I have used the water at different temperatures but usually about 35-40C. Thank you for the advise. I will stop using the warmer in the ultrasonic cleaner and use a cooler water rinse. Frew, Thank you very much for your help and advise.
The formlabs site is showing my units shipping on the week of September 25 !
My order has been showing “week of September 25” for multiple weeks, maybe longer.
I hope it is close to right.
I received a message from FedEx that it has shipped. Due here 6 days.
Received message from FL mine is arriving this Monday
OKAY I can WASH but I can’t CURE . . . until mid-November.
I was expecting both units, then I saw the message. What a let down.
6 more weeks…
Got my Wash couple of days ago! What a relief! It is so much better than those buckets!..Thank you Formlabs! Frew was true to his word! 
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Still no estimated shipping date for mine (ordered on May 10).
my first washes note that the items were thin on a large base. there are 40 separate items grouped.
I overhung the parts to get the rotator to rotate the alcohol.
The result after 20 minutes is that the parts were not sticky
however the overhang caused the inner liner to lift as the tray was raised.
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the inner tray needs a RACK like in a dishwasher for vertical plates.
I know I’m being a jerk about this, but…
2 lock-n-Lock buckets = $ 15
1 Form Wash = $ 499
Just curious, is it 33x better?
I think so, cause it worth the price to see it raise and lower lifting and lowering the cover. Real Star Trek effect.
if YOU like SHAKING THE TRAY IN THE BUCKETS more power to yah!!
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Let me give a semi-serious answer to a semi-facetious comment
As someone that worked on Form Wash and used it in development, the big deal is not that it’s a bucket full of IPA. The big deal is that it lifts your parts out of the IPA when they’re done being washed. That seems trivial, so it’s hard to explain how much of a difference it makes; it means never thinking about setting a timer / scheduling your cleanup / ducking out of a meeting to take out your prints, ever again.
The cost/benefit tradeoff is going to be a personal decision, but the prototype units were in incredibly high demand around the office when they arrived!
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My primary interest with the Wash is containing the mess. I have to share my space with others who aren’t keen on puddles of alcohol-infused resin, so I’m hoping that being able to a) wash without first detaching the print; b) in one container; c) over which the part can drip dry will go a long way to keeping the peace.
For anyone who already has their Wash: does it do a good job of keeping your workspace clean?
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Why did you choose to remove the part from the build plate before washing??? Our plan of action is to buy another build plate and just wash everything on the build plate. The only exception I can think of are very small parts.
It all depends how often do you print. For casual 2-3 prints a week it is not worth it. But for 20-30 prints it is worth it, hands down:
- It saves your time by taking the manual process away.
- It does much better job than average manual wash
- Is is much less messy.
- It takes less space.
- You save on paper towels and gloves.
I can go on
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If you are using the same resin type for the next build there is no reason to waste resin by dipping the whole build plate into the IPA. You have to pop off parts at some point, might as well be there. I get the usefulness of keeping them on the build platform, but I will most likely use the basket the most.
@alan1950 @StevePeters The delay in Form Wash is something we worked hard to avoid but it became necessary to ensure part qualities and consistencies that met our expectations. We’ll make sure it’s worth the wait and certainly wouldn’t delay if we weren’t confident that it would produce a higher quality product for our users. Fortunately, Form Wash and Form Cure aren’t co-dependent and here’s to hoping you’re able to get a lot of use out of your wash unit in the mean time!
@bernardi Form Wash is shipping in waves and another batch is going out shortly so stay tuned.
I supposed that if I was doing this as a business, it might come in handy, but for me as a hobbyist, it isn’t. Additionally, I find the 2 bucket system more appropriate. Washing the model in the fist bucket gets rid of the surplus resin, but the IPA itself is usually too contaminated to properly clean the parts, as it leaves a film of contaminated IPA on them.
Washing them in the 2nd bucket which contains much cleaner IPA, gets rid of the film and results in a properly cleaned model.
I don’t see how the Form Wash can do this, unless; 1. You replace the IPA every 4-5 washes, or 2. The the device itself has a filtration system that removes the contaminants after each wash.
In general, my wash is pretty simple. Once the print is done, I remove the print of the build platform, I developed a technique where I can slide spatula under the model, and work it around until the model detaches from the build surface and it sticks to the spatula, then I put it straight into the bucket, without plopping it in and making a mess.
Once it’s in the bucket I close the top, and shake the bucket for about 30 seconds to a minute, then leave it in there for about 5-6 more minutes. I then pick it up by hand and stir it about for about 10 seconds, after which it goes in the second bucket. I stir it there for about 10-20 seconds, then leave it in for about 5 minutes.
When done, I remove it and let it air dry. 95% of the time that’s all that’s needed to get a nice, dry, model. sometimes I needed to use a compressed air can to get some of the IPA out of small crevices on very intricate parts, but not too often. Once that’s done, I start to remove the supports, while the resin is still semi-flexible.
FWIW, most of my models have been miniatures, nothing that requires any dimensional precision, so I’m not worried about parts swelling or shrinking. Even the models that required parts to fit together have always come out OK. I once forgot a part in the IPA bath overnight, and it didn’t have any “detrimental” effects on it once it dried.
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