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Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

Hello fellow 3d printer folks! Today I was trying to print a model in the usual manner and when I went to look at how my printer was doing, I noticed that there seemed not to be very much stuck to the build plate. I paused the print and looked at the build plate and to my horror, instead of a partially completed Soviet-themed Saint Celestine (from Ghamak's patreon, he does good work!), I found this...mess (which completely ruined my FEP and forced me to change it, thankfully it was about due anyways):

The model itself was presupported, and I used Chitubox to set up my build plate. My printer is an Anycubic Photon S, and I'm using Anycubic Eco Resin, white color (as can be seen). This doesn't look like any print failure I've ever experienced, nor does it look like any I've seen on the internet before, so I'm asking Dakka's community for help.

My thoughts for what could have caused it:
1) Bad FEP. Unlikely, but it was about due to be changed.
2) A result of leaving the resin in the vat too long. Maybe some of it started to cure in the vat or something. I did stir it and add a little bit of fresh resin before I started the print.
3) Some kind of software glitch. Perhaps an error in the sliced file or something? It did seem like it took a while to generate the sliced file, longer than any other thing I've printed before.
4) The LCD screen. After I removed the buildplate and resin vat, I tested the screen and it seems to be working normally, so I seriously doubt it's this.
5) A result of a poorly leveled build plate. Again, I doubt this is what happened, unless a seriously tiny off angle (smaller than the eye can detect) can cause this kind of failure.

I'd really like to know what happened before I try to print anything else. I've just changed to a fresh piece of FEP, so I really don't want to ruin another piece.

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in au
[MOD]
Making Stuff






Under the couch

The bit pulled away on the right looks like an issue with the bed being slightly off level, maybe combined with insufficient cure time causing the first layer to break apart rather than sticking the the plate. The rest looks like weak supports that have pulled apart along the way.

 
   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

 insaniak wrote:
The bit pulled away on the right looks like an issue with the bed being slightly off level, maybe combined with insufficient cure time causing the first layer to break apart rather than sticking the the plate. The rest looks like weak supports that have pulled apart along the way.

I wonder if the build plate was level at the start, but got pulled off level because for some reason the printer decided to cure the entire build plate (notice the almost perfect rectangle?). The model parts I was printing did not take up all that space on the build plate. Not even close.

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in au
[MOD]
Making Stuff






Under the couch

Ah, I had assumed that was just excessive raft.

In that case, I would probably be leaning more towards a slicer error. It's certainly weird.

 
   
Made in fr
Potent Possessed Daemonvessel





France

Oh, I had something just like that a couple of prints ago on my photon S. Never got a satisfying answer... Opening the sliced file from the USB in chitubox presented a reasonnably looking file.
I did clean the usb stick, copy a large file on it as to occupy the sectors where my failed file must have been, then reprinted and it went away...

I'm going to make a holo table out of the failure...

My P&M Blog : Warp Wanderers, Chaos warbands in the Eye of Terror

Voting for my stuff pleases the Chaos Gods and brings you luck in battle !

 
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

When the screen on my Photon started to fail (RIP, you overworked machine ) I would occasionally get flickering front-ro-back lines across it instead of the intended image to print. I never had anything stick to the plate as much as that, but it did produce that pattern of parallel lines and unintended rectangles rather than an actual print. I never had it stick past one super-thin first layer, but if your exposure was very high perhaps that's what happened.

If the shape doesn't at all match what you think you're printing, it's because the screen isn't displaying the right images on each layer. This might be USB/file corruption or it might be the screen failing (or a loose cable to it inside), but it almost certainly wasn't caused by the FEP or levelling if that's the issue.

 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

One of the most frustrating things about 3D printing is sometimes you get an error and its darn hard to impossible to know what actually caused it. Sometimes its because its just rare enough that not enough people have seen it to comment; other times its because it really is rare or a combination of a few things all hitting at once; and sometimes its because several different errors can look the same.


My gut feeling for something like this is that it looks like an utter random mess. Sliced file; usbstick or read error. Ergo I'd lean toward a random digital failure.




Replace/format the USB; get a fresh slice of the file and see if it works. If it fails the same way then I'd err toward it being printer related and could be the screen or even the light source exhibiting issues. These issues could be as simple as a cable coming unseated by a tiny bit (cable poorly seated from factory and just gave up holding on randomly); all the way to failing parts (the screen is a limited lifespan part that is expected to be replaced at some stage).

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

Several of you have mentioned screen failure; if that was the case would I not have noticed something amiss when I tested the screen? Or is that something that only comes up during printing and not during testing the screen?

I'm pretty new at this still, but my machine is not new (my friend had it for a couple of years before giving it to me), so I could believe it if some stuff was nearing the end of its service life. I just don't want to have to replace the whole printer!

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Screen failure might be erratic.

If the printer is a few years old it might well be the screen is coming up to its end of life, I'd assume its an RGB screen if its a few years old (as mono screens are fairly new for 3D printers).


I'd say the only way to be sure is to start printing and see if you get a repeat of the error. You might consider reducing what you put on the build plate if purely to save on resin.



Like said above it could be a random card/file/software issue that never rears its head again.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

I think Overread is correct, with a slicer or usb file error. Try reslicing the file on a quality usb stick.

And for the abrasive advice? Please stop using pre-supported files!!!!! Learn how to accurately set up your own orientation and supports, learn how they work, what works best for your machine, resin and exposure times. You may already know all of this :-) but someone else's pre-supoorted files are done tailor-made to your machine and will ever only sporadically work, let alone EVER come out better than your own work when you understand and set up your own supports.

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

 MDSW wrote:
I think Overread is correct, with a slicer or usb file error. Try reslicing the file on a quality usb stick.

And for the abrasive advice? Please stop using pre-supported files!!!!! Learn how to accurately set up your own orientation and supports, learn how they work, what works best for your machine, resin and exposure times. You may already know all of this :-) but someone else's pre-supoorted files are done tailor-made to your machine and will ever only sporadically work, let alone EVER come out better than your own work when you understand and set up your own supports.



Presupports vary a LOT in quality. Some are no better than auto-support and done; others are top rate.
The current industry standard are Atlas Support Solutions who are doing a lot of the Patreons right now. Though even they support for "general" printing not specific printers. If you do it yourself with skill you can often get away with lighter supports in a different structure and even less model damage, but that generally requires a well calibrated printer and knowing what you're doing. The Atlas styles tend to be made to work with printers that aren't perfectly setup, so you might find that instead of all lights, they've got more mediums and heavies; though still in sensible positions.


There's a lot of different styles, the key is that understanding lets oyu have a better ability to see good from bad supports on a model and then make your own choice.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

You got it - that is the key in taking a bit of time to understand supports and how the settings work to connect to your model, where to place, etc.

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

It happened again. Different model, but basically same failure. It's been printing fine between last time and now so I really don't think the screen is failing. Haven't had any other unexplained print failures in between (there have been a few failures but it's been "normal" stuff like insufficient exposure causing supports to let go, etc.). The printer was displaying the correct screen images as it went, but like last time I basically got gobbledygook on the build plate. Haven't drained my resin tank yet; hopefully I don't have to replace the FEP this time because I only have one spare sheet left...

If it is in fact a digital failure, how can I prevent it from happening? Would the USB drive be the problem (bad blocks/corruption on it), or did Chitubox have a brain fart when it made the file itself? Or is it something else?

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Best advice I can give now - https://discord.gg/2ArJrAgE

Try the Atlas Support Discord if you've got Discord. They've a lot of experience with printers and errors and tinkering/dismantling/rebuilding printers.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




Cananda

I've had this happen right out of the box after dialling in. It could be sudden drops or changes in tempature. But beyond that I'm unsure. Or simply the printer software needs an update.

 
   
Made in ar
Regular Dakkanaut




Cananda

 ZergSmasher wrote:
It happened again. Different model, but basically same failure. It's been printing fine between last time and now so I really don't think the screen is failing. Haven't had any other unexplained print failures in between (there have been a few failures but it's been "normal" stuff like insufficient exposure causing supports to let go, etc.). The printer was displaying the correct screen images as it went, but like last time I basically got gobbledygook on the build plate. Haven't drained my resin tank yet; hopefully I don't have to replace the FEP this time because I only have one spare sheet left...

If it is in fact a digital failure, how can I prevent it from happening? Would the USB drive be the problem (bad blocks/corruption on it), or did Chitubox have a brain fart when it made the file itself? Or is it something else?


download a program from windows 3D Builder it should be free on the Microsoft app store. I've noticed that some printers just don't like certain imported files. It was recommended by a YouTuber to run the mesh integrity or mesh fixer in the program, which for whatever reason seems to fix some issues with chitubox.

It's free and might be worth a shot to see if it does anything.

It's important to check each file in a slicer for artifacts as well.

As stated above however update the firmware of your printer if you haven't done so. And try to ensure a steady temp.

It's also important to note that resin spills on screens can ruin them forever and it's important to get a high-resolution screen protector on your printer. Otherwise, you're looking at replacing the screen can't remember the specific type tho off hand. I think Anycubic ones need to be protected. Resin spills can destroy some printers' screens as soon as they spill.

Always check your FEP for micro pin holes before installing. I'm reasonably sure a UV light will do the trick to illuminate any damage on it.

I've also heard that FEP release agents, and lubricants can help as well.



This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/11/02 06:33:57


 
   
Made in us
Deathwing Terminator with Assault Cannon






I would also ask:
1. How old is the resin?
2. Did you shake it profusely? If bubbles are a worry, then I'd give it a really good shake 2-3 days prior to using it and let the bubbles settle.

   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

It has happened yet again. That dreaded pattern of jagged parallel lines on my build plate instead of anything resembling what I was trying to print. Happened last night. I had just finished a different print that came out just fine (taking advantage of the warmer temperatures to squeeze in a couple of prints), but the one I set up to run overnight did this crap again. I can deal with normal print failures; there's loads of info on the Internet about diagnosing things like empty supports, flattened parts, levelling issues, but nothing online has shown me anything like this.

I do have a new theory: putting the sliced file on the USB drive where I had just deleted a file. Perhaps somehow that caused the data to become somehow "jumbled" and thus corrupted the file which in turn made the printer make garbage? I don't know how memory storage on a flash drive works so someone who knows more please enlighten me.

Also, for the previous time this happened, after I cleaned off the build plate and FEP, I re-sliced the same file I was using. When I put it on the flash drive, it showed as being the same exact file size as the one that messed up the printer, and when I went to print it I got a perfectly good print instead of the garbage. Shame, kind of, as it might have otherwise given me a way to be forewarned about another impending error (if the files had been different sizes, that is). Could there be some way to inspect the sliced file to see if there's a problem with it?

Or, could I be entirely wrong about this being a digital failure, and maybe it is in fact my screen getting ready to give up the ghost. Paradigm (earlier in this thread) mentioned getting a series of parallel lines when his Photon's screen was going out, but he said it never stuck to the build plate like this. I am using fairly high exposure so maybe that's why more resin is sticking. Someone else mentioned stuff about temperature; I've seen pictures of temperature related failures and they look nothing like this, so I think I can eliminate that as a cause.

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in us
Courageous Questing Knight





Texas

Yes, it definitely looks like it could be a screen issue if not a corrupt file issue.

You might try removing the resin tank and the build plate and run the print like normal, but you could see the UV image being displayed (the slice image also shows up on my front LCD panel) and it should be just like the slice it is exposing.

My Novella Collection is available on Amazon - Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi - https://www.amazon.com/Three-Roads-Dreamt-Michael-Leonard/dp/1505716993/

 
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

That's exactly how I figured out the aforementioned screen issue on my Photon, so definitely worth a go, it'll be very obvious if you've got this problem as you'll see very dim, flickery lines across the screen rather than e neat, clear shapes it should be forming.

 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






Seems the esiest way to do it, yeah: take the vat and the build plate out, put a paper sheet over the screen to avoid burning your eyes more than needed, run a print, check what it shows. If it's an issue of the usb, or the sliced file, slicing it again and saving it on anothe usb will show it. If it's the screen... well, it will show it too, but that should also show on the regular screen test.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/12/06 21:46:26


 
   
Made in us
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain






A Protoss colony world

Very nice suggestion, and I tried it. What I saw when I ran the exact same file that failed this most recent time was... exactly what was shown on the front screen for each layer. Which suggests that if I had the build plate and resin tank in at this time, I would have gotten a print and not that weird mess. Doesn't help me solve the problem unfortunately.

However, maybe this just means that I've got an intermittent problem with my screen. Like, maybe it works most of the time, but occasionally it just...doesn't for some reason. That is a major problem, because it means the failures will be unpredictable. And each time I get one of these failures, it leaves enough of a mess on the FEP that I really need to change it (got away with just peeling the solid stuff off last time, this time around there's more of it on there because it ran all night). Oh well, I've been eyeballing a newer printer anyways (I want one with a monochrome screen, and for some reason the brand new Elegoo Mars 3 is appealing to me), so I might do that rather than replacing the screen on my current relic.

My armies (re-counted and updated on 11/1/23, including modeled wargear options):
Dark Angels: ~15000 Astra Militarum: ~1200 | Adeptus Custodes: ~1900 | Imperial Knights: ~2000 | Sisters of Battle: ~3500 | Leagues of Votann: ~1200 | Tyranids: ~2600 | Stormcast Eternals: ~5000
Check out my P&M Blogs: ZergSmasher's P&M Blog | Imperial Knights blog | Board Games blog | Total models painted in 2023: 40 | Total models painted in 2024: 7 | Current main painting project: Dark Angels
 Mr_Rose wrote:
Who doesn’t love crazy mutant squawk-puppies? Eh? Nobody, that’s who.
 
   
Made in es
Inspiring SDF-1 Bridge Officer






It might be the screen, but if the test worked is more probable that it's an USB issue, I think. It might also be an issue with the fep, maybe.
   
Made in gb
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





UK

 ZergSmasher wrote:
Very nice suggestion, and I tried it. What I saw when I ran the exact same file that failed this most recent time was... exactly what was shown on the front screen for each layer. Which suggests that if I had the build plate and resin tank in at this time, I would have gotten a print and not that weird mess. Doesn't help me solve the problem unfortunately.

However, maybe this just means that I've got an intermittent problem with my screen. Like, maybe it works most of the time, but occasionally it just...doesn't for some reason


This is exactly what happened with mine, but over time it became more frequent, to the point where there was a less than 50/50 chance the print would work (even without turning the printer off in between I'd do rtest that looked fine then put the resin and plate back in and the screen wouldn't work). Never had it mess with the FEP, mainly because I tended to stop the print after the first few layers if I wasn't clearly hearing the popping sound you usually get.

I ended up just upgrading to a Voxelab Proxima, and I'm so glad I did, it's been an order of mangnitude more reliable than my Photon ever was, in the 3-4 months I've had it and over dozens of prints, I've only had a handful of failures and they've all been caused by support issues on my end, the machine itself is superb..

 
   
 
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