have has both read and write, you just want read. Don’t want to overwrite that precious data lol.
Again if you feel a bit rusty on editing the sketch, I can write up a sketch for you.
Ok, leave it with me. As you say, I’m sure it’s not difficult with just being a 1-wire device. I’ll take a look and dig out my Arduino stuff. I could research it but for speed do you know which pad on the cartridge is Ground?
Ok, I’ve found a post here that gives me a clue as to which contact is which.
Yeah, looks great too. Do you mind sending that if you are in US? I can send you a label.
Yes, I’m in Texas. I can send it to you. PM with the details.
I found my Arduino the other day and hunted down my resistors yesterday. I’m using the read/write example from the GitHub page you linked to but have commented out all the ‘writing’ code. When I ran it, it found the DS2431 but it failed the CRC check on the serial number. I commented out the CRC code and now it appears to read the chip but it’s clearly not correct and it doesn’t matter which cartridge I connect it to it gives the same serial number and data. This is what I get on the serial monitor:
11:07:38.199 -> DS2431 found with serial number : 2D,0,0,0,0,0,0,80
11:07:38.199 ->
11:07:38.292 -> Memory contents :
11:07:38.292 -> 0 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 8 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 16 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 24 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 32 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 40 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 48 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 56 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 64 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 72 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 80 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 88 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 96 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 104 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 112 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 -> 120 :0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
11:07:38.292 ->
Any idea why I’m getting these results?
Good luck with your open source hack!
A week after your post Formlabs decided they want more control over who is printing what on the printers they sell and released a firmware update, which disables the use of a lot of the old cartridges from this type.
For new printer buyers and current owners: this is not a technical issue. It’s about money.
I wonder how legal it is around the world to disable the use of consumables when the manufacturer suddenly decides they don’t want you to use it anymore.
I regularly see ads of users selling their printer with ‘expired’ cartridges new in box.
They can now be thrown in the waste. 150$ wasted per cartridge.
