Time estimate way off

Support & Troubleshooting
1

I’m used to a bit of inaccuracy in the Preform time estimates, but this seems unacceptably wrong. This is an almost 150% of the estimated time. Seems much worse than I’ve seen before.

image
image273×381 24 KB

2

Hi @jamesp ,

Réka from Formlabs Support here. Both estimated and calculated print times are based on the amount of time it takes for the printer to complete all of the layers in a given job, but do not include the time it takes to prepare the printer for printing, also called preprint. (e.g. preparing the resin tank, heating up the printer, checking the build platform for debris, and checking the printer’s optics system).

Please find out more about how estimates are calculated here, and if you’re having further issues in the future, reach out to our support team.

1 Like
3

Hi,

Thanks for these additional details.

It might be interesting to factor in a “standard” delay for these pre-print steps, for example by including the ambient temperature to take into account.
With a default value around 20–25 °C, I imagine that would make a good starting point for the calculations.

5

You will notice that is 2.5 hours. The Form 4 heats up in minutes.

6

Hi James,

You’re right, a 150% Δ on a 6.5h print doesn’t sound right. Could you share with me what PreForm version you’re on? Also what you’re seeing is the real-time print estimator, which isn’t always as accurate. If you hit the little image icon, that should recalculate a more accurate time—could you try that and let me know if it’s any closer to the actual print time? If you can DM me the exported logs and the .form file, I can also have our engineers take a look. Please let me know the following also:

Rapid Print Estimate: ~6h 26m
Calculated Print Estimate: ?
Actual Print Time: ?

Henry
Software Product Manager for PreForm

7

The rapid estimate and the more “accurate” estimate in preform agreed. I can’t check as I’ve edited the file at lot since. The print time from the dashboard and the printer were 9 hours 11 minutes. The actual print time in the history was 9 hours 12 minutes. The version is 3.51.1.572, which its telling is the latest, though I just checked and it looks like it isn’t. I suppose the updater has stopped working then as well….