Yesterday in the middle of a job I noticed that there was resin spread by the form 2, I stopped the impression and I realized that I had failed, I removed the platform, I leaked the rezina of the tank and there was the base of the model was glued to the tank and the tank was broken. I also noticed that the black protective base that separates the inside of the machine was broken too.
I contacted Formlabs support, who asked me for more photos and the .form file to analyze, but so far I have not had any more answers.
I think the cause of the disaster was that the wipper had plastered with the model glued to the bottom of the tank and that led to the breaking of it.
I ask, will it be my fault?
I read somewhere in the forum that Craig said that when the wipper detects something on the bottom of the tank, it generates an error, which in this case did not happen.
I desperately need to continue working because I have my clients pressuring me and I do not know how to solve this.
In principle, I will just have to replace the tank and the plastic cover. Does the machine work smoothly with split protection?
I would appreciate it if someone who has had this bad experience can help me.
Sorry for my english.
It is possible that forces from a failed print cause the tank to crack but this is often because the polycarbonate material has been weakened after being cleaned with a solvent like IPA. Fortunately, it looks your optical window was spared from resin and this should only require that the tank is replaced and the tray carrier is cleaned up a bit. Here’s to hoping our support team gets you up and running again quickly!
I never cleaned the tank with ipo, from time to time filter the resin and clean the bottom of the tank with the spatula that came with the cleaning kit.
The resin that was poured from the tank was small and I cleaned it as soon as possible, but I do not know if it infiltrated any in the interior.
My biggest problem for now is to know how I can inspect the interior and also if the machine can work with the plastic protection broken, I am afraid that if it happens again the resin can seep in.
I would like to know if you send this part to replace (with your instructions) or if I have to send the machine for repair.
Regards,
What I have been doing on my Form!+ is using clear shipping tape and taping the sides on brand new tanks. My very first tank had shattered on the corner. I find that the tape gives the tank the extra strength and one of my tanks had split but the tape saved me from it leaking inside.
Cracks always start on the sides on the weakest point and though you may hardly see or not see any fractures, the tank can fail really easily.
ZVat Industries I think is working on a tank for the Form2’s but not dead sure on that.
Someday maybe Formlabs will listen and change the pretty acrylic tank walls with a different plastic like ABS. Does the tank really need to be clear on the sides especially with the Form2 that has an auto fill system??
