My Form-1 has a slanty platform and don't know what to do about it

Support & Troubleshooting
1

(Opened a support ticket below but figured I’d try here as well)

Hi,

I received my Formlabs printer early last week and printed two very successful prints out of the box. This said, out of nowhere I have a problem that I have no idea how to solve as it seems to physical/mechanical. Basically the tray/holder leans to one side no matter what I do. Here’s a link to some photos of what I’m talking about.  http://imgur.com/a/seDmS#0(also attached)

It never sits straight at all so something is definitely up. The first two prints I did were fine (amazing actually) but now this. Have you ever seen this before? I’m pretty good at tinkering with the FDM type printers but am new to SLA printing and don’t want to poke around without any idea of what I’m looking for. One of the photos is mean gently lifting the tray into the original position, the other what happens when I let go. It just sits on an angle.

I left the office this morning (to take part in MakerFaire Toronto). The print had failed when I returned but I don’t think the tank was like that. I am at a loss for reasons (at no point did apply any force to any part of the machine).

I have a job for a client that I need printed on it asap.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Andre Tiemann

EDIT: I quickly realized other have had a similar issue:  https://formlabs.zendesk.com/entries/25328788-Resin-Tank-Housing-Broken-Unsupported-on-Right-Side | uploaded new photo of problem area.

2

Andre, your peel motor has been disconnected, so your printer will not function correctly. That threaded rod should be connected to the linkage mounted directly above it. Without that, the peel motor will not move the resin tray up and down.

3

Hi Sam,

Thanks. Since posting this, I have been in contact with Formlabs support staff and hopefully the solution will work.

Andre

4

From those pictures it doesn’t look like forlabs is putting any locktite on it. I sure do hope they correct this issues with some blue locktite!!! Seems like this rod coming loose could put the tank at a slightly higher angle, may be some of the causes of the loud clunks and failing prints.

5

We do apply loctite to that thread, but it’s under considerable (and repeated!) stress during the printing process. We’re looking at more robust solutions.

6

Just a thought, since the max force is when pulling the tank down for the peel motion. Maybe just a simple counter rotation thread will solve it! This way the thread will always want to tighten when pulling. :slight_smile:

If not a pinned joint will always work solid in both directions…

7

Thank you for the suggestion Andrew!

8

So, is there a new update of Preform for the counter rotation will be available?