Well, this is disappointing. I just popped open my new, second resin tank ( try another color resin) and after 2 prints: lo and behold, It just broke. not on the platform, but outside. I saw this amazingly big crack, and when i touched it: Bang. Piece just broke off.
Does anyone know if support have a warranty on tanks? This one literally lived through Two prints. It strangely, broke from the back; not even near the handles. On anyone who’s tried it; Is this tank still usable? or better not try?
I have 4 tanks, and all are now broken. Some like you have only had a couple of uses, as I had them for a specific colour resin I don’t use much.
I got one replaced by support, but now I just glue them together because its easier than getting support involved. Occasionally I get a leak of resin onto the printer around the edges, but it wipes off OK.
Pretty disappointing really.
Very disappointing. Yes… But it won’t be an issue. Do check how far you can fill the tank without it spilling over the top. Eventually you’ll notice that all corners end up breaking. Though I do find it very bad that it already broke after two prints.
Make sure that there aren’t any splinters left on the inside of the lid. They might drop back in the resin without you knowing it. Most of the times the acrylic does not fall into the resin due to the fact that it sticks to the tank (or lid).
"Hey everybody…just go down the list of the “Support & Troubleshooting” topics to “Cracked Resin Tray”. Go to the end of the string…I published the file of a part that you can print. Glue the part onto the tray as I described.
Sir, that’s genius and you’re my hero now. Simple yet very effective fix. I’ll still report this to support but I’ll use that patch. Great contribution!
The cracks seem to be in the same spot on everyone’s tanks. My guess it is from the mold design and probably from a draft angle that is too low along with poor location of ejector pins causing a stress point that shows up soon after the tank is used.
I do not use anything special for the adhesive. I use a epoxy from Loctite for plastic. I happen to like Loctite for all of their products. you can get this at Home Depot
You sound like you understand some of the principals of mold design. I happen to agree with you as to what might be wrong. Take a look at where the ejector pins are… They are all around the perimeter on the bottom recessed surface EXCEPT along the back wall. I have also measured the draft angle of the walls so that I could design my “band-aid” to fit better. The draft on all the walls is 1 degree. I would have done at least 2 degrees and maybe even 3. My guess the part is sticking along the back wall and the cracking occurs at the weakest point along the back wall…the lip. I have 9 trays and 7 of them have cracked at the lip. Two of them have not cracked and I have used them extensively. I number my trays and the 2 that have not cracked are #2 and #3. I have no answer why 2 of my oldest and most used trays are still fine. That’s why my answer is to put a band-aid on them. They are going to keep cracking!
It happened exactly the same with my resin tank 2 days ago.
The tank was new and I just used it a few prints. I used it with white resin, then I started to use the transparent and I changed the tank. The one that is brokken was gently clean and stored with the appropriated lid. Two days ago when I removed the lid, a part of the thank came with it…
If you go down the “Troubleshooting” list to “Cracked Resin Tray” and go to my entry ( #24) you will find a file called “Tray Wall Repair”. Down load it and print it then follow my brief instructions.
As soon as I saw some fractures I put clear packing tape on them on the outside and it seemed to keep them from getting worse. My intentions was if it did crack through the tape would be a backup to keep the tank from leaking.
For kicks my next tank I will tape the perimeter prior to using it and see if it makes a difference.
Just confirming that this happened to me as well … a crack in the left rear of the tank … and it’s on a more recent tray ordered from Formlabs. Attached are some pics.
It appears as though some resin creeped into the plastic protective top and cured over a long period of time and inactivity of the tank (i.e. I have multiple tanks for various resins). That or the stress from the pivot balls as indicated from the thread above.
I will probably glue it, unless I am not confident on the tank integrity. I’d rather use another tank then have to clean up a mess in the internal working area of the Form.
