Hi, I’m new to this type of printer and I’m learning based on problems and errors.
I believe this post believing that it may be interesting for me and future colleagues.
My purpose is to ask a series of questions:
Sometimes my resin has loose pieces, how can I filter those pieces?
I use a plastic comb, I do not force myself not to damage the silicone of my resin tank.
Sometimes I use my spatula to detach parts of pieces stuck in my silicone tank (this spatula is clean but then I dip it in alcohol to be cleaned) is not bad once the alcochol dried, right? Is there any way to clean the silicone?
-Once finished my impression, my piece is inside my printer all night, without removing and introducing my piece in isopropilico alcochol until the morning is not bad, right?
Once cleaned of alcochol I cure my piece in my season of cure 60 minutes without problems.
You can clean your resin with a comb, however that will not guarantee all small particles have been cleaned from the resin. You should buy a package of 190 micron paint filters for the resin. An official Formlabs article has been written on the subject here.
While the resin is filtering you can use the spatula to carefully wipe clean the silicone, being extra careful not to puncture it or pull it from the bottom.
Of course you do not want to contaminate your resin with IPA, however if the spatula has dried then you are OK. When changing resin colors I use a paper towel dipped in a little IPA to wipe down the build platform. Of course I ensure it is try before hanging it back above the resin.
I have left my prints hanging on the printer over a 4 day weekend before. As long as the cover is down, and God forbid there are no major catastrophe’s like a resin spill, then your print will be just fine.
Our support pages are a great place to continue learning tricks and troubleshooting steps for Formlabs printers. As @kevinduhe mentioned, we do have an article on filtering tanks which is going to be the most reliable method for removing rogue cured resin from tanks.
In the case of parts stuck to the silicone layer, it is safe to gently run the included spatula across the tank using a shallow angle. IPA evaporates off relatively quickly so as long as you don’t see residual IPA left on your spatula after cleaning, you should be good to go.
You should check out this page for more printing resources and our team is always happy to help out with troubleshooting.
