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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → 3D Printer Discussion → Printbot printer belt
I was looking at the video of the printer belt in action and the guy said start it. Come back the next morning and your parts would be done. I have heard 2 many stories of printers catching fire. I would not leave it unattended. do you all feel the same way or are they that safe now.
here is the link to the video.
https://printrbot.com/shop/printrbelt/
For me it depends on the unit and technology. My two SLA printers I have no issue with leaving them running all night or all day rather I am home, at work, or asleep. There is no real heat source in them. My FDM is about 80% metal in its construction and the only thing that could catch fire near the heated areas is the filament as the carriage is all metal as well. My bed is glass on aluminum. So in my case I feel safe as if their was a fire there is very little to sustain a flame that could spread. The electronics an wiring pose the same risk as any electronic product in your home.
Also depends on the location of the unit. Mine is in place where there is little chance of fire spreading to anything else. In a factory or shop setting the space around the unit would be even greater.
Carl
I see you have 2 SLA printers. Do you get better results out of them than the FFF printer
what is the difference in cost to operate (supply's) per print.
Thanks
Dale.
Carl
I see you have 2 SLA printers. Do you get better results out of them than the FFF printer
what is the difference in cost to operate (supply's) per print.
Thanks
Dale.
It is a bit more costly as the print vat on the Form 1 is a consumable and is done after about 20 prints. Then the FEP sheet in the bottom of the vat of the D7 is also a consumable but last about 3 times that of the Form 1. The resin is about $60 USD per liter/quart. Depending on the print size, and solidity the yield is about the same as a roll of filament. As for quality the D6 can do .035 layers and the Form 1 and do .025 layers. The finished product is as near as you can get to injection molded quality and still be printed. The draw back and I might be wrong as i have yet to try all the various resins but they seem to be more brittle than the FDM printed stuff. They do make tough resin and flexible resin that like I said I have yet to try.
I've had my Form 1+ printer for a little over a year, and I can say this. They are expensive to run, but the quality of the output is near injection molding like, light years from any FDM.
As Carl mentioned, besides the resin itself, there are a few other consumable. The resin tank/vat has a PDMS layer at the bottom that over time gets foggy and eventually prevents the laser from properly curing the resin, leading to failures.
The life of the vat depends on a few variables, such as the resin used and layer height. Some resins like tough, dental and castable have a very high exposure rate, which is very rough on the PDMS layer.
Additionally, each time an area is exposed with the laser, it takes away a little life from the PDMS, so an object being printed at 0.025mm (finest resolution), will take 4 times as much life off the PDMS as the same object being printed at the lowest resolution, 0.1mm, simply because it has 4 times as many layers.
In general, by varying the location of the object being printed, so as not too 'burn a hole" in one spot, you can extend the life of the vat.
I was able to get about 2+ liters of resin through one vat before I replaced it, and that's quite a bit more than 20 prints.
Also, using 3rd party resins on the Form 1+ is iffy at best. I've tried a couple of resins from MakerJuice, as well as some generic stuff from eBay, but they were more trouble than it was worth. Too many failures or unusable, distorted parts. Simply put, there's no substitute for the real Deal (FormLabs resin). It's expensive, but it works.
Some folks on the FormLabs forums are attempting to put together some kind of list of 3rd party resins, and associated settings, but in general, the 3rd party resins that work, are either available in Europe only, so the shipping costs would be prohibitive, or they already cost as much as FormLabs resins, so what's the point.
Pirvan, that was very informative ... Thank You
even tho my SD4s are upgraded, highly reliable printers at this point, I am not comfortable leaving them running unattended for more than a couple of minutes at a time - like a bathroom break, or something.
Mine are in the house, in the "Hobby room", and yes, that is a factor in my decision to not leave them alone. A fire here could be seriously devastating - 120yr old house, out in the boonies, local FD is a volunteer force (would take longer for them to get here) - yeah, we could easily lose everything.
I cringe every time i see someone posting that they leave their printer running all night in the house while they sleep, or during the day while they are gone - it just scares me.
I would love to have a separate shop for the printers and such, but that is kind of expensive... building costs, electrical work, HVAC work. etc...
So, have you ever printed something that takes a loooong time? I mean 20+ hours?
What do you do with those?
I think these fires that we hear about are more the exception than the norm. You're probably more likely to have a fire start from a spark in the fireplace, or some candles around the room, or even Christmas tree lights, than a 3D printer.
Thanks Pirvan
I have a replicator 2X which is enclosed so I preheat everything up to temp
before I start printing even though I live in North west Florida it still gets into the low 60s in the laundry room in winter.
I watch my printer while running even though i have a smoke detector 4 feet from my printer I don't take any chances.
I have had an extruder over temp and smoke up the laundry room. I don't want my wife telling me it is dangerous and to get it out of the house. I know where I can get a used biosafety cabinet so I may pick it up. annd my grandson does a lot of restaurant remodeling so i am going to see if i can get a used fire suppression system.
So, have you ever printed something that takes a loooong time? I mean 20+ hours?
What do you do with those?
I think these fires that we hear about are more the exception than the norm. You're probably more likely to have a fire start from a spark in the fireplace, or some candles around the room, or even Christmas tree lights, than a 3D printer.
To each their own, but if i needed to print something that took that long, there are 2 of us here... take shifts, lol
or break the piece down into smaller bits that don't take as long. 
or, I could print it on the 8.10 - it runs MUCH faster than the SD4s do, LOL
SD4 = 40mm/s average
8.10 = 120mm/s - or more
at this point, I have not ever needed to run one that long, however. Longest print so far was 8 hours.
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