Just wanted to add that, even a year later, this video was extremely helpful for me while troubleshooting my Photon Mono 4k. Thanks for putting this together!
I came to this video for these issues with that exact printer. Any time i print multiple minis at once, one of them always sticks to the FEP instead of the build plate.
Thanks for sharing all these issues, it's super valuable instead of the usual "here's my flawless prints I did" videos I see. I can totally see myself having issues like this when I eventually get a resin printer.
I had alot of the same issues when I got this printer going. Really glad to see you working the troubleshooting steps, nice and clear. Super valuable video Troy, way to go!
Great advice. 3D printing, in filament or resin, is a hobby unto itself but these sorts of videos remove much of the mystery from it. I started applying the PTFE to the film, and no longer trying to print flat on the bed - everything gets tilted slightly and supported - so far no failed prints (crosses fingers). When I generate the supports I push the pieces towards each other enough that the support bases overlap slightly so that they become one large base to help offset the suction pressure. Combined with the retraction speed settings you can make them fairly solid on the build plate. For the wash station I found that the green cleaners worked ok, but that Denatured Alcohol (also labelled "Fuel" at least here in the States) works much more efficiently. So far I have had no leftover residue on the prints. And it doesn't take as long to get them clean. It usually hides on a bottom shelf in the paint section at Home Depot and similar stores. Anyway, great stuff, looking forward to more. Cheers!
Thanks for the advice, especially "support bases overlap slightly "I didn't realize you could do this and spent a lot of time trying to move them around so they didn't touch at all.
I just had a print stick to the FEP and so I went and bought PTFE as well and lubed up the print... I may need to level it. Seems like that might be an issue as well.
Man, I also had a lot of the same experiences. I just got mine a few weeks and finally worked it all out but I wish I had found this video earlier, might have saved me some trouble! Good video man thanks.
I never thought about the table i had it on not being level...Man been going through hurdles to try to get my first print to work. Thank you for sharing
ahh man that's a huge pain in the arse. I'm SO glad my Elegoo Mars 2 Pro didn't have those issues or I may well have just binned it. I'm shocked at how many stories like this I'm hearing about print quality (and printers just not working) from Anycubic. I hope this serves as a warning so people don't waste their money on them - the Mars has just been "plug, print, profit" with zero stress :) Cheers for sharing man :)
The right settings for the right resin is important. I just got my Anycubic Mono X and did some test prints with the cheap resin I bought to go along with it and that worked flawlessly. However moving to my more expensive engineering grade resin I'm running into issues and there isn't documentation for exposure time, I found one for a similar monochrome printer for my resin and I'm attempting those values now + I leveled again because I thought maybe it came out of alignment when I took the build plate off to scrape the previous prints off. I'm confident that the right cure time (and printer lift speed) will eventually solve the issue even if this go doesn't quite work, one thing I can confirm about Anycubic's slicer is that it's rail movement speed is more than what the printer's pdf documents recommends by default and I wonder if that causes issues with particularly viscus resins. PS: Print isn't finished but I can see it working pretty well about 20% in (unlike the first attempt where half of it simply didn't stick to the build plate) so I really just think it's a matter of plate leveling and very importantly Resin sensitivity to a couple of variables not least of which is normal cure duration. The Anycubic Photon Mono X doesn't come with Resin so I wonder if the reason you see people report issues is because they buy non-standard resin like me but they assumed it should work out of the box which isn't likely to be the case.
As someone who is just beginning to familiarize myself with this hobby, I had no idea there was so much trial and error involved. I just figured you plug in the file for the model, add resin, hit print, and presto, there's your new, highly detailed, very cool figure. Lol.
I suspect there's a lot of [justified] quitters out there, due to the high frustration factor - the expensive waste and the number of variables involved in 'adjusting the print'. Combined with all the 'plug-n-play simplicity' that these machines are promoted with the learning curve seems like ascending Mount Everest. I'm sure it will improve. . .but when?
I love the little side videos and the part “ I sure as shit wasn’t giving up” that was everything to me. I’m a beginner and I sure as shit am trying to figure it out
Im new to printing and has so many trouble free prints and now I'm running into several issues. I'm going to increase my exposure and slow down the lift. Thanks so much for the vidoes!
@@FacilityD20 it's the same brand but a different color, good call. Trying that next. I have 5 of the same model and only 2 are printing now vs the 5 that it previously printed. I plan to do some deep diving tonight. Thanks again! Great channel!
You've covered most of the problems I've had with the Elegoo Mars. I also found temperature was really messing me up. I bought the printer last summer and set it up in my basement, when the temps dropped over the winter my prints started failing and I had to bring the printer upstairs. From what I've found online you want your ambient temp to be at least 23 Celcius.
I had the same problem, and since my printer is near a window, the temperature fluctuated and caused my prints to fail. I live in Southern California, where the nights get a lot colder. Given that a print may take twenty hours, it’s a problem. My first prints were fine because they only needed a few hours to print.
@@andrewgillis3073 The spring here we get wild temp swings, last week, it went from 30 ceclus on Friday, to snowing on Sunday... it was when I was printing the dragon in my newest video... but I kept that room at around 22 the whole time this time.
@@FacilityD20 Both the photochemical reaction and the heat from the LED heat up the resin significantly. If you are starting cold, it won't be cold by the end so its better to pre warm the resin rather than increase your exposure settings to compensate for the cold - those higher exposures will be too much come the end of the print when the resin has warmed up. Even better is to put a heater inside the UV lid with a thermistor - the heater can keep it warm for the first little bit and the the heat of the resin will take over and the heater will turn off.
Hey dude thanks for making this video I was struggling trying to get prints going on my new resin printer and couldn't find anything helpful I did everything you said and then I start getting prints to stick and survive 🙂 I added a link and a shout out to this awesome video in my review
oh also a tip I got from a guy at Atlas Support gave me a good tip. Make a fake printing profile where the layer height is 0.02 and then tell the slicer to find islands/do auto support. It'll look for islands based on .02, then you can swap back over to your normal 04 or 05 and it should be more than good enough
Thank you for sharing. I am having a problem where my test print ran fine, but my other attempts are not sticking to the plate, and I'm stuck with a big glob on the fep. Willing to try anything at this point
8:20 All of those are WAY over exposed. I hope you figured that out. You should be able to see all of the lines at the bottom and the row above that. If you are still getting problems, check to see that your build plate is square. Something is definitely wrong with such high exposure numbers. Your bottom layers should be higher, but not any layers beyond that. Will subscribe and follow along.
Thanks a lot, I seem to have dialed in into 9s now with this resin, been working well every since this video... I am literally slicing some minis for the printer as we speak, hope all goes well.
@@FacilityD20 WTF?? I'm using 1.7s (sometimes 1.8s) for exposure time, and the validation matrix comes out just PERFECT. Have you tried that? IDK, but 9s sounds like a lot. Besides, it's shortening your LCD lifespan!
I have an elegoo mars (1st gen). I've had more fails than successes. Sticking to the screen is a huge issue. I'm sure I have bad support parameters too as they tear away during the print. When I get a good print it's great, but when a small part fails and I don't know until the end it is frustrating. I'm going to try some of these tips and see what happens.
There is a fifth problem that can occur with these is that FEP due to static electricity sticks to the screen REALLY HARD and wont flex,It seems to happen if there is no airgap between FEP and screen. I ended up sticking tape on the printer in the resin tray corners and NOT over tightening it. This removed most of the sticking issues. Ive been using lychee slicer, as its only one that works in all OS-es and it has a... quirk in support generation. It wants to put stuff on supports, but generates tiny 1mm support tips. Really easy to remove but there isn't enough holding strength to actually pull something big and flat off the FEP if the starting island is big... Ive learnt to go and check them and make sure that there are heavy supports with large tips at the big points.
That is a really great tip. I am going to be on the lookout for this and I'll try that tape trick if I run into that issue. I find that almost all the prints I do, need a bunch of heavy supports added as to keep it from pulling apart.
@@FacilityD20 how i realized the static issue was fun. I unpacked the printer, had series of successsul prints, and then suddenly next day nothing succeded. Not even the test model that was fine day before. Took me whole day of trials unitll i noticed i had to use force to lift basically empty resin tray off the screen. I thought i had spilt something and thoroughly cleaned it. Many times. Finally i placed empty clean tray on the screen and watched it suck into the screen like screen protector does. It seems i had not been that zealous with tightening the tray in place that first day...
Excellent and very informative video ! I have an Anycubic Photon M3 Max i have 2 exposures a burn layer one and a normal layer one which one should i be adjusting or should I adjust both ?
It depends on the issue you are having. However, once I have that initial burn layer working well to create good adhesion on the first few layers, I usually leave it and then only adjust my normal layer exposure times. I find one of the easiest ways to tell if I am over exposing is if my support columns start merging together.
The stuff is crazy toxic. I always wear gloves but if I do happen to get a tiny bit of resin on my skin I end up tasting it in my mouth suggesting this stuff rapidly absorbs through the skin.
I’m running a sonic mini 4k and it worked really well out of the box with phrozen resins. Only problem is that i have a little bit of a big foot but that’s all.
So I had lots of issues with my photon mono when I first got it. Bed adhesion was touch and go and would change depending on where on the bed I was printing. I got so frustrated that eventually I put the bed on a surface plate and found it was not actually flat. ground it down to flat and no problems since.
@@FacilityD20 yeah. I taped sandpaper to a surface plate and sanded it flat. If you don’t have a surface plate usually you can use glass since that tends to be flat and you can see distortions in the glass when it isn’t but you want to use very little pressure since glass has a tendency to bend. Started at 120 went up to 1000 never going up more than 100 to 200 grit at a time. It’s been great since I’ve no longer have to worry where the print is on the bed and also was able to reduce my base layer times to half or quarter depending on the resin
I've not had problems quite that bad but I've had a few. Mostly chitubox being horrible at finding islands. Have you tried Lychee slicer? I really like that one
So does this mean that Anycubic is for sure not the Resin printer company to go for? Other company's printers work better with less issues? I decided myself to start with just FDM printer Ender 3 V2 and then get later Resin printer.
I have recently received a mars 3 pro for Christmas, and when i try to print something and i come back an hour or two later, there is nothing on the build plate at all. the last two prints worked just fine but this one wont show up at all. If anyone has suggestions on how to fix this, it would be greatly appreciated.
I think you should start by leveling your bed again... and most importantly make sure you have you Z=0 level set correctly after you level. Its easy to skip this step when leveling.
i got a m3 max. I’ve sanded the build plate, leveled this thing 6 times with the vat, with the provided leveling paper, and with normal. printing paper. It only sticks to the right and left side of the build plate, but the centerish mid left and right side aren’t sticking to build plate. Any help?
That is odd... you may have a faulty build plate that is not level (more sanding needed) or maybe you light is not exposing in the center. How does the expose test look?
@3:07 I'm still wondering if I also need to level the 3D printer. atm it's slightly off, i'm thinking of making a leveling base I can level and put the printer on and then level the baseplate.
I had some really fine resin stuck to my fep, you'll see it in tomorrows video, I tried all the main methods of getting it off (more than the video shows) and it just wouldnt come off in the end so I printed anyway, luckily it was so thin the UV light could still pass through, only minor artifacts on the print that really arent an issue but yeah, I didn't try isopropanol though, used window cleaner with alcohol in it. Also Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is my favorite animated movie probably, both 1 and 2... Fight the power!
@@FacilityD20 Yeah thats what I'm doing, I'm using the window cleaner again and letting it soak for like half an hour, its hard to notice unless you're in the right light but I dont want it to build up, gotta keep that fep healthy, I'm all about the fep life!
Whenever I insert my usb into my printer my 3D file shows up and starts building. I come back when it says it’s finished only to find a big block of wasted resin. Any idea how to fix this I think it might be a usb issue?
@@FacilityD20 oh it's probably that lol. It's in my shed. What would you recommend to do to keep the printer warm, insulated. I mostly try to print at night.
I had problems with prints popping off the build plate. Two things, plate was to smooth and my resin was crap. I wet sanded my plate with 600 grit sand paper. And new better resin didn’t warp.
The resin being poor crossed my mind, but the temperature was also fluctuating during that week from -20 to + 5C outside. I have a feeling I will be adjusting my exposure settings again this summer.
Thanks, I just started 3D printing and have no idea what I'm doing!!! Where did you get the test print from? I'm using the Creality Halot One printer with their Grey Standard Resin Plus and default settings and my prints supports does not want to work. The Slice was done with Halot Box and when I print the 3DBenchy the bottom has no text at all, the rest of the print looks good but the roof looks a bit too smooth for me as well. Any suggestions please?
I believe I linked the exposure test prints in the video description. You could be under exposing, you can always move up the exposure time as see what happens. Also, try lowering the lift speeds by 15-20% (As always... dam built plate being off level with get you every time... triple check it). Best of luck
Make sure you have the latest version of the software for the slicer program you are using, and when you "slice and export your files," there should be a option for different file types.
3:26 I would like more of an explanation as to how you think this helped fix something. Was there really no other changes you made? The surface being level should not matter at all as long as the build plate is level.
It looks like you have enlarged Gino the Brewmaster there (it could be a trick of the light). If you are exporting as an STL with supports and then reimporting to blow it up, remember you are blowing up the size of the supports too. They will be harder to remove and may cause more damage.
my printer has really pushed my buttons. 2 good prints than suddenly with no changes constant failures. It's really got me to wanting to get rid of this stuff.
Try washing with denatured alcohol it will stop the white film. On your prince and we'll just generally wash faster and better. And out of your test prints. You didn't pick up 13, but that looked good to me.
Great video. Was using some expensive printers but definitely considering this as a side printer. Wondering which anycubic would be best for jewelry printing
my raft and supports print perfect but my model is always stuck to build plate. Anyone ever have this issue, it makes no sense to me. i'm using latest version of chitubox. I've re oriented my piece at different angles, i've tried heavy supports and medium and a mix of all 3. My raft has no problem sticking to build plate all my suuports print like its holding the model but the model is always not there and stuck to build plate. I've attemped 4 different times. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hi, I am new to resin printing and I have not had much success with printing and half of my models laying in the vat while the other half print. Can you tell me your settings in the Edit Resin screen so I can try what you are doing. Thanks!
Even thought your previous table wasn't leveled, I am not sure this affects the printer. The printer itself has its own bed leveling process that you must do initially out-of-the box. The only thing I can think of that will happen with an off level table is your resin will not sit level in the vat, and this can be seen visually too.
I think that it could yes, most of the time since this video I have found that vacuum pressure is causing a lot of support breaking issues for me. Now I always like to go in and add a few heavy supports for anchors.
I’ve been having issues with bricking. It’s just solid bricks and uses all my resin in one print. It mimics the base then goes all the way up like a brick wall. I cleaned everything and leveled the plate then had no adhesion. I’ve had bricks out of 3/4 prints. I can’t find anything anywhere and so frustrated.
You either have a software issue or a hardware issue. Bricking is common if the firmware needs an update or is wrong another. Update your slicer as well. Also, i have heard of this issue when there is a wireing issue with your light source or the plug is clip in backward.
I had the same issues with the first resin printer (Voxelab Proxima 6.0), it was cheap and a good deal on Amazon to boot. I gave up with it and sent it back. By chance I found the halot one for a little bit more, very similar spec 2k mono screen. The difference was night and day. It printed out of the box. I can't comment on your printer as I am very new to this. I get great prints with layer times of 2.5 to 3.5s. 9 and 10 second sounds excessive, it must take an absolute age to print anything.
I don't think a bench out of level should cause any issues, as long as the plate is level with the FEP and there is sufficient depth to cover, a tilt would likely not cause any issues and may help actually push bubbles out at the start?
I'm hearing random pops and crackles in your audio that's indicative of DPC/ISR latency issues. Latencymon is a good software to figure out what's causing it.
15 second exposure time!!! sod that..have you tried some different resin because that seems really excessive. My creality ld002r exp settings are 7.5seconds and my saturn is 2.7.
I print like 1000 miniatures for a wargame in a row, making matineance periodically. Right now the UV emmiter is nearly damaged and the FEP film (recently changed) is failing.... Resij stick to the film. Any tip for the amount of tension and the FEP replacement?
I can see why placing a resin printer un a massively uneven surface would impact a resin print, but I am having a hard time understanding why a modestly uneven surface would impact the print. It's a closed system: the plate surface, fep surface and screen surface should still be completely parallel to each other.
The fluid will be deeper in one end or the other and could affect the temp of the resin in one area. When resin is getting really low one side could run dry before the other. But no, not a real big deal.
@@FacilityD20 I agree that running out of resin would affect the print. However, I'm not sure about the temperature argument. If the resin was recently poured, the temperature is homogeneous. If it's been sitting in the vat for a while, everything would reach a steady state. If there were some slight differential, it would likely be too small to impact prints, AND, the resin would get mixed the moment the build plate plunged into the resin.
Im using a mono x and have gotten my settings with my test print at 50um down to 1 second print time but i go and do a print come to check on it hour later and nothing stuck, idk il try from 4 to 8 layers that might do it
i do live in the tropic so my temps can go from 22c to 34c so i generally have my fan/ac on an keep my room at a steady 25c yes i do print in my bedroom and no i dont have any issues so far after 3 months with it
I don't understand how a level surface for the printer to sit on will have anything to do with the parallelism between your build plate and the FEP/LCD screen.
Without a long winded answer, it can affect things like temp and running out of reason early in some areas... in this case no idea, but I moved it to a level surface and it printed right away... anyway it's on a level area now for what it's worth.
Lift speeds really play a big role for this I have mine Curently set at: Lift Speed 65 mm/min Bottom Lift Speed 65 mm/min and Retraction Speed 150 mm/min
Hi. Recently found your videos, while searshing for hints about getting into resin printing myself (recently purchased Anycubic Photon Mono). So obviously I am not an expert, but I feel like the unsticking from the bed problem has more to do with initial levels exposure, rather than general exposure time. Not sure if Photon S has those settings, but with Photon Mono, you can specify however many you want first layers to have really long exposure. By default those were lirst 5 layers at 40 seconts exposure. And then 2 seconds per layer for the rest of the model. Have you looked into this? EDIT: Noticed the detailed settings you have later in the video. You seem to have 65 seconds exposure for 3 layers, so it looks like you have this covered. Still wondering if you tried playing with those settings and if they helped at all.
Thanks for the input. I think the issue was a combination of leveling, exposure layer time and poor supports. I have been having a lot more successes then failure as of late however.
I’m having a issue with my halot one resin printer where nothing is sticking to the bed plate it’s just a small knight figure at 32mm. I’ve tried to use a glue stick on the bed plate. Softly sanded it, cleaned the basin bin for the resin and used a wipe on the bed plate. It’s not sticking still
There are a few reason, this could be, I will list them in no particular order: 1. Fep to tight 2. Fep to loose. 3. bottom exposure time to long 4. bottom exposure time too short 5. lift speed to fast 6. temperature of room to cold. 7. z=0 not set properly...and I will say it again level... when leveling, when you pull the paper it needs to be able to pull out but not push back in, don't over pinch it here, as soon as it gets to that point don't drop the z any further. Also very important, when pulling out the paper, hold the paper in the center and pull out, it needs to slide out equally, if it grabs from one side or the other and starts to twist as it comes out its not properly level. You may have to apply a little force on the loose side with you fingers when you tighten down the bed.
Hi, great video, learnt a lot. I have a question: followed your instructions, especially the levelling but i'm finding that it prints not only the rooks but also the logo on the LCD screen. I've applied the exposure as per the community sheet, so 60s and 8 for washable grey but what could i be doing wrong to print the LCD screen logo do you think?
Try doing an exposure test on the light and watch it to see if the light is exposing properly or if you can see the logo shine through as well. To me, it soulds like there might be an issue with your light source... Have you tried printing your own model, one that did come already on the flash drive? Try that. If it still prints the logo, you have a light source issue.