Hello I’m a new user I recently got a second hand form 2.
I did some prints with new resin tank LT and grey resin, but the results were worse than my expectations.
I posts some photos below:
All the models have been printed at 0.1mm.
Rooks are 24mm tall, The double helix that is inside failed and the words on the top are not visible.
The other model has 2 big layer lines and on the supports raft the file name is not visible.
Seems like the laser spot is a little bit defocused.
Clean your Glass Plate, Test… then Clean your Galvo Mirrors.
Hey,
Yes, it seems like a dirty mirrors. If you never clean the mirror before, I think it will be for the best to open a support ticket. They will send instructions and also provide a free cleaning kit if you like.
+1 on optics. I have found in my years of Form 2 use that almost every surface quality issue can be remedied by cleaning the entire optics path.
For some reason I find this very ironic, considering that the Form 2 is supposed to have a fully enclosed optics path and be “dust resilient” if not dust proof.
Wasn’t that one of the Form 2 selling points?
Here is a blurb from their “Farewell Form 1+” (or why you should switch to the Form 2) web page:
More Reliable Printing
We’ve worked to eliminate every major point of print failure so you can focus on your job, not your printer. The Form 2 includes a new cartridge system for automatic resin management, a temperature-controlled resin tank, a wiper system that removes debris from the optical path at every layer, and an enclosed optical engine to protect from dust and dirt. The touch screen interface makes this sophisticated printer simple to manage, and everything from software to hardware to materials is designed to work reliably together.**
They don’t build the machine in a dust free environment, so there’s dust inside when it’s built.
I should think a laminar flow filtered air station for final assemble would help, but they don’t do that.
It may be that the 3 eliminates the problem, but with a 2, a good cleaning is in your future.
The Form 2 optical cavity is in no way sealed against dust. Furthermore, if you have a resin spill, which you will eventually, and if it goes down into the innards of the machine, which it will eventually, you will have a continuing problem of resin vapor depositing on and fogging the optical surfaces. Galvos, mirror, glass window. Doesn’t matter how well you clean out the resin spill from the inside of the machine, some resin residue will remain, in some nook or cranny. Voice of experience here. Running open mode 100% of the time will help tremendously with preventing resin spills into the machine.
I currently run my Form 2 printers with the glass removed. It’s much easier to clean the galvos and mirror with that glass out of the way, and with it gone there’s two fewer surfaces in the optical path to clean. Just have to be extra darn careful not to spill any resin. So far so good.
If you’ve ever taken apart a Form 2, you can see the so-called “enclosed” portion is basically just a bunch of cardboard baffles held in with plastic pins. Based on the marketing, I’d been expecting rubber gaskets held tight with screws. The baffle is definitely better than the Form 1+ but nowhere near what I expected. And yes, I’ve seen dust in there on printers fresh from the factory. Guessing it starts on the bottom inside surfaces then spreads as the printer is tilted / handled during shipping.
I was just being sarcastic about this. The entire promo is fraught with upsell bits and statements what are now known to be a little less than accurate.
All you have to do is just read the entire paragraph from “We’ve worked to eliminate…” or read the page in question and you’ll see what I mean.
And here is the part that bugged me: the “Farewel…” page is from their news blog and it’s from March 2017. By then, the Form 2 had been on the market for about 18 months, and they already knew about the issues that users were facing, yet they were still making statements like those.
Thank you for your suggestions. I think the mirrors have never been cleaned Furthermore, the machine has been shipped tilted, making things worse.
I opened a support ticket. Let’s see…
I never had any issues with dust on the Form2, though I didn’t have it in a place that gets much dust and I kept a box over it when not printing, that’s probably enough to avoid dust with the changes they made to try to avoid dust getting inside.
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