Share Your Form Wash Experiences!

Jam protection is something that’s currently implemented as well :slight_smile: It’s based on how long the Z stage takes to reach the endstop at the bottom of Form Wash so if the platform gets stuck early in its descent, it may have a second or two of skipping. If Form Wash detects a jam, it will stop and display a message on the screen, and this shouldn’t cause damage to the motors if it happens periodically.

My wash is finally getting some use (after working through some printer issues). In short, it is wonderful. When I hear the solution being stirred… I like it.

The platform and part come out ready to detach, and place into the UV cabinet. I’m soooo looking forward to the Cure!

Suggestion? The UI is a bit clunky. I should be able to open the unit with a single button push. I should be able to close the unit with a single button push. I should be able to start the wash with a single button. Setting the time is just that, a setting, and the current UI is fine for changing it.

Fishing around with the knob for the sleep (to close the unit), and again fishing around with the knob for the start seems counter intuitive for a device that is supposed to be effortless to use.

PS: I really love the fact that I no longer have to alcohol clean my platform (in the sink)! I just detach the part, a quick wipe, and back in the printer! I love the fact I’m no longer timing the soak, and manually stirring the part!

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Thanks for the suggestions! The UI went through a sizable number of iterations at HQ but that sample size pales in comparison to our user base so we’ll continue collecting idea for UI tweaks.

Glad you’re enjoying the Form Wash!

One subtle note about how I interact with the UI: the main menu clamps rather than wrapping, and we deliberately put start and open/close at the edges of the main menu, so your scrolling doesn’t need to be precise. If I’m walking up to a machine and want to start a wash, I grab the knob, give it a quick counterclockwise twist (which will put the selection at the top of the menu), and press it – which I can do without looking at the screen or precisely aiming the selection rectangle.

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The direction in which you turn the knob is counterintuitive to me. I walk up to the machine and expect to turn the dial clockwise to go up. I think it is because the display is to the left of the dial, and I wish to move the selector rectangle down. Imagine the dial instead had an arrow on it pointing towards your selection, that is how I intuitively want to move the dial. If the rectangle stayed in the same place and the text moved, I would probably like it the way it is. Just my 2 cents. Machine works great and has saved tons of time/parts.

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Received my Wash a few days ago and I’ve now sent a few prints through it. Very, very happy with it.

Parts come out much cleaner than with the two buckets approach. Plus, the ability to have a part come out of the F2 and get sent straight to the IPA where I can start the clean and leave it, without worrying about over washing or moving between buckets or manually agitating it, etc. Is great. Particularly like the drip dry after the wash is complete.

Best part of all is how clean it is. No matter how I tried with the buckets, I’d always have some alcohol with resin spill over onto the bucket platform, down the sides and onto the floor. It always looked messy and a bit gross. Particularly since my workspace isn’t industrial, having a clean process is a huuge improvement.

I have really benefited from my Form Wash as well. All of my equipment is in my home office and I have very sensitive and dry skin. Even with gloves interaction with 99% iso causes rashes, cracking, and bleeding but with the Form Wash I have been able to keep it in another room and only go in to start the wash and retrieve a part.

The parts do look great when they are done with the Wash but the real benefit to me was improving my quality of life while still being able to be a Maker.

Thank you

I was having crash/UI issues with the Wash initially, and it still happens every now and then; display/knob will become unresponsive (the screen either stays dark or is stuck to whatever menu it was on). 2-5 times a week. Power off/on will get it back again, but resets the timer back to 20 minutes.

Mildly annoying, but not a show stopper. It doesn’t sound like a common problem, so I probably just got a defective unit.

Dental models will have a hollow underside so if I throw them in with the build plate, there’s a bunch of uncured material that gets trapped in there. So we moved to basket only, but anterior dies will poke through the mesh, get snapped off their base, and will fall trough. Models in the basket, dies on the build plate works just fine.

We’re aware of some users having UI issues and are looking towards fixes. Form Wash and Cure can be updated so a software update may correct this in the future. There’s no need to be complicit with a malfunctioning display and I’d recommend opening a support ticket so that we can work towards a fix with you.

I’m loving the new Form Wash. It streamlines our workflow, and noticeably decreases the mess of cleaning the platen between builds. Great product Formlabs!

I’ll have to add to this, the knob does seem to work backwards, I had to figure that out the first time I turned it. If the display were on the other side of the knob it would be fine. Other than that it works good!

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LOOK MA, NO GLOVES!! need no gloves moving from FL2 to FW.

why don’t you model and print an adapter that when spun clockwise, spins the formwash dial counterclockwise? :upside_down_face::wink:

I love the machine, but like others here alcohol leaked into my build platform after a few uses. I can hear it sloshing around inside when I tilt the platform.

I like that I can just open the lid and put the build platform in without having to use the knob to hit “Open” first.

If it could be done on the existing hardware and without compromising rigidity, it might be slick if a simple “push down” on the gantry lowered it back into the tank (similar to how the tray on your CD player works).

@gjgomes’ observation is insightful; I made the same mistake too the first time I used the knob, even though I generally think knobs ought to be clockwise-for-down, and moving it to the left side of the screen as @spineytoad suggested might make the majority of users’ dominant hands block the display.

I don’t like how quickly it evaporates alcohol when not in use. I appreciate the explanation on the lack of gaskets, but I do wish it had one along with enough weight (or a mechanism) to clamp it down for an effective seal. At the moment the device is in the same room I work and I’m concerned I’ve effectively introduced an “IPA humidifier” to my living space. Even manual clips like those on the original Form 1 wash bucket lids would have been fine. This is one aspect where I feel Formlabs has steadily regressed through the evolution of the finish kits / appliances.

A Form 1+ build plate adapter would be nice, if whatever tweak you do to fix platform leaks is applied to those too.

The machine definitely reduces the number of manual steps in the print process - one less event you need to “wait around” for.

I’m shocked the easter egg is still a secret.

The issue with leaks is actually an issue with recent platforms, as manufactured, not platform design in general. I’ve got a nearly 2 year old platform that works perfectly with Wash. The two platforms i got in the past few months, however, both popped open, and it happened during printing.

Here’s what happens:

  • the platforms have plugs that are very slightly bent to begin with (they sag in the middle), which is likely due to a change in the injection moulding process
  • this causes a bad seal, so IPA ingresses into the platform, bypassing the gasket
  • when the temperature of the platform raises, either outside the Wash, or in my case, from exposure to heated resin in the printer, the gap closes, but the IPA inside the platform evaporates and expands
  • the plug that’s the weaker of the two then pops out

I had support replace a platform with another one with exactly the same issue. Meanwhile, i continue to use the 2-year old one that came with the printer originally, perfectly.

Regarding the UI, i got used to quickly twisting the dial to the endpoints in the menu, but here’s a small suggestion: make the default menu item context sensitive!

No need to move the items around - just make it pre-select the logical next step in the sequence:

  1. From sleep state, preselect open if closed
  2. Then, after opening, preselect time
  3. On setting the time, preselect Start
  4. On wash cycle end, preselect Sleep

It’s a very simple state machine, and it makes most operations one click away.

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Oh, and no matter what you say about evaporation, the fact remains there was way less volume loss per day from the old ”manual” baskets with gaskets. Maybe the gasket design you’ve compared against wasn’t optimal, and that’s why you didn’t measure a difference. The objective should’ve probably been reducing the evaporation and designing a solution that does so, not comparing a cheap and slightly less cheap option (i fully understand cost reduction is important, and gaskets require additional tooling, but Wash ain’t exactly cheap either).

One last, minor thing (sorry about my multi-post rant)… The tool storage compartment doors have badly designed stops/detents. I regularly close them beyond the detent with very little force, because they simply skip it, and end up closed inwards instead of flush with the sides.

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I will agree with the evaporation. I have had the form wash for about 2 months, maybe 3, I have had to put 64oz more ounces in the tank already, I had to only put one 32oz in the old one over a year after I filled it the first time.

The Wash DOES evaporate IPA. There used to be a slight odour in my workroom which has mainly disappeared after I started to use food wrap on the Wash when finished for the day.

Inelegant and fiddly, yes, but it works.

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I know I have said this before, but I thought I might get used to it, I am constantly turning the know the way that is expected, turn counter clockwise one would expect the scrolling to go down, clockwise would scroll up. When I am selecting a time for washing, I am spending part of that time trying to figure out why the numbers are not going the right direction, then I try to figure out why it is set up this way and realizing I am probably never going to figure out the logic for this (unless there is but I haven’t read about it yet)… it just doesn’t make any sense. The same goes for the form cure, I literally just went and tried to select a time and went the wrong direction again I can see locking it if you spin one way or the other, but selecting times is backwards, can this be an option we can put the proper direction??? Maybe in my mind when I see a white bar highlighting something, I expect the white bar to move up and down which it can’t obviously do on that screen, so if I am sitting on 15 minutes, and try to move the white bar up to 14 I get 16 instead. So the option to change that to our preferences would be most appreciated, I have 50+ years of scrolling things that tell me it’s backwards, hopefully that makes sense, sorry for the lengthy post :wink: