Dear all,

I want to open a Wanhao Duplicator 7 Plus, and replace its UV light source (~405nm) with another light source with wavelength around 500 nm.  Do you guys have any idea if it is possible or not?
If its not possible, then what do you think if I want to remove the whole LCD and add my own Texas Instrument DLP with its own software and light source and lenses? Do you have had any experience of working with this printer after removing its LCD? Is it possible to use it like an open source device? Thanks a lot for sharing your ideas, if any.

They work great as is, why would you want to change to a light source you have to buy non-standard resin for?

I want to open a Wanhao Duplicator 7 Plus, and replace its UV light source (~405nm) with another light source with wavelength around 500 nm.  Do you guys have any idea if it is possible or not?
If its not possible, then what do you think if I want to remove the whole LCD and add my own Texas Instrument DLP with its own software and light source and lenses? Do you have had any experience of working with this printer after removing its LCD? Is it possible to use it like an open source device? Thanks a lot for sharing your ideas, if any.

Carl I have a question.
is the duplicator 7 a good enough printer to do lithophanes using white resin.
I know i would have to stand the lithophane on edge because of the bed size.
Looking to print  lithophanes 100 X 100

thanks
Dale

I see no reason why it couldn't. Its just a matter of finding the correct thickness or width versus opacity of the cured resin. The other issue might be the finished lithograph will discolor and become more brittle over time due to the fact that resin continues to cure over time with exposure to UV light and nearly all light has some level of UV in it.

thanks
Dale

My 1.5 came with a bare aluminum finish on the plate.

mine D7 Plus is is the same.
Its flat for sure, but seems like it needs holes so it wont suck on the film when pulling it up.

My 1.5 came with a bare aluminum finish on the plate.

Then it may need to be slightly roughed and still could be cupped or bowed.

In regard to your issue though you could have one of the old platforms depending on where you bought it at and if that store updated their stock when the new platform rolled out which is doubtful. If you do have an old platform then it has two problems. One it is not flat in the middle but is cupped. Then the second issue is the finish. Mine was cupped by simply using sand paper to remove the black finish to bare aluminum and then a fine grit to smooth but still keeping it slightly rough worked great on mine.

I am not sure why they chose to paint the build surface as all the big name resin printers use a bare aluminum build plate.

I keep getting blob on the FEP instead of the bed.
I would print 3-5 layers and stop to see if its working and i get same thing again and again.

Replaced FEP (seemed to improve flatness but still about 0.1-0.2 too low )
So how in the world do i 0 the bed if FEP flexes on contact ?

... Alvin ???  Is that you ?

SLA is a general name for any printer that uses LIGHT regardless of the source to harden a photopolymer. The technology does not matter as the process is the same. Did you not read the definition of SLA that I posted? SLA stands for Sterolithography Apparatus. Nothing more, nothing less. You are simply confused by the fact that the first SLA machines where only laser based. However SLA applies to ANY machine that uses LIGHT to cure a photopolymer.

Laser based machine as you said draw out a layer similar to an FDM machine. A DLP or DUV machine simply exposes one full layer at a time versus drawing it out. They both however use light for the hardening of the photopolymer and therefore both are SLA machines.

SLA does not have any thing to do with laser in the way it is used for these types of machines.

Sorry Carl, but you're only partially right. 

While a lot of Chinese 3d printer manufacturers keep referring to their progeny as SLA printers, the reality is the term was originally intended for laser based devices. 

SLA was originally coined by Chuck Hull, who went on to to found 3D Systems.  His patent specifically described "a concentrated beam of ultraviolet light focused onto the surface of a vat filled with a liquid photopolymer". Aided by CAD/CAM software, the laser would draw the outlines of the object to be printed onto the surface of the resin, thereby polymerizing the area.

At the time of it's inception (early 80's) the technology predated the development of the DLP chips by almost 10 years.  By the time Texas Instruments manufactured the first viable DLP chips in 1997, 3D Systems was already working on their 2nd generation SLA systems using solid state laser diodes.

Anyway, you're correct that, today, SLA is is used to primarily describe 3D printers that use some form of resin polymerization, but to correctly describe the differences between technologies, additional nomenclature must be applied.  Below is a link that describes in detail the 3 different processes, as well as their correct naming:

http://theorthocosmos.com/laser-sla-vs- … -compared/

Hope this sheds some light on the technology and its nomenclature.

carl_m1968 wrote:

tonycstech wrote:

Wanhao D7 is NOT an SLA printer.
No lasers there. Its LCD projection.
Just to clear things out for those who posted it under this category

Not to be a hardass but maybe you need to educate yourself before coming in here and making a comment that makes you look like you know nothing..

Stereolithography (SLA or SL; also known as stereolithography apparatus, optical fabrication, photo-solidification, or resin printing) is a form of 3D printing technology used for creating models, prototypes, patterns, and production of parts in a layer by layer fashion using photopolymerization, a process by which light causes chains of molecules to link, forming polymers.

If a 3d Printer uses LIGHT to activate the polymerization of the resin it is an SLA printer.

Define the difference between DLP and SLA ?
DLP using projection via projector or LCD
SLA using laser that draws the image similar to FDM printer
Two are not the same.

SLA is a general name for any printer that uses LIGHT regardless of the source to harden a photopolymer. The technology does not matter as the process is the same. Did you not read the definition of SLA that I posted? SLA stands for Sterolithography Apparatus. Nothing more, nothing less. You are simply confused by the fact that the first SLA machines where only laser based. However SLA applies to ANY machine that uses LIGHT to cure a photopolymer.

Laser based machine as you said draw out a layer similar to an FDM machine. A DLP or DUV machine simply exposes one full layer at a time versus drawing it out. They both however use light for the hardening of the photopolymer and therefore both are SLA machines.

SLA does not have any thing to do with laser in the way it is used for these types of machines.