Anycubic Photon and Mono X 3D DLP Printers

[Tricky]

Thank you for all your suggestions. The only changes I have made are a new FEP film and I removed the protective film from the screen as it had a hole in it. 

[MikeTrice]

2 hours ago, Tricky said:

Thank you for all your suggestions. The only changes I have made are a new FEP film and I removed the protective film from the screen as it had a hole in it. 

Did the FEP film have a protective layer on it that you remembered to remove? What model of Mars are we talking about here?

Edited February 25, 2021 by MikeTrice

[Tricky]

48 minutes ago, MikeTrice said:

Did the FEP film have a protective layer on it that you remembered to remove? What model of Mars are we talking about here?

Yes, I removed the protective film. It's the Mars 2 Pro.

[MikeTrice]

The Mars 2 Pro is a mono screen I believe. When you said earlier you had removed the protective film from the screen I assume that you did not remove any polarizing film? Unlike the earlier machines the monos are not protected by an outer glass layer and as you discovered it is very easy to damage the screens. When you removed the protective film did you relevel and reset Z=0?

 

Sorry if some of these questions are a bit basic but we need to rule out the obvious first.

Edited February 25, 2021 by MikeTrice

[Tricky]

26 minutes ago, MikeTrice said:

The Mars 2 Pro is a mono screen I believe. When you said earlier you had removed the protective film from the screen I assume that you did not remove any polarizing film? Unlike the earlier machines the monos are not protected by an outer glass layer and as you discovered it is very easy to damage the screens. When you removed the protective film did you relevel and reset Z=0?

 

Sorry if some of these questions are a bit basic but we need to rule out the obvious first.

Please don't apologise with basic questions - I'm very grateful for your help!

 

The screen's protective film looks like this. I've positioned it again for the benefit of this photo but it has a hole in it. But I did zero again after removing. As I said, the plate (after finding zero on startup) subsequently doesn't descend anywhere near zero.

[MikeTrice]

I am hoping a Mars 2 Pro owner might chip in here but I have a bad feeling that the layer you have removed is the top Polarising Filter not just a protective cover. The Mono screens are very prone to damage and ideally should have an additional screen protector applied to protect it. If you go back a few pages in this topic you will see how I did it on my Mono X.

 

So I think you need to source and fit a new polarising screen, without it your prints will not work. Try Elegoo support as I believe they are very helpful albeit outside of my experience.

 

You will eventually need to relevel your build plate and having done so reset Z=0. Note that Z=0 is not the same setting the printer goes to when pressing the "Home" button".

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

[Tricky]

44 minutes ago, MikeTrice said:

I am hoping a Mars 2 Pro owner might chip in here but I have a bad feeling that the layer you have removed is the top Polarising Filter not just a protective cover. The Mono screens are very prone to damage and ideally should have an additional screen protector applied to protect it. If you go back a few pages in this topic you will see how I did it on my Mono X.

 

So I think you need to source and fit a new polarising screen, without it your prints will not work. Try Elegoo support as I believe they are very helpful albeit outside of my experience.

 

You will eventually need to relevel your build plate and having done so reset Z=0. Note that Z=0 is not the same setting the printer goes to when pressing the "Home" button".

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

Oh.

[monkeysarefun]

The Saturn facebook group used to have a post at the top of their page warning about that, I guess early Saturn users did the same thing:

 

Important) Hey guys,

When you first unpack your Saturn printer from the packaging, please note that you should peel off the first transparent layer attached on the screen before printing. But you must be 100% careful **not **to peel off the second protective layer below otherwise it will seriously damage the LCD.
The 1-st layer: Avoid machine damage in transit.
The 2-nd layer: Protect the LCD screen from scratch.

You can distinguish the first film and the second film clearly in the attached picture:

 

[njee20]

Yes, that definitely looks the polariser you have removed, new screen needed sadly, particularly if it has a hole in it. They were in stock on Amazon last week, but I believe they’ve sold out. Worth dropping Elegoo an email; but anything from them will take a few weeks to arrive. Run an exposure test to verify, without the polariser you won’t get the image - just a solid block of exposure. 
 

Still odd about the problems you mention though, can’t see how that would be related.
 

FWIW you don’t need to do the Z=0 on Elegoo machines, just undo both bolts on the plate, home it and tighten. It’s easier than the Anycubic routine where you have the specify the 0 as the build plate is sprung. 

Edited February 25, 2021 by njee20

[Tricky]

9 hours ago, njee20 said:

Yes, that definitely looks the polariser you have removed, new screen needed sadly, particularly if it has a hole in it. They were in stock on Amazon last week, but I believe they’ve sold out. Worth dropping Elegoo an email; but anything from them will take a few weeks to arrive. Run an exposure test to verify, without the polariser you won’t get the image - just a solid block of exposure. 
 

Still odd about the problems you mention though, can’t see how that would be related.
 

FWIW you don’t need to do the Z=0 on Elegoo machines, just undo both bolts on the plate, home it and tighten. It’s easier than the Anycubic routine where you have the specify the 0 as the build plate is sprung. 

Strangely when I do an exposure test I do get the Elegoo logo on the screen. 

[LimboBrit]

Polariser films are usually grey in appearance

[MikeTrice]

There are some comments on the polarising film and the Mars Pro 2 here:

 

[njee20]

1 hour ago, Tricky said:

Strangely when I do an exposure test I do get the Elegoo logo on the screen. 

Curiouser and curiouser… its possible they assembled it badly, with the protective film under the tape for the screen, but that seems weird. Did it peel off easily? The film isn’t adhesive, just ‘static’ fit, whilst the polariser needs a good tug (I tried when I replaced the screen on my 2 Pro), so if it came straight off then perhaps it was a dodgy assembly. 
 

Again though, I can’t see how that’s causing the issue with the Z not lowering after the first layer. What happens if you print with no build plate or vat? May make it more obvious what’s going on? There is an IR sensor at the base of the Z to home the plate, but if the first layer homes correctly that seems unlikely to be the issue. 

[Quarryscapes]

Loss of polarizaing filter won't stop the screen from showing an image, but it will make your prints weird, like a ridiculously strong Anti Aliasing effect. All it does is block any light from the screen that isn't going perfectly straight up. 

[Tricky]

1 hour ago, njee20 said:

Curiouser and curiouser… its possible they assembled it badly, with the protective film under the tape for the screen, but that seems weird. Did it peel off easily? The film isn’t adhesive, just ‘static’ fit, whilst the polariser needs a good tug (I tried when I replaced the screen on my 2 Pro), so if it came straight off then perhaps it was a dodgy assembly. 
 

Again though, I can’t see how that’s causing the issue with the Z not lowering after the first layer. What happens if you print with no build plate or vat? May make it more obvious what’s going on? There is an IR sensor at the base of the Z to home the plate, but if the first layer homes correctly that seems unlikely to be the issue. 

It did peel off fairly easily and I thought it funny to have to remove the b;lack tape as well but still did it anyway! Printing without the vat makes no difference, subsequent layers stop short of zero by about 10mm. And the image is correctly displayed on the screen. I'm talking via email with America where I bought it from and Elegoo in China. It's quite painful though!

[LimboBrit]

1 hour ago, Quarryscapes said:

Loss of polarizaing filter won't stop the screen from showing an image, but it will make your prints weird, like a ridiculously strong Anti Aliasing effect. All it does is block any light from the screen that isn't going perfectly straight up. 

The top polariser has a fundamental function to the working of an LCD display. Without it there is no way of blocking light where necessary to create an image

[MikeTrice]

Would be interesting to hear what they advise. I assume you have the latest firmware installed.

[Quarryscapes]

Oops, started printing today having forgotten to tighten the build plate screw which then rotated during printing! Fortunately only an 11 minute print! 

 

 

[MikeTrice]

Easily done.

[monkeysarefun]

I've gone down to the shed to see how a 14 hour print went and noticed the build plate sitting beside the printer, though in that case at least no resin got wasted.

[MikeTrice]

Interesting post on the Facebook Anycubic Mono X Owner's Group regarding antialiasing. They state that there is a current firmware issue that fails to apply anti aliasing at layer exposure times less than 3s (the Firmware cannot process the AA fast enough at those speeds). Short term you need to increase exposure times above 3s and reduce UV power. New Firmware is being worked on.

[rholgateau]

I've been drawing up, and Shapeway-ing, several buildings for my N gauge layout, with some success.  However, the increase in Shapeways' pricing, and my purchase of a Photon S a year ago has led me to try to print something myself.

 

I'm drawing up the platform buildings for my station, but need to work out how I will be building the platform canopy - looking something like

 

I guess, especially in a larger scale, one would design a clever etch for the glazing frames, bend it all into shape, and glaze with clear styrene at the end.  But I reckon this is almost impossible in N, certainly within the limits of my skills.  So, I had another idea...

 

I'm happy that no-one would ever be looking at the underside of the canopy, so I drew this up...

 

... to be printed on my Photon, in clear resin.  The framework would be drawn on afterwards (hence the fine grooves for the glazing bars), and the whole thing dusted with dirt/matt spray, so that it looked translucent yet the depth of the plastic was not apparent.

 

So far, so good.

 

But printing this on my Photon S (flat on the print bed) produced

 

This sort of looks OK, but there are some (repeatable) distortions near the peaks of the canopy.  You can see these more clearly in ...

 

I'm lost as to how to remove these.  They are not in the CAD .stl file, and I can't see what might cause them.  I haven't seen anything similar on other models that I've printed.  I tried printing this on an angle and they disappeared (but the support marks on the model were pretty horrible).

 

Does anyone have any suggestions, please?

 

(Modelled in an old Sketchup Make as a solid shape, sliced with latest Chitubox at 0.020 with a 6s exposure, using Monocure Clear)

[Royal42]

Perhaps try lifting the print away from the plate.  I would think that setting the print about 5mm above the plate, rotate the print to almost vertical, and then add supports on the outer edges and the underside.  Hopefully that should ovecome the stretching/sagging, from the weight along the spines.  Another element would be to hollow out the print, to reduce that weight.   It will obviously take longer to print but correctly places support could over come that unwanted shape change.

Just my thoughts on how I might attempt it.

 

Mike

Photon S user.

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by Royal42

[MikeTrice]

Following on from Mikes previous answer it could be related to suction as the canopy is flat on the plate. Agree regarding raising from the plate (which will solve any suction issues) and angling.

 

Looking good though.

[rholgateau]

Thanks, guys, for the responses.  But I'm struggling, trying to work this out...

 

First of all, I accept that models will, in general, print better when inclined: less sudden change in cross-sectional area being printed, no problems with Elephant's foot, etc.  I am reluctant to go down this path, as I find it hard to get rid of all the support marks - and a couple of attempts at this have just ripped off the supports!  In fact, I think my best result might be to print it vertically set on the baseplate, and cram on several of these sections in the one print.

 

But ... my concern is that I don't understand what is going on here??  Mike (1) talks about "the suction effect" and  "stretching/sagging".  My understanding of the suction word refers to a hollow model without any drainage holes at the top - the "upside down cup" effect.  But this is a single solid lump - and I thought this printer should be able to print such a model of the base plate without noticeable sagging or distortion?  Can we not print a model where the printing area covers a large proportion of the baseplate?  I seem to be missing something here?

 

I had also printed a hollow version of this model - just the top surfaces, about 1-2mm thick.  I set it right on the baseplate again, with only a few supports inside.  It did print - and without the distortion visible that I described above.  But, strangely, it also cured most of the resin *inside* the roof space!  My guess is that (especially with the clear resin) the UV light on any particular level also tended to set the liquid resin above that level, i.e. inside the model.  My exposure was (IIRC) 8 secs, and could have been reduced slightly.

 

BTW I have been trying the new ChituBox feature to reduce the Elephant's Foot effect - quite impressed!

 

Rob