How Often Do You Drain the Tank and Clean the FEP?

[Crosland]

[Resin Printing]

 

I have been in the habit of leaving resin in the tank for weeks if not month and it has not been a problem until now, stirring well and typing up as necessary before each print. I am printing very repetitively, 3mm columns being drawn out of the resin (in groups of 3 x 4 on a baseplate) and had a failure where only half the length of the columns were printed.

 

After using fresh resin in a new tank with new FEP and re-leveling, the next few back-to-back prints were OK.

 

I can however see a ghost of the prints on the FEP. I wonder if the repetitive nature of the prints means I should be cleaning after every print, to ensure there's no residue. I also thought about moving the model around on the build plate for each print.

 

Any advice welcome!

 

[DGO]

repetative prints are i guess more likely to wear out the screen faster, I only clean the tank when I drain it but because I don't use it all the time I guess I end up leaning it the equivalent of once every 5 or so days

[JimFin]

Like others, I avoid contact with the fep as much as possible and do not drain unless there is a reason. What you may be seeing are localised stretch marks in the fep if you are repetitively printing the same item in the same spot. I would be more inclined to move the print position on the build plate from time to time.

[Crosland]

1 hour ago, JimFin said:

What you may be seeing are localised stretch marks in the fep if you are repetitively printing the same item in the same spot. 

Thanks, that makes perfect sense.

[Quarryscapes]

Ghosting is normal and occurs after just about every print, you just don't see it because you rarely drain your tank. Mine is drained at the end of every print session (normally a weekend's worth) or when something fails and has to be removed. I'd rather shake a bottle of resin than try and stir in vat and potentially tear the FEP, which I would then not spot. 

[Fen End Pit]

I have noticed that the quality of prints does go down if the resin has been left in the tank for a long time and had many prints made from it. If the resin has been used too many times and has sat in the printer for a few weeks I notice that the prints don't seem to clean off so well in the IPA and the UV curing seems to take much longer and isn't as even with some bits of the print staying sticky and glossy for much longer.

 

To be honest it isn't the degradation which I notice so much as the vast improvement when I finally give up, drain the last few mm of resin out of the vat, wipe the FEP clean with kitchen towel and IPA and then get the first print with fresh resin out of the bottle.

 

I'm using a Phrozen sonic mini 4k with Phozen's Aqua 4K grey resin.

 

David

[woko]

I drain and clean my VAT after every print, and have started experimenting with some dry PTFE spray on the large printers due to excessive suction forces from the larger prints. I find the smaller, medium size resin printers are absolutely fine as long as you angle and support the prints well enough!. But back to the topic in hand I find keeping a good clean FEP, and filter my resin after every print helps to keep things mostly in good order. But its whatever works for you and your workflow!

[PhilH]

I understand this is one of those 'each to their own' topics but would not draining and refilling after each print session increase the chances of spilling onto the lcd screen as well as onto other bits and things you really don't want to get resin on, also it would seem to me that you increase the risk of damage to the fep screen if you are constantly moving it in and out of the machine to wipe it.

 

I only drain my tank if I've had a failed print or I suspect damage to the fep film, otherwise it's a case of if it ain't broke don't fix it. Prints seem to come out consistently well, maybe I'm just lucky.I admit when I first got the thing I did drain and refill after/ pre print sessions but after a conversation with a  friend who is a relatively high volume user of resin printers I stopped and as I say, so far so good.

 

I have an Elegoo Mars 2 pro but am about to take delivery of an Elegoo Saturn 2. This has a large build volume with a large vat and will take a lot of resin so for the reasons outlined above will be draining/ refilling as little as possible. 

We shall see.

Edited July 29, 2022 by PhilH

[woko]

Agreed with PhilH it is one of those each to their own, and what works in their experience!

 

But to answer some of those points Phil quite rightly points out. I drain my tanks because I don't print every day, and I have screen protectors on my screens incase of spilling resin, which wipes away quite easily with some Isopropyl alcohol if I do spill the odd drop removing the vat.

I often prefer to drain the vat and check for the occasional bit of debris or stuck print to the FEP, which does happen from time to time, especially on the larger printers.

As a result I have been cleaning my FEPs regularly after every print, with Isopropyl alcohol, and then using a coat of dry PTFE spray on the FEPs to help reduce any chances of the print getting stuck to the FEP. I don't use this on the smaller printers, or medium printers, just large printers as I find this more of an issue!

Trust me large printers are a different kettle of fish I have found, you are dealing with much greater suction issues, and having  both the M3 Max and Phrozen Mega I find you need all the help you can get, and dialling in the correct resin settings is crucial to getting successful prints, and even then it is a bit of a luck ;)

 

Cheers

 

Rob