Stirring type machines could not be doing enough with using mean green as a means to clean resin off models. If you use a water washable resin then supposedly you can just use water. I just started using my SL1 and opted to use "Mean Green" for starters. After the ultrasonic cleaner settled it did appear that the resin sank to the bottom of the vat. Yeah all UV is not the same. So I called my brother who is a plastics chemist working for a lab thats either (forget which but not really important) owned by or exclusively contracted to Stratasys. Acetone is more hazardous to your health and the environment. How To Replace The Ender 3 Main Board With A Silent 32 Bit Board, Automated Coronavirus (COVID-19) Testing Technologies, How to Wire and Install Electronics for a Voron 3D Printer Build Diary Part 6, How to Assemble the Afterburner Toolhead for a Voron 3D Printer Build Diary Part 5, How to Assemble the Gantry for a Voron 3D Printer Build Diary Part 4, How to Assemble the Z-Motion System for a Voron 3D Printer Build Diary Part 3. https://monocure3d.com.au/product-category/resinaway-cleaner/. Parts should be moved around in the solvent as well as soaked for optimal cleaning. For the detailed workflow, read ourguide topost-processing resin 3D printed parts. But if your process only works with 50 C heat, then Ill have to find a different ultrasonic cleaner. We recommend Form Wash and Form Curealongside Formlabs desktop printers, and Form Wash L and Form Cure L for large-format SLA printers to automate and simplify your post-processing. I originally heard about it via a YouTube video by UncleJessy. I use it in an ultrasonic cleaner which beats the pants off of the CW1 for cleaning ability. In general, IPA is our recommended post-processing solvent for cleaning resin prints. I hit it with a UV light for 10+ minutes to cure all the loose resin then I run it through a coffee filter in a funnel. I've been looking for IPA everywhere but due to Corona and panic buying, the stuff has shot up as people are using it as rubbing alcohol here in the UK. I then asked about Methylated spirits and was informed that I could essentially think of Methylated spirits as IPA with additives that not only make it more toxic to humans (to what degree I didnt ask) but also smells horrible - However it would work, but yet again not essential. I have been using IPA 91%, but figured I'd try something different with the shortage going on. Thanks for the report. In addition to disposal/environmental concerns, it's not easy to find a gallon jug of 91-99% IPA in the US. Rinse with water and see if there is any uncured resin remaining. He said, and I'm quoting him here, "shit man you could go down to the liquor store and grab a bottle of Everclear or even some cheap bottle of Karkov vodka, really. It does need a good rinse with water afterward. I've printed 1l of resin so far with 0 issues using either the IPA or Acetone, but as you say quite rightly, the Acetone stinks whereas the IPA is a lot milder. The ultrasonic does a much better job of breaking up the resin into smaller particles that can be carried off in the solution. Have you got a Polish shop nearby? Active
Im in the uk also and this looks like a great solution. So I just ran into the same problem and thought for sure I can't the only one. My old B9 Creator DLP printer with yellow resin was a joy to clean the resin from the model. Just a few minutes under running warm water and it was clean. Everything was still warm from the cleaning so I just snipped the supports right away. I am wondering if there are alternatives to this that could more easily evaporate off when done. I got some other detergent on the radar, which is from Sagrotan and thus almost double the price. We use cookies on our websites for a number of purposes, including analytics and performance, functionality and advertising. Sorry to hear that Flash Cleaner in the Anycubic wash and cure station isnt working. Figured it would keep the IPA cleaner for longer. I scanned through their safety sheet and tried out different cleaning agents. Hot
My post cure procedure was flawed though due to inexperience and caused some problems that I plan to address ln my next run. It consits mostly of a mixture of different alcohols and in the ultrasonic cleaner, it perfeclty removes resin residue from the print. If you have access to IPA, there are a few things you can do to prolong its usability. For now I'm ordering a 2-gallon bucket with a sealing cover to keep the filled tub in when I'm not using it), I try to make safe suggestions,You should understand the context and ensure you are happy that they are safe before attempting to apply my suggestions, what you do, is YOUR responsibility. Please let me know about the results. This is to simply separate the monomer (liquid state of the resin) from the polymer (solid state i.e. Aaand good luck with that. It still seems to remove most of the uncured goo. https://www.halfords.com/motoring/car-cleaning/car-shampoo/carplan-trade-super-tfr-5l-703633.html, Who knew, it's currently even cheaper on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00LRN1DAK. I again cleaned the minis for 5 minutes. The idea behind curing the print submerged is that the curing reaction can be inhibited by oxygen. You won't be able to separate/dissolve the uncured resin from the cured resin without the use of a solvent that has enough of a hydrocarbon back-end (IPA, even Ethanol has 2 carbons) to interact with the organic non-polar functional groups present on the UV-Curable resins. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our website, to show you personalized content and targeted ads, to analyze our website traffic, and to understand where our visitors are coming from. Maybe it clears faster that way and the resin can be filtered out. I was just a bit over optimistic about the resin setting down after a while. I recommend TPM. Minis better on large flat areas (like shields), but majority of minis still shiny, with residue in creases. I will probably give it a try though. For my next run Ill use a display turntable and a 405nm UV LED light bar that came with some UV cure screen protectors for my cell phone. When curing the parts in the Form Cure, you can also submerge small parts in a bath of clean water, glycerin, or mineral oilinside of a glass Pyrex container. There's no additional chemical reaction needed to take place that alcohol would execute for you, which is what I had assumed: That it was a key component to the process when it is'nt. If youre interested in acquiring TPM for your workflow, we recommend this list of approved vendors: To learn more about integrating TPM into your workflow and special disposal requirements, please continue reading on our support site. Safe to use so long as you are aware of the risks and takes steps to mitigate them. Formlabs does not officially recommend any of the following, but some customers have shared with us their experience using other potentially available solvents. BRENNTAG - Please contact by calling 1-610-926-6100. Formlabs 3D Model Manager Evan Fisher walks the viewersthrough CAD and PreForm tips for larger parts and introduces Form Wash L and Form Cure L for post-processing. https://www.britishchemicalproducts.co.uk/product.asp?s=qvcn8v2090584&strParents=&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=323&strPageHistory=search&numSearchStartRecord=1. That was really what spurred me to use heat in the first place. How do you dispose of your TPM after its saturated with resin? Just wanted to confirm something. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Rave Robot My favourite so far is named "Frosch Spiritus Glas-Reiniger" (1,65 per liter). I'm happy I'm seeing progress, but still not satisfied, especially with all the extra effort I'm having to do compared to before. I'm guessing because you just got it you already bought a stock of resin and so can't just switch over to water washable resin, I'm in the same boat but luckily I already had 20L of IPA so won't be running out any time soon. Ive been more careful about saving IPA, says Kevin Gautier, business development at Formlabs. Followed by rinse under tap. By browsing our website, you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. I'm also in the UK and looking for an alternative to IPA, like the Mean Green. I'm based in germany, so the Mean Green is not available here. Since it contains some "soapy" component, the washed-off resin remains in an emulgated state for some time, so the liquid turns opaque after the third process or so, but after two days resting time it clears itself and the resin collects at the bottom of the container. -Prusa i3 MK3 single extruder (kit) as intended by author-Creality CR-10 modded beyond recognizabilitty Constantly sleep-deprived. Definitely not what I was looking for. Likely a few coffee filters as theyll clog up. Don't go drinking it thought, it's evil. I don't know about the rest of the world but it is fairly cheap and easy to find in the US in places like Walmart along with other cleaning chemicals. I use it exclusively to clean the Vat, tools and such as it is inexpensive and non-flammable. Not Replied
If you give it a try wed love to hear about your mileage as well. Take off minis, and scrub with toothbrush followed by dunk rinse in tub 2 of water. Without it, your ability to continue printing and washing parts might be impacted. I also do not recommend using the temperature control. I was thinking of ordering a second steel tank cover + magnetic mixer so I could do a water bath before IPA bath. Before finishing, we recommend washing in water. I use a mix of Siraya Blu and Elegoo grey and while the Elegoo is pretty normal, Siraya has a reputation for becoming thick and unworkable when the temperature drops too much. You could try a fine bristled tooth brush and sit and scrub them if you arent wanting an ultrasonic. Once the timer has stopped remove the basket and inspect your prints. Just keep in mind that methanol is poisonous so take care not to ingest it. The ultrasonic cleaner I purchased allows for both temperature control and a set time for cleaning. Lots of LED strips or lamps at that range available as well so if you find you dont like the form factor of that one (maybe it doesnt fit larger prints well or something) then there are some cheap alternatives to go for. Thank you for sharing your progress. The whole point of using isopropyl is because it is a poor solvent that dries quickly. Formlabs have a couple of good posts on it: https://support.formlabs.com/s/article/Washing-prints-with-TPM?language=en_US, https://support.formlabs.com/s/article/Tripropylene-glycol-monomethyl-ether-TPM?language=en_US, I'm in the UK and I purchased it from here: https://www.britishchemicalproducts.co.uk/product.asp?s=qvcn8v2090584&strParents=&CAT_ID=0&P_ID=323&strPageHistory=search&numSearchStartRecord=1. Sure but what are the mechanical properties? I havent gone back and experimented as I have a working process with my cleaner and am happy with it. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. I also want my parts to be strong. Form Wash and Form Wash L automatethe print washing process for consistent, thorough, no-mess cleaning, while Form Cure and Form Cure L precisely combines heat and 405 nm light to consistently post-cure prints. Warming the solution just makes the Prusa Tough orange resin go limp and features become delicate and break off. Mark all read, Topic Icons:
I might try that on another run, or if the print doesnt sit well on the turntable by itself. Your email address will not be published. Take off minis, and scrub with toothbrush followed by scrub and rinse in tub 2 of water. Great find. I put them back in for another 5 minute cycle to clean off any remaining resin. WARNING: If you are using a flammable material for cleaning such as alcohol you should NEVER fill the ultrasonic cleaner directly with it. So it would seem that alcohol is really only used because it's convenient to not need to dry it off ~ especially so should your print have narrow nooks and crannies unreachable with a cloth had you just used water. Unapproved
I again cured them submerged in clean water for 5 minutes.This time there are no glossy areas, even in the very detailed crevices of the characters faces or the grooves in the bases. @media(min-width: 500px) { .header_responsive { width: 468px; height: 60px; } }
There have been plenty of posts about this over on r/3Dprinting which I'm sure probably have an answer. Some collects at the bottom, but the cleaner never fully clears again even under UV radiation. After their second bath I rinsed them in water to clean off the Mean Green. Take my writings with a grain of salt, though, because I'm very new to resin printing. A few minutes of shaking it around inside the tub, then remove supports, then another few minutes of shaking it around without supports and then go cure. I use Mr. Clean, the neon green stuff, and it works great! Not bad but it may be a bit much for the CW1. Sticky
All the fine particulate accumulates there and you can just toss it as its been cured. First, youll want to thoroughly wipe off any excess resin from the part and build platform before submerging them in IPA. Minis came out shiny, creases showing what appears to be mix of resin and mean green residue cured. Someone pointed me to an Elegoo forum post about using Mean Grean to clean the parts instead of IPA. Resin tends to become far more fluid when warm so it should remove easier in a heated cleaner. If you try this method we would love to hear about your experiences in the comments below. The ultrasonic cleaner should work even if I need to use IPA or methylated spirits so I dont feel this is a wasted purchase. Which led to the next question I posed: Would it be possible to just put the print into an ultrasonic cleaner filled with water? Im honestly not sure if this explanation is completely correct but anecdotally I have noticed for my prints that when I cure then submerged in water they do seem to cure faster. Thanks for reading, so glad you found it helpful. If you are like me then youve noticed that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a massive shortage of IPA. I completely forgot to update this thread, but I tried Acetone and it worked perfectly until the IPA I bought turned up! Inspection showed glossy areas of the print where there had been a layer of uncured resin clinging to the surface. If yes, did you dilute it? Failing to properly wash parts will leave the parts sticky and unseemly, so post-processing is vital to successful 3D printing. I've tested IPA, Monocure ResinAway and 3DJake Resin Cleaner. It looks like the uncured resin fully dissolved. Latest Post: Auf dem Display; Fragezeichen hinter der Rest-Druck-Zeit Our newest member: Thomas
Finding an alternatives to IPA right now is difficult, and priced extraordinarily high if you do. Different resins will respond differently as well. A little better, but still not what I want. I still think that for the price it is a valid alternative, and since the results are sufficiently good, I#ll stick to it until the actual order is finished. Feels like snake oil. The idea of wet curing (having the print submerged in water) never crossed my mind, I didnt think that the UV light would have meaningful penetration through the water to reach the print. Ethanol should dissolve resin similar to IPA and might be a good cheaper substitute for IPA. A quick look at reddit community shows a number of people claiming to use it at room temperature some dont even use an ultrasonic and scrub them with a soft brush. but they are cheaper than the alternative non/less volatile alternatives. You could try denatured alcohol (methylated spirits I think its labeled in the UK) which is basically very high proof ethanol with methanol or other poisonous components added to prevent people from drinking it and getting around liquor taxes. Please contact by calling their Sales & Customer Service U.S. Toll Free number: 1-800-531-7106. Im calling this test a failure. Perhaps I should at a later date just for the sake of completeness. 2) Mean green in tub 1, CW1 wash for 5 min. Best of luck and thanks for reporting in! UNIVAR USA - TPM is available with a $500 minimum. It turns out that IPA is not necessary to clean a resin 3D print if you have the right equipment. Keiran quick questions about disposal/clean uphow did you clean out the basin of the ultrasonic cleaner and what did you do with the resin tainted mean green liquid? Methylated spirits (denatured alcohol) should work, this is ethanol mixed with a percentage of methanol to prevent it from being potable. Brand new to the resin printing scene, I've been printing in PLA for almost a year and wanted to print some amazing ingredients detailed minis for my YouTube channel and painting service, so chose the Anycubic Photon (just arrived!) It does not have a warming function. As always, feel free to contact the Formlabs sales and services team for further recommendations. You might need to increase the duration of the wash and maybe use a soft tooth brush to get into little tiny crevices without the heat. Press J to jump to the feed. Alcohol will quickly aerosolize in the ultrasonic cleaner and that close to electronics it is not a safe combination. Replied
Learn more about our use of cookies: Can I Clean My Resin Prints Without Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA)? I'll try a coffee filter the other day, but I expect quite some amount to be in solution rather than just emulgated. We appreciate you sharing your results here and glad its working for you as well. Thanks for the reply! I'm also trying to put it back in the bottle and radiate it with UV. You could go and see if they have Polish Rectified Spirit, Spirytus Duch Puszczy or Spirytus Rektyfikowany. Private
Super helpful. I've not used either with resin but I've heard DA is more aggressive and can damage the finish. Feel free to ASK questions, POST cool prints, DISCUSS hardware designs, and SHARE anything you think is relevant to resin-based printing. My ultrasonic was set to 35C and 3 minutes. My thoughts on this compared to ultrasonic cleaners is that agitation may be key with the alternative solutions working or not (I'm thinking of Uncle Jessy's youtube testing). I started printing pretty recently and went with denatured alcohol. Location Halifax UK, Just an idea: Maybe you can use it to clean the MK2/MK3/Mini sheets? Resin 3D printed parts must be washed to remove sticky, excess resin from the surface. I'm printing detailed Jewellery , rings and clusters but it may be more effective for larger, smoother prints. In case you cannot acquire IPA, tripropylene glycol monomethyl ether (TPM) is a tested alternative for parts printed with non-biocompatible Formlabs resins. Baseline process, I have my CW1 was with IPA for 5 min, no water rinse, followed by 10 min heat dry @ 30C (no preheat), then 10 min cure. Water will have less dissolved oxygen in contact with the print than air will so the curing reaction is more efficient. Attempts listed below, mean green as is without dilution: 1) Mean green in tub 1, CW1 wash for 5 min. Its cheap for a gallon at any car place like Halfords etc. , Often linked posts:Going small with MMU2Real Multi MaterialMy prints on Instagram. Subreddit dedicated to creating a community around users of SLA and other resin-based 3D printing systems. This time I preheated the Mean Green in the ultrasonic cleaner to 50C. It's a straight substitute for isopropyl alcohol, way less flammable and cleans just as well. People have been seeking and testing alternatives for years in places where IPA is hard to get or because they don't like handling it. I refuse to by pricey "special" resin cleaners from folks like 3DJake. When handling wash solvents, always consult the safety data sheet (SDS) from the supplier as the primary source of information and ensure appropriate ventilation when handling. Yeah I got 1l of resin with the printer. Asking because I was thinking of getting a cheap ultrasonic watch cleaner and using it with Mean Green. Bioethanol is the same as ethanol, but supposedly from renewable resources, both are available in a number of different purities, Exposing them to the atmosphere allows them to absorb moisture, which messes with the purity! Knows he knows nothing. 5 minutes in my UV box and they are ready for inspection. Customers looking for IPA alternatives for resin printingcan test these at their own risk to see if they may work for their use case: As always, all solvents and resins should be disposed of in accordance with your local regulations and suppliers SDS. When creating designs with narrow channels, such as. I did not break out the two variables as this was less of a controlled study and more of a Oh no, I have 1 bottle of IPA left and cant get it kind of necessity. Automation Engineer in the Biotechnology industry and a founding member of RaveRobot. As far as I can tell it works great and I've been super happy with the quality of the finish (as good as any other I've seen). It's pretty pricey at $US300 for 5 gallons, though. Do not use IPA to clean the FEP. Does anyone have any feedback on using the TFR505? I can probably use a milder blend. He said yes but that it would be overkill as ultrasonic cleaners are expensive and he's right - I found a cleaner with a half gal capacity tank cheapest around $170; 1gal upwards of 300 (please let me know if you find them cheaper), but if youre just printing minis and/or dice for some custom D&D campaigns you can find small ultrasonic cleaners meant for jewelry on amazon in the $30 range. Auf dem Display; Fragezeichen hinter der Rest-Druck-Zeit. The second attempt at cleaning my prints, I repeated the exact same files with the exact same resin. Most of the resins I'll be using only require 30 seconds of rinse time. It does require a second cleaning step to wash off the Simple Green, but its water soluble, so a simple rinse helped there. Just trying to keep up with the learning curve. Methylated spirits should be available in most hardware stores. Best of luck in the hobby and thanks for reading. You can soak parts printed in Standard Resins in warm, soapy water and then manually scrub the surface with a dedicated scrub brush or toothbrush, recommends Jake Kapusta, senior services expert at Formlabs. I have a can of it that I got from the hardware store in the pain section which I use in my alcohol burner that I use to tip new arrows. After the first failure, you changed two variables, i.e., you doubled the amount of ultrasonic time from a single 5-minute bath to two 5-minute baths, and you also increased the bath temperature from ~22 C to 50 C. Have you tried experimenting whether it was the temperature increase that did the trick, or was it the second bath that fixed it? Things looked pretty good so I washed them with warm water while removing the supports. There has been some discussion in the Formlabs forum about TPA or TPE as a less-volatile cleaning agent. So far I'm not impressed, a 9 min clean cycle still leaves uncured resin traces. With water washable resin scrubbing or significant agitation are required. Formlabs generally recommends the use of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) with a concentration of at least 90% to clean and dissolve uncured resin. Post-processing your parts is crucial to the SLA 3D printing workflow. Solved
For the resin tainted solution I do the same thing as I used to with IPA. Can't recommend the Resin Cleaner but the ResinAway stuff is pretty good. I also may try extending the clean cycle to see if that helps. Forum contains no unread posts
For more detailed information about washing your prints, continue reading on our support site to learn more about rinsing stages, best practices for different part geometries, and more.