Too many fails

[thinkdiffer]

I have been using the solus for over a month now and I've been getting too many fail prints for a while. Over time i think the film tension changes as you print each time which messes up our way of trying to get the perfect tension for the film. I also think that how tight you tighten the knobs on the vat will drastically change your print as it changes the tension of the film. Continuing with one film for a while is difficult to do. Because of this problem I have to rotate or shift the model in order for it to work or get better quality but even though we printed it out with success it will start to fail again soon. I just wonder how people are able to print with one film continuously or print the full build area without getting too many fails. I am using just the 25xy build area and I tried printing three of the same rings but only the right ring doesn't come out well. When I look at each ring I notice that each ring has different surface quality as the one on the left is smoother with less lines to the middle where it has more build lines and the right ring where it doesn't fully print out.

I chose the solus because of the print ultra surface quality but the machine reliability? hmmmmm
I hope that this is only my machine problem (using the optoma hd37) because I'm still basically a beginner to solus. I hope soon I will be able to find a solution to this problem.

Thank you,
Evan

[mongerdesigns]

Maybe you should post some example photos so we can help you. Yes, film tension is important, but it's not hard to do if you follow the video on how to install the film. Also, like you said, don't over tighten the knobs. I've printed with the same film for months. But if I see the film getting damaged, I would change it of course. It's not a big deal.

In my experience, 99% of issues are attributed to supports, mesh problems and user errors.

Once you get used to the machine more, you will have more and more perfect prints.

[thinkdiffer]

Yeah i hope everyone will be able to use the solus like you do. Okay i will post some pictures each time a print failed after this post. Thank you for the response.

Regards,
Evan

[mongerdesigns]

I'm confident you will be able to do that in time (there is a learning curve to any technology) and most people how have a Solus are also doing that.

Here is the entire build area being used. As you can see all the prints are complete and smooth.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFQWUSBn40_/?taken-by=junction3d

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFfOv6Tn48v/?taken-by=junction3d

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFSWczSn4x7/?taken-by=junction3d

[KennyB]

I found I was sanding the build plate too often and a little too haphazardly and it got so it wasn't super flat anymore.

I started sanding it on sandpaper that is taped to a piece of glass. Works great to find the low spots.

After that, recalibrate the plate and you should be good to go if that's the issue.

Like Monger said, learning any new technology is most likely going to give you problems at first but I can finally say that I now have a success rate higher than 90% and it's improving all the time.

[thinkdiffer]

I'm confident you will be able to do that in time (there is a learning curve to any technology) and most people how have a Solus are also doing that.

Here is the entire build area being used. As you can see all the prints are complete and smooth.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFQWUSBn40_/?taken-by=junction3d

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFfOv6Tn48v/?taken-by=junction3d

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFSWczSn4x7/?taken-by=junction3d

Thank you for the post and I do hope to have great results like your samples but it would be nice if the learning curve would be shorter since time is money.

I found I was sanding the build plate too often and a little too haphazardly and it got so it wasn't super flat anymore.

I started sanding it on sandpaper that is taped to a piece of glass. Works great to find the low spots.

After that, recalibrate the plate and you should be good to go if that's the issue.

Like Monger said, learning any new technology is most likely going to give you problems at first but I can finally say that I now have a success rate higher than 90% and it's improving all the time.

Thank you for the response, would you mind letting me know what grit you are using for the sand paper? I hope to get the 90% success rate as well. As for the 10% fails you are getting, are most of them caused by support placement or other reasons?

Thank you,
Evan

[KennyB]

I just looked and it is 220 grit but it is well used.

As for my fails, they are almost all support issues for sure now that I switched to the Solus Contour software.

I'm still mastering the art of supporting my models.

I understand what you're saying about "time is money", I had a few months of 16 hour days getting started with CAD/CAM but it has been worth it for me.

My printer has paid for itself and then some.

[thinkdiffer]

I just looked and it is 220 grit but it is well used.

As for my fails, they are almost all support issues for sure now that I switched to the Solus Contour software.

I'm still mastering the art of supporting my models.

I understand what you're saying about "time is money", I had a few months of 16 hour days getting started with CAD/CAM but it has been worth it for me.

My printer has paid for itself and then some.

Thank you for the reply, I have a 180 grit sandpaper so that should be fine. I am using the solus contour as well although not perfect it is much easier to use than cw and mostly gets rid of the distortion from the grid. Starting from today i will go back to day 1 and try again.

regards,
Evan

[thinkdiffer]

This is using the current solus and I tried printing three sample rings. Next time I will set it up again with a new film starting from A-Z and hopefully find my mistake. Also i will sand the build plate again (Kenny's way).

[mongerdesigns]

Is that the emerald resin?