As you’ve noticed, with the last update, we’ve made some changes to the peel cycle that is resulting in a noticeably new noise pattern.
What’s going on? We’ve modified the peel process to improve print reliability and surface finish. The sounds your hearing come from the motion of the build platform, which is moving slightly during the peel cycle. With PreForm 1.4, you may see some improvement in the quality of your prints.
We’ve updated the blog post to reflect these changes – as well as added some details in a changelog. Apologies for not being clearer up-front – we’re excited about this change! The sound may vary somewhat from machine to machine, but if it proves to be a substantial issue, we may be able to look for solutions.
To clarify, the sound doesn’t bother me (as others have stated ink printers are louder). It was just concerning that there was a dramatic change after not using the machine for a week and the change wasn’t documented.
As for the change to the peel cycle, it does appear to operate much more efficiently.
Has anyone noticed a difference in their prints? I’ve had 4 failed prints in a row since the update, I have maybe just enough resin for one more try and then I’ll have to wait to try the Makerjuice I ordered. The ones I tried look undercured, it may be that its the last of my resin and I’m not getting all the tiny jello spots out so I’ll strain it out before making my final attempt. I just wondered if anyone sees a change?
The graphical performance seems to suffer in the new version for me. It’s much more choppier when you rotate the view even with a simple small item loaded.
Ok. Just started my first print using the new firmware/software. Maybe I’m more sensitive to noise, but the printer now sounds like one of those old dot matrix printers. I would say the form1 now ties the b9 in the annoying sound department lol.
I can see how this method of peeling may be more beneficial, because there is an over-lift of the build platform going on along with the tilting of the resin tank.
Of course, the noise could have been possibly avoided or lessened, if they designed the form1 for this kind of peeling in the beginning and used more powerful (and more expensive) silent step motors.
I will wait for the print to finish and compare the print quality to see if it’s worth keeping the update, or else will rollback to the previous version.
The noise complaints are indicative of the kinds of primiary environments the Form is operating; an office. Mine competes with a plasma cnc, chopsaw, and a huge dust collector unit and an HVAC. Let me tell you, it’s quiet machine, IMO. However, in an office environment, I can see the validity of the complaint, and also the questioning of where it’s coming from. It’s interesting that the portable Bukito with syncromesh I have beats out both MakerBot and Form1 for decibel levels, now. I should run decibel tests on the various bots and machines I’m around on a daily basis.
The noise is significant (to me) in my office when the machine is right next to my computer. My inkjet printer doesn’t take 4 hours to print something so I can tolerate a little noise for a little while. This is more like starting your car one day and finding you have a hole in the muffler - unexpected and not welcome.
That moaning aside - the first batch of prints I did were a mess. Most significant was a “lip” that developed on several of the rings I was printing. I was trying a variety of different supports and angles to see if I could find a workflow for consistent prints. On this batch I had several copies of two models using the Form supports and some B9 generated supports. These were all printed at .25 (not something I should have bothered with) using the grey resin. I thought the lip was because I had not placed the supports properly using the B9 software but I had the same issues using the default Form settings.
The second batch was significantly better and I think the third batch I did last night is even better than that. Still noisy though so I may have to relocate the machine.
It seems to vary based on the print. I’ve noticed it started on layer 20/900 the other day. It happens for a while and seems to speed up and slow down and get louder and quieter during the process and then stops. Maybe it’s the new normal.
If you are printing something thin and small, you will get really annoyed really fast, because the peeling and the “dot matrix sound” is much faster and more often. If you are printing a thicker/larger model, it’s less annoying.
In either case, I saw no significant improvement in surface quality for my jewelry prints, so I’m going back to version 1.3. I can bet the change had more to do with failure ratios people were having, and not the surface quality.
It’s just sad that I will miss out on the other new features if Form Labs decides to stick to this new peeling method.
** For me, the new noisy peel method renders the Form1 unusable as slick office machine that it was, and turns it into something that belongs in a warehouse or on the factory floor.**
I hope form labs at least gives us a choice in the software options to select which peel method we want to use.
How do I go about rolling back to 1.3? I don’t have copies of the older versions of the software. I tried rolling back to an older version of the firmware (1.3e) but that doesn’t seem to take hold.
