this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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Bought the Elegoo Mars 4 Max. Test print went great, but my next print failed. What went wrong? (media.kbin.social)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
13 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hello everyone! As it says in the title, I very recently bought my first 3D printer, the Elegoo Mars 4 Max. Two days ago, I did my first test print, and it came out pretty good (although maybe a bit too hard, but details looked sharp). The only problem was that I somehow got an error message in the end ("error printing file data exception"), but the print seemed to have finished, so I didn't really worry too much.

I was pretty happy, so yesterday, I tried printing some more. I tried to print some exposure test files (3DRS starship https://3drs.com/pages/3drs-starship-resin-calibration-test and Cones of Calibration https://www.tableflipfoundry.com/) after slicing them with Chitubox. No error message this time, but the prints failed very early. Can anyone help me figure out what the problem might have been?

Here's some additional info:
For the first test print, I did not do any slicing or calibration, I just used the .goo file that came with the printer.
Cleaned the build plate with IPA and paper towel after first print
Did not clean or empty the Resin Tank after first print
Did not level the build plate again
24 hours between first and second print
I stirred the resin a bit before the second print, but maybe not enough
I don't know what the exact temperature was yesterday, but it was still pretty warm.
In Chitubox, I changed the settings to my printer, then downloaded the PDF with the settings for my printer/resin combo (Standard 2.0 grey) and put them in. I then dragged the .stl files into the window and sliced the files, exporting them as .goo files. I then copied the .goo files onto the USB stick and plugged it into the printer.

Failed prints: https://ibb.co/mvycmtc
Successful print: https://ibb.co/Jv8gS2D
Print settings: https://ibb.co/5rxS0WK
Print project: https://ibb.co/z85kNXw

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't have a printer that does tsmc so apologies if i'm misunderstanding but you could try increasing the first stage bottom lift distance? Maybe it's not peeling off the fep before it hits high speed. Otherwise you could try sanding your build plate lightly, adding ptfe lube to the fep (haven't tried this yet but other people say it works), or last resort increase base exposure time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No worries, I had no idea what TSMC even is and was confused by these settings having two different numbers, but now that you've mentioned it I was able to Google it and I think I understand now.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestion and for helping me learn, I might try that!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Looks like nothing got printed after the bottom layers, try increasing lift distance (10mm or so), decrease layer thinkness (0.05mm is fine) and increase exposure times (3-5s or so).

Looking at your print settings, it looks like the lift distance is low, which could be caused the print to fall of the lift plate.

Generally the bottom layers are printed with a much more aggressive settings to guarantee they stick to an imperfect lift plate, and those seem to have printed fine, so the printer can work with very long exposures. (30s or so)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Did the print complete but not turn out or did the printer stop early with an error?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It completed, but was stuck to the resin tank. No errors this time.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I’m not 100% sure because I’m fairly new as well but I’d try going with 25 seconds for the bottom layers and adding a bit of wait time before lifting.

It looks like your bottom layers did fine but maybe the normal layers didn’t adhere properly to the bottom layers. That could explain why you had some sticking to the FEP.

I’d also make sure the FEP sheet is is good shape. No big scratches or dents.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Was the part really completed (as in finished,) or did the machine keep going after it failed?

I’m wondering if you lost adhesion to the build plate, and it stayed on the tank’s floor.

One cause of this is the area on the build plate is lower than the area of the active layer- a common solution is to angle the part and use tree supports, so the layer cross sections are thinner

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Thank you for the comment!
You can see the parts in the pictures in the post. Yes, as far as I can tell, only a few layers were printed, then I lost adhesion. The build did stay on the tank's floor, from which I had to scrape it off. The machine kept going until "finished", but did not print anything for more than 90% of the printing process.
I will try angling the parts next time, did not think it was necessary since the first test print, which was not angled, went so well.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

It’s all kinda relative and depends on the part- large shelf like overhangs tend to be where it’s happened for me.

That said there might also be something else going on that is impacting plate adhesion, but that’s the direction I would start looking.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

https://lemmy.world/comment/2803744 isn't wrong, but there's definitely more going on here. Both the cones and starship are also test prints and shouldn't need any additional supports or editing to print. At least as far as i'm aware.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks for the suggestion! Just trying to understand, why would reducing the exposure time for the bottom layer help with adhesion?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Reducing the time won’t help with adhesion to the build plate but an overexposed layer might make the following layer less likely to adhere correctly. I always do 25sec on my bottom layers and never have adhesion problems so I figured it could work for you too.