Was the pause or not pause option removed when printing big objects that require the refilling of the tank in the last version of the software?

Support & Troubleshooting
21

@Aaron_Silidker

attached are two versions of the form files one less than 1 ml different than the other. I probably used “first version”, but my results have been consistent over time – I only get slightly more than 100 ml/print.

@Ante_Vukorepa My prints are always shelled, with wall thicknesses usually 1/8", but occasionally I need 1/4" portions.

Just to put all the questions to rest I have attached a .jpg of the tank with resin in it showing the line defining the top of the resin is parallel to the “fill line”; plus a .jpg of the laser spot test.

Linda

114 ml part first version.form (533.0 KB) 114 ml part second version.form (457.8 KB)

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@Aaron_Silidker I forgot to mention: I was using clear v1 resin and 0.1mm layer thickness.

Linda

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Do they have drainage holes?

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@Ante_Vukorepa: I generally have lots of holes and usually I have an open side. I have only trapped resin a few times and then it was not more than a few ml. (less than 1/8 teaspoon). The models that I have uploaded are not closed.

25

Yeah, thought they had (was just making sure).
Sorry i didn’t check the .form files, i’m at work and didn’t find the time to install PreForm and check.

I guess it comes down to either the tanks being calibrated wrong or PreForm calculating the volume wrong. The former should be easier to check (measuring cup or a graduated cylinder). If it turns out it’s not the former, than it’s the latter :slight_smile:

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@LindaAlbright,

The files look fine with no shells that might trap a significant amount of resin.

In your second photo, I noticed that the tops of the pegs that are on the inside walls on the tank are showing:

These can actually be used as an indicator of whether the tank is full or not, and it appears that your tank is not full in that photo. I fill my tank until the top of any one of the indicators is just barely sticking up above the surface of the resin.

If your tank was completely full as I described above when you printed and had issues, please contact our support team and open a ticket as this is something we need to look into as well as help you solve! PreForm is generally extremely good at predicting print volume and print time.

Hope that helps!
Aaron

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@Aaron_Silidker: The photo of resin was just to show the level (i.e. the line defining the top of the resin is parallel to the “fill line” marked on the tank. Of course, when I ran the print it was a different batch of resin and it was filled to the very bottom of the “Fill Line” (i.e. almost or actually touching the lower boundary of the “Fill Line”). The bottom line of 100+ a few ml resin/print is so consistent on my machine, that I can depend on it. If we go back to the purpose of this thread – it is that your new pause at 200 ml to refill the tank software is way to late. Prints will have already failed. You need to set the pause at 100 ml. Perhaps allowing the operator to set the number of ml used before pause would solve all the issues. I already have a ticket open for a mirror replacement. I was not aware that 100 ml/print before refilling was a problem. Tomorrow, I will fill the tank I was using with H20 to the level I was using and report the volume. We are really talking about the difference between filling to the bottom of the “fill line” or filling to the top of it. This may be another 20 ml or so – in which case the software still needs to be set way below 200 ml before the pause. By the way, I have never used the “pause” option – because I haven’t done prints greater than 200 ml. I did not even know it was there before this thread. I will be happy to help you resolve which it is – the fill line sticker being in the wrong place – or the software calculating the wrong volume – but I do not consider it a “support” issue that needs a ticket. I do not know why my copy of the software would calculate in some different way than everyone else’s copy of the software. I also do not think the fill line was in the wrong place – but as I said – I will check the latter out tomorrow,

Linda

1 Like
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Hi @LindaAlbright,

Glad you are happy to help us do a thorough job of exploring this odd issue you are facing. Once the printer on my desk is free, I will print one of your files.

As I mentioned above, please check the fill level with the pegs that are molded into the tank. When the tank is full (and on a level surface), the top of each peg should be right at the top surface of the resin. If the tank is not level, only fill it until the top of one of the pegs is at the top surface of the resin.

The tank should hold ~250ml when filled to the top of the pegs and on a level surface. I will be interested to hear what the results of your fill test are.

Thanks you!
Aaron

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@Aaron_Silidker I have attached photos of the fill test at various levels of liquid (h20). Two photos at 50 ml show clearly that most prints will fail with only 50 ml of liquid. About 1/3 of the pdms is dry. A photo at 75 ml shows a tiny corner of the pdms is uncovered by water. Jostling the water actually covered it - barely - but with the peel cycle and all, the pdms layer will begin to go dry at 75 ml. I would not recommend printing past this point. A photo at 100 mls shows the liquid level just at the minimum fill line. A photo at 125 shows the liquid at about 1/2 the way between minimum and max. A photo at 200 shows the liquid kissing the bottom boundary of the max fill line. A photo at 250 ml shows the pegs barely peeking above the water level. If one uses the fill line as a guide, then it will be “full” at 200 ml., but prints with less than 75 ml of liquid remaining will begin to fail due to the advancing dry areas on the pdms. That gives 125 ml max for a successful print. 50 ml could be added by filling to the very tops of the posts, as you suggested. This max print size of 175 is still below the pause option at 200 ml.

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Hey Linda,

This sounds like a very strange issue. I know you said you don’t think this is a support issue, but for anything weird like this that impacts the usability of the machine, I recommend submitting a ticket to our support team so we can figure out what’s happening and keep better track of improvements or changes that need to be made.

Regarding your experiment, the PDMS is much more hydrophobic to water than it is to the resin (you can see the high contact angle between the water and the PDMS in your 50 mL picture). This means you’ll need more water to cover the entire bottom of your tank than you would with resin, so it’s not surprising that you still have some an empty spot in your tank with 75 mL of water in there.

That said, I’ve printed many models larger than 150 mL and have never encountered the issue you are describing. Do you have other tanks that show this same behavior?

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@Steve_Thomas. Hi Steve. I have submitted a support ticket # 46919 in case you want to follow the thread within the support team.

Linda.