Two Tough cartridges worn out, not even 2L printed between both?

I’m new to SLA. We bought a Form 2 late last year and just got to printing some production parts from Tough material. I’m having satisfactory results, but just ran into a complete production standstill.

I printed a funnel, and when the first cartridge was reading low I started using another, then topped it off with the remnants of the first cartridge. This cartridge started telling me it was worn out, so I emptied what was left of this back into the first cartridge…there is a significant amount left. Now this cartridge is saying it’s worn out.

What is going on here? I have more material ordered, but now I can’t print until it arrives. One cartridge has maybe 1.3L ran through it at absolute most, the other well less than 1L. I’d estimate 500mL of resin left at least, being new to the Form2 and SLA I was conservative with material and there was more resin left than expected.

I’ve read just a bit about open mode, but it seems far inferior for Formlabs materials.

Thanks for any help!

What does ”worn out” mean?
If it said it’s unsure there’s enough resin left in the cartridge, just hit continue.

Cartridges don’t have a sensor - they don’t and cannot know how much resin is in them.
If you refill a cartridge, it will read as empty. The printer will display an error, but it will let you continue (and it will continue dispensing resin from the cartridge).

The only time this is not the case is if the cartridge itself is super old (and i mean really old) - then it will complain it’s too old and won’t let you continue (if i remember correctly).

It literally says the cartridge is worn out. They were telling me the cartridge was low after printing maybe .3L.

I just checked and I’ve barely printed over a liter between two cartridges and they both say they are worn out and must be replaced.

Guess I’ll be calling formlabs Monday, I expect a replacement cartridge since I have almost an entire liter that’s unusable!

Sounds super weird.
I’m guessing they aren’t old either, right?

Squeeze the nozzle by hand and see if any resin comes out. If it does, make sure it’s not snotty or chunky looking.

The cartridges are just a month or so old as far as how long I’ve had them; seem to be the latest version of resin too. Will check how it looks today but looks normal in the tank and has been printing fine.

You can refill a cartridge after you’ve used the resin in it, but at some point it will tell you that you can’t use that cartridge anymore I think at around 2-3L, this is due to the valve on the cartridge getting worn out it doesn’t want to let you risk the chance of it leaking.

Unfortunately neither of these cartridges have more than 1L through them. The only refill was what was left of one cartridge that was “worn out” into another, but there was quite a lot of resin remaining. Then the other cartridge gave the same error after one print. It had printed maybe .5L

This is odd behavior indeed and while we tend to recommend against re-filling cartridges, I’m likewise guilty of topping off printing cartridges with nearly empty ones. Our support team is going to be best suited to help out with this and hopefully you were able to get in touch!

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