Okay so I put a support ticket in because I have a rather large number of failed prints in the past, Spot check is good, test print is good… but this is what I get immediately after.
Print results
I am using the new V2 Clear resin which is a real pain to get off the plate to begin with (not sure why still need to search the forums if anyone else is experiencing that as well)
But I am at a loss I am going to attempt to only print one piece at a time but I am not even sure if that will work.
Any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Tom
Those components look pretty hefty - I think I would print one at a time - I’d also consider printing them hollow; with size and amount of material in contact with the pdms it looks like you would be having serious issues with the peel process.
I am considering printing them on at a time, but I cannot make them hollow though because of the load the parts are going to see they are about 3-4 mm thk… we are cracking them to begin with I have had thin parts fail with similar results which seems to stem from the peeling process. The part that stick in my teeth is that i have sent the file to another form 1+ printer and it came out flawless.
I know that SLA is not the best for thicker parts but the cost of the printer vs polyjet or other Professional printers drove us to the form 1+… but I it is what it is. I will try just printing one piece and see how it looks just afraid because when these fail the whole tray is usually shot.
Was the other printer printing at the same orientation? If you are planning on creating functional parts have you considered printing hollow then molding and taking solid casts?
Seeing the bridge between the two parts is a good sign of a dirty mirror or a bad laser. All those flakes and m any failed prints are good sign of that. Have you checked the mirrors and is the laser spot totally focused or is there a slight glowing ring around it?
Yes the printer printed the same orientation I also feel that it was a dirty mirror or laser issue but running the spot check through Formlabs support stated that it looked good and no cleaning would be required even their test print came out good… I want to do a clean on the mirrors but I don’t have the instructions I did buy the Pec Pads and air duster that everyone recommended but Form labs said that everything has checked out therefore no cleaning instructions for me… last thing i want to do is void a warranty of a 2 month old machine 
I would email them again and get the cleaning instructions. Are you using canned air or the bulb duster? The canned air will cloud the mirror. If you used that then you will definitely need to clean them. Just let them know you have the pec pads and do not want to have to send the printer in. I had the same battle and the exact same issue. the test print was perfect but anything else would not print. I cleaned the mirrors and all was perfect after that.
Bulb duster I read about the canned air causing oils on the mirror so I was up on that one at least.
Thanks for the advise I am an engineer and I have used professional 3d printers in a previous job and I recently moved to another company who have never used one so we are just trying to get my management into the idea of a 3d printer. This was suppose to wow them enough to justify the cost of a professional printer and it has been frustrating that all I can do to contact formlabs with my problem is an email or put in a support ticket. I hate the fact of not being able to pick up a phone and call someone to elevate the issue. My printer has been down since the 14th of November and I have gotten more input and help from people here in the forums then I have though their support system. Makes it really difficult to justify getting another machine or even justify the use of a 3d printer in our department, but I like the fact that there are people who legitimately know what they are doing with this machine and have had great success with it.
Hopefully I can get the cleaning instructions soon so that I can get this working and make everyone happy…
Thanks again
Tom
Funny you would say that because I am in almost the same boat. I cam from somewhere that ran multiple 3d systems printers in a number of medias and when I got to my current job they did not have an RP machine in house. I convinced them to get the form 1 and show them what the machine could do but it really let us down when it counted the most. Once you get it working and learn about all the quirks to keeping it going it really is a great little piece of equipment. Getting your bosses to see that can be hard though when you can;t get it to work right after only a short time. It will work once you get the mirrors cleaned and I am sure this will actually help them to be swayed into a professional machine since you would have the option to pick up the phone and get live help right away.