I just got the Form 2 Monday (been printing non stop since) and was pretty impressed with the printer up until tonight. First I noticed my parts seemed softer than previous prints fresh out of the printer. Then I noticed some scarring on another print. The last print I just printed printed mostly ok but the base of the print is all flakey and messy. The layers also look thin or under-cured. Its almost as if the resin isnt curing right anymore. Or the laser magically isnt as powerful as it was. I’m mindful of my part placement. I made sure the vat was free of debris and even filtered the resin in the tray through a fine mesh paint strainer.
A side note. I havent been shaking the bottle between prints. Am I supposed be doing this? The wiper agitates the resin in the vat before each print.
I have also noticed the resin is really frothy and seems to have gotten more frothy over time. Like a freshly shaken milkshake.
Also I have noted another problem since the first print of random perpendicular to the build plate scribe like straight lines.
@RenkFasze The base was failing on the smaller print how would supports have any effect on that? The supports arent failing. There seems to be a resin / laser issue not orientation. I havent checked the optical glass under the vat but there seems to be a common factory defect which compromises the optical clarity. The vat was optically clear minus some print ghosting on the pdms but nothing substantial.
Was just curious - orientation/insufficient or improper support placement can lead to parts moving/flexing slightly as each layer is peeled. Over a number of layers the repeated stress can create cracks, ghosting lines or step like layers.
I haven’t seen anything regarding the optical clarity of the glass, that’s new to me. Are there any threads made for the topic you could point me towards?
Were you able to filter the tank after flakes started showing up in your prints? Cured resin from earlier printing issues can cause issues down the line and lead to the flakes you’re seeing.
Grey v3 and v4 do have a tendency to bubble a bit, and this doesn’t adversely affect print results. So long as the cartridge isn’t dormant for an extended period of time (on the order of weeks and months), you don’t need to worry about shaking it prior to printing. Some other materials like the Castable Resin do settle more quickly and need to be shaken before each print, but that’s not the case for the Standard Resins.
Yes I strained the resin out of the vat and poured it back in when I noticed the first failure. I still have to check the glass with a flashlight. Im running another print of the same model in a completely different location to see if I cant rule that out as a possible cause for failure. If the part does print fine then I will know there is something messed up with the optics side of things.
The plot thickens. Now nothing is being printed. I printed the same model again but in an area that hadnt been printed in before. I also checked the glass and vat again. No issues there.
Also note that yesterday afternoon the power went out towards the end of a print. Is it possible the printer calibration got messed up? I have rebooted the machine since then.
