Anycubic Photon and Mono X 3D DLP Printers

[njee20]

Fusion 360 for me. 

[monkeysarefun]

Sketchup and Blender

[Guy Rixon]

11 hours ago, Erixtar1992 said:

what program are you guys using to design your railway wagons/stock/detailing?

OpenSCAD.

[MarcD]

I using AutoCAD2016 but only as its what I have drawing with for the last 22years.

Marc

[Graham R]

On 08/01/2021 at 12:52, Graham R said:

Thanks Mike. I’ll try that when I get time, maybe tomorrow, and will report back. What do you use for exposure times after the bottom layers?

 

Graham

 

Thanks very much to Mike, Paul and njee20 for your suggestions above regarding my attempts to get a test print out of the Photon Mono SE. Having promised to report back, i had better do so ...

 

I found time to try another test print yesterday but got the same result as before: nothing at all on the build plate and no trace of any hardened resin anywhere. Going through the issues which were suggested as possible problems:

- Levelling: I don't think levelling is the issue (the Mono SE has a spring-loaded platform and pretty much self-levels; the plate is orthogonal to the LCD and grips a pieve of 0.13mm paper evenly and firmly; I have secured the clamp bfore starting and tightened the set-screw while pressing it gently to the paper).

- Resin temperature: I warmed the plate, tank and resin on a radiator before starting: they were warm to the touch. Room temperature was 18°C. The resin flows freely. I shook the bottle for 30 seconds before filling the tank about half full. Resin lapped slightly above the build plate while printing.

- Base exposure: I did not modify the test piece settings supplied by Anycubic. The 6 bottom layers get 45-second exposures, subsequent layers are 1.5 seconds, exposure off for 0.5s.

- Bottom lift speed: Rising and retract speeds are 3.0mm/s, rising height 4.0mm. The firmware accelerates and decelerates gently at start/end of lift using 0.1mm increments.

 

I left the print running for 3 hours and found nothing at all on the build plate when I had a look. After cleaning everything up I checked what is going on without the tank or build plate in the way. The layer masks are displayed on the LCD for each exposure and the UV lamps are operating.

 

The layers in the test piece are 0.05mm according to the Photon Workshop slicing software.

 

All I can think of is slowing the rising speed ... but that does not explain why I don't even get a bottom layer print.

 

I've opened a new ticket with Anycubic technical support ... meanwhile, any suggestions from the group? If you think I should move this to a separate thread such as "Photon Mono SE print problems" let me know, I hope I am not hijacking this thread with a purely personal concern, but maybe I am not alone in having beginner difficulties.

 

thanks again

Graham

Edited January 17, 2021 by Graham R
Added layer size

[njee20]

No trace of hardened resin anywhere? Ie nothing on the FEP? If so the screen's not working, full stop. Have you tried the exposure test to check it? You should have a cured lump in the vat, even if nothing on the build plate.

[monkeysarefun]

Yeah as above plus maybe remove the vat and build plate and  start the job off and see if the LCD screen lights up when it should.

Edited January 17, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[Graham R]

That's what I did ... the screen lights up .. the mask for the start of the print (a circle) is displayed on the LCD. Using the Tools > Exposure menu, the three patterns (fully blocked, partly blocked, fully exposed) are shown as expected. Is the exposure test meant for testing the screen or testing an exposure with resin in the tank?

[monkeysarefun]

If it was levelling you'd think you'd at least get a layer of exposed resin stuck to the FEP, so I'd discount that. 

 

The same if it was the retract and lift speeds, I reckon you'd still get the resin exposed on the FEP but not  sticking to the build plate.

 

I can't help with resin temperatures, here it is issues with it being too hot to go down to the shed to play with the printer rather than low temps. 

 

If you have nothing at all on the FEP, nothing at all on the build plate and nothing at all floating in the resin (Have you filtered the resin back into the bottle and seen if there are any hardened membranes or lumps  left in the filter?)  then the next step I'd be looking at would be base exposure times and increasing them incrementally  just to see if at some point something does happen. 

 

 Sorry this is nothing definite to aid  you, but  even after 2 and a half  years of resin printing experience  I still get regular issues of prints deciding not to stick and so on -  theres always a "Did it work?" feeling of trepidation as I go down to the shed to check the results of a 6 hour overnight print. 

 

The main skill I've found that you need in resin printing is trouble shooting, doing the actual printing is a no-brainer. 

 

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by monkeysarefun

[njee20]

That’s very curious though. Even if your exposures were way off the odds are that most of the pixels would be lit up through all of your base layers at least - so that’s 5x your base exposure, that should cure something. 
 

I can’t see beyond a faulty LED source or screen if there’s literally nothing. My Mars 2 Pro has suddenly thrown a wobbly and isn’t curing anything, the screen does light up when doing an exposure test, but is evidently faulty. 

[Graham R]

Thanks Monkeys and njee20. Photon tech support responded promptly, and has sent me a firmware upgrade and instructions on how to check the UV cable. I'll report back once I do that ... but first, work ...

 

Graham

[Paul_sterling]

9 hours ago, njee20 said:

That’s very curious though. Even if your exposures were way off the odds are that most of the pixels would be lit up through all of your base layers at least - so that’s 5x your base exposure, that should cure something. 
 

I can’t see beyond a faulty LED source or screen if there’s literally nothing. My Mars 2 Pro has suddenly thrown a wobbly and isn’t curing anything, the screen does light up when doing an exposure test, but is evidently faulty. 

 

I'm inclined to think Grahams issue is software related, as the printer is "functional" in respect of its three exposure shapes/test, but not curing anything on an actual print. 

 

1. The lights arent illuminating during print. 

 

2. the resin isn't actually resin. 

 

Graham, 

 

Couple of tests.

 

1. Take the build tray off. take the resin vat out, and set your print away that keeps failing, and observe (from behind the filtered screens) if any lights come on during the "print"

 

2. put the Vat back in with some resin in (not much), and run the same exposure test (i.e. the inside square or outside square, but not the whole screen) a couple of times, and see if anything cures to the FEP. 

 

These two tests will rule out whether the file/software is dodgy, or the resin.

 

Paul. 

[Graham R]

Thanks Paul.

 

I upgraded the firmware with the three files Photon sent, to v0.1.7, and took the printer to bits following their instructions to check the UV cable connector was correctly seated (which it was). I started the test print and this time it has worked; it has another 40 minutes to go or so but is looking pretty good. So it must have been the firmware.

 

According to the Chinese-language release notes, with the help of Google Translate, the problem with the old version was "The FPGA firmware drives the 2k screen, and there is a flickering screen during the user's use. But the firmware cannot be upgraded through the U disk [i.e.the USB key], only the machine can be returned or the motherboard can be replaced", and the new version solves two issues: "1. Improve the overall stability and solve the phenomenon of abnormal lines in printing. 2. Added the function of MCU to upgrade the firmware of FPGA through jtag, which is convenient for users to update the firmware in FPGA chip on the motherboard through U disk, and solve the abnormal problem in 2K screen exposure. " And indeed it seems to do what it claims to.

 

Thanks very much again to everyone who responded for all the hand-holding advice ... it definitely made the process less intimidating. Onwards and upwards ...

 

regards

Graham

[monkeysarefun]

The next trick is getting it off the build plate....

[Enterprisingwestern]

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

The next trick is getting it off the build plate....

 

 

Mike.

[Graham R]

How did you know? I wondered why the printer came with a huge metal scraper ... I found out when trying to get the base of the test piece off the build plate! But then it suddenly came off very cleanly.

 

It is a nice feeling to have got it to work (the results even impressed my kids, briefly).

[JimFin]

1 hour ago, Graham R said:

How did you know? I wondered why the printer came with a huge metal scraper ... I found out when trying to get the base of the test piece off the build plate! But then it suddenly came off very cleanly.

I found using a Stanley window scraper to lift a corner of the print let me get the big scraper in without resorting to the lump hammer.

[Paul_sterling]

A pair of snips works well, as the taper of the blade lifts the part off with control. you basically, find a corner of the skate, and attempt to cut the corner, as close to the build tray as you can, and if lifts off extremely easily, once you've removed the vacuum that has built up its quite easy. 

 

Paul. 

[Alan_LSWR]

17 hours ago, Graham R said:

I upgraded the firmware with the three files Photon sent, to v0.1.7, .................

 

.......... But the firmware cannot be upgraded through the U disk [i.e.the USB key], only the machine can be returned or the motherboard can be replaced", ...........

 

Hi Graham. So how did you upgrade the firmware if it cannot be done using the USB port? Or have I misunderstood something!

Alan

Edited January 19, 2021 by Alan_LSWR

[Graham R]

Hi Alan,

 

After a bit of googling, it appears that FPGA means field-programmable gate array, MCU means microcontroller unit, and jtag is used in this context as shorthand for a way to update the onboard memory of a programmable chip through its data interface. So the jargon translates as "The firmware we shipped you has a bug which means the 2k screen flickers when you use it. The screen is controlled by a chip which can be reprogrammed (the FPGA). It can't communicate directly with the USB key, but the main controller chip (the MCU) can, and we can reprogram the MCU so it can in turn reprogram (flash) the FPGA using the JTAG protocol." That explains why three separate firmware upgrades need to be applied one after the other I guess ... It seemed to do the trick.

 

I'm glad you asked because otherwise I would not have properly understood what I'd done

 

regards

Graham

Edited January 19, 2021 by Graham R
Clarity

[Alan_LSWR]

Many thanks Graham. That's very helpful. Presumably that firmware upgrade was specific to your problem as their website only has single file firmware upgrades https://www.anycubic.com/blogs/videos/videosall-you-need-to-know-about-photon

 

Actually, there are 2 firmware files listed:

• [Newest]Photon firmware V5.0.2 (Photon Upgraded Only)
• Photon firmware V4.2.19

I see a post on Reddit says " "Photon upgraded" (otherwise known as "Fauxton")." and later says that's a new version of the motherboard.  As I bought mine in Mar 2019 I must have the original.

 

PS Great you are up and running and good to see Anycubic giving support.

 

 

Regards, Alan

[MikeTrice]

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had aquired an Anycubic Mono X which I was waiting to set up and try. I have now had an opportunity to do so and will detail what I did to prepare the machine for use.

 

If you read the various facebook groups for the machines you will probably be left with the impression that the machines are nothing but trouble however with a little bit of research forewarned is forearmed so to speak.

 

 

Before I started I drew myself up a list of things to check/do.

1)    Before doing anything I checked that the machine switched on and ran an exposure test to check

the screen was OK. Staring into a strong UV light is probably not a good idea so I bought myself some

protective UV glasses (shown next to some Kapton tape for use later).

 

 

2)    Check that the build plate is flat. Various people have reported getting warped build plate and having to take remedial action to flatten them. I check mine against a couple of straight edges and was happy that mine was not a problem. I actually held the plate and ruler up against the light but only having two hands was unable to replicate it with the camera.

 

 

 

3)    Check and install the latest firmware. There have been issues regarding problems with enabling anti-aliasing and as a result a new firmware release 3.4.7 is available for download. Not

surprisingly my machine came with 3.4.6 installed so the new version was downloaded and applied.

 

 

4)    ADD A SCREEN PROTECTOR. Unlike the earlier Photon machines the mono screens do not have a protective layer of glass on them. You hear sob stories of how people have used their machines only to get a resin spill on the screen and end up having to do some serious repairs. There is a good youtube video on how to protect your Mono X screen using plastic antiglare iPad screen guards. People have also used spare FEP sheets and overhead transparencies however I felt that a cover speciically for screens would probably be the best option. The TechGear protectors that I bought were for an iPad Air4/Pro 11 10.9inch  and came as a twin pack.

 

 

As supplied the Mono X has a screen protector ready fitted however this is not designed for optical clarity and is supposed to be removed.

 

 

Some people advocate leaving it on as the first layer protection. Careful study of the screen shows that there is a recess for the screen covered by the

black tape with the supplied screen protector fitted into the gap provided by the black screen protector. The build plate on the other had fits into the recess for the screen. The YouTube video cuts the lower protector to the same size as the build plate and discards the supplied protector. So I had to decide which option to choose. In the end I decided to follow the video and cut my first layer of protector to match the build plate and remove the supplied protector.

 

 

 

 

Putting the first layer of protector on has the effect of making the whole plate level so a second screen protector is then layed across the lot. For this second layer of protection I did not cut the supplied protector just layed it over the whole plattern but leaving a small gap at the rear by the locating pins.

 

 

This ended up being a mistake as it covered the side locating recesses and once the final Kapton tape applied would probably not stop any spillages. I took remedial action by trimming

the length of the top screen to 230mm in place and peeling up the surplus. Finally 12mm Kapton tape was applied around the edges to add a final seal.

 

 

5)    Final job was to check the UV power setting of the machine. As supplied mine was set to 50% and I wanted to try 80%. With done I was ready go. Or was I?

 

So some strange behaviour. From the early days of the Anycubic Photons one major piece of advice is "Don't use the supplied USB drive, they are *****". Duly advised I purchased and have used a Sandisk 32Gb USB3 drive successfully for a few years. Thinking I might be able to use this in the Mono X I put it in the USB port and the interface freezes. Strange. Take it out and the interface works again. Back in, freezes, take it out and interface works again. Place the Anycubic supplied USB drive in and everything works. So short term I took the risk to use the supplied USB stick to attempt my first print.

 

 

Some people have reported that the memory stick problem seems to be for drives over 4Gb. The supplied drive is indeed 4Gb. With that in mind I have just received via Amazon a Transcend 4Gb drive and can report that that works fine in the machine. So some further investigation required.

 

The model printed was sliced using Chitubox 1.8.0 beta which worked beautifully. It was printed at 80%UV with 0.04mm layers exposed for 2secs per layer with 45secs for the base layers with the model raised 8mm from the buildplate. The model was orientated 45 degrees in x, 5 degrees in Y and 10 degrees in z and anti aliasing set to 4.

It looks as if it has printed very well but there is some slight distortion where I added cross braces to combat warping. Hopefully I will now examine it in detail and think about any updates.

 

[Knuckles]

Good helpful post.

Had my eye on a Mono X for many a month.

 

Only thing stopping me is the top shed needs renovation to house things, something about evicting spiders, kevlar and mud.

[Penrhos1920]

7 hours ago, MikeTrice said:

.

 

 

You’ve got some interesting distortion of the roof at the bottom and the way it’s collapsed and effected the windows is really odd.

[MikeTrice]

51 minutes ago, Penrhos1920 said:

 

You’ve got some interesting distortion of the roof at the bottom and the way it’s collapsed and effected the windows is really odd.

It is supposed to be like that. It is the LNER Coronation Beaver Tail Observation Car.