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They might be too new for screens to be failing from normal wear yet? The stated average lifespan is like 12x longer than classic LCDs so it's very possible we'll see some bottleneck other than the screen appear.
The old meta is dead and the new meta struggles to be born. Now is the time of munchkins.
lord_blackfang wrote: They might be too new for screens to be failing from normal wear yet? The stated average lifespan is like 12x longer than classic LCDs so it's very possible we'll see some bottleneck other than the screen appear.
I've had one screen get a couple dead areas. Replaced it, I think it was like a year and 2 months into use?
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"you think it is you who has gotten me, yugi, but it is I who have gotten you! I declare the ever-vigilant stratagem to attack your rubrics with my custodes' ranged weapons, which with the new codex are now DAMAGE 2!!"
"...which leads you straight into my trap, Kaiba, you see I now declare the stratagem Implacable Automata, reducing all damage from your attacks by 1 and triggering my All is Dust special rule!"
I've always wondered what that figure actually refers to.
Is it just counting the time that the light source is on? Presumably it's not the total print time, because that's going to vary depending on lift height and speed. Also, is the claim of the Mono screen lasting X times longer than the RGB screen anything to do with the much lower exposure times per layer?
I believe the Mono lets the light pass through with much less color interference (hence no RGB filters) so is much more efficient and less to complicate matters so it lasts longer. And, I also believe it is based on the 'lamp on' time, not the total running time of the printer.
My understanding is that part of what kills the screens is heat damage from the lights used to expose the resin and the resin curing process itself (it generates heat).
As a result more efficient screens that let more of the light pass through, can thus have shorter exposure durations. That means less heat from the lights and the resin and thus a longer lifespan for the LCD.
If I've got my Mono doing 0.05mm layers at 2s. per layer, so that's 40s. per mm lamp on time, so... 90mm. per hour...
Now this doesn't take into account base layers, which depending on your settings could be massacring the screen unnecessarily, I know that 3dprintingpro was of the opinion that overdoing the base layers was eating into the screen life significantly.
Yeah the lifespan is basically lamp time and on a mono screen is 3-4x longer because it's more robust and exposed to stress for a shorter time.
In addition, mono screens print 3-4x faster, ie. a mono screen with a 2000 work hour lifespan will net you not 3-4x but like 12x more minis than an RGB screen with a 500 hour lifespan and that's the metric that actually matters.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2022/01/07 18:10:19
The old meta is dead and the new meta struggles to be born. Now is the time of munchkins.
One question from the OP that seems to have been overlooked, what sort of life do people get out of their FEPs?
I'm only just starting out so I have no idea, but I heard some folk were getting really low numbers of prints before needing to replace their FEP, so I'm curious what is typical.
AllSeeingSkink wrote: One question from the OP that seems to have been overlooked, what sort of life do people get out of their FEPs?
I'm only just starting out so I have no idea, but I heard some folk were getting really low numbers of prints before needing to replace their FEP, so I'm curious what is typical.
FEPs are very random and harder to judge. It depends a lot on what you print, the orientations and supports, the resin and also on your problem solving.
There's no real hard and fast "your FEP is done" test, its more of a case of printing until you start to get failures that you can't otherwise diagnose (eg its not the supports, temperature, settings, resin shaking etc....).
As such some people will not replace their FEPs soon enough and others might replace them too often. It's very random so best to just always have a spare FEP in stock and be ready.
Like a lot of 3D printing its also something that improves with time and experience. When you learn how to do things like using the VAT clean function; when you don't wipe it out clean with IPA after every fail and every print; when you just leave it full of resin, top it up and keep printing over and over etc...
Ergo when the wear and tear on it is purely the printing process and you're not adding other agitations/chemicals to the surface.
I only got my printer the other day and haven't printed anything yet. The FEP that shipped with it looks a bit dodgy, I'm not sure if I should swap it out before I even start. I did order extra FEPs but they were shipped separately so probably won't get them for another week or so.
Then when I started looking into it some people were claiming they were getting prints in the single digits before replacing the FEP which made me wonder if it was a bit of a hidden cost if it has to be replaced very frequently.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/08 12:04:48
Prints in the single digits means something is going wrong. Either they have some seriously bad presupports* or more likely something else in the process is going wrong. Eg they might be getting prints stuck to their fep which they are then scraping off with the plastic scraper causing damage to the FEP that way.
Best way to get stuff off the FEP is shown in this video
*sometimes really really bad ones can cause problems, the famous one is the Phrozen Ring which was (and might still be) included on the USB as a test/example print which could cause dents/punchers in the fep when printed. Though I'm not honestly sure "how" that works/causes the effect but it was reported by many.
Regarding clearing failed prints, if you just press gently up from underneath the vat, the failed blob tends to pop off and you can just hook it out with the scraper. No scraping should be required.
Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!
I probably ran 30-40 prints off myself initial FEP before deciding to replace it.
As has been said, there are a lot of variables involved. If you don't drain and clean the vat after you have a failure, you'll end up smooshing cured lumps of resin into the FEP and punch holes in it - this is very bad.
It's obviously better to replace it before things like that happen, even if it doesn't, you get wear and tear; scratches and fogging occurs which I'm guessing will eventually mess up your prints. Thing is, the only way to monitor the status of the film is to drain and clean the tank and my cleaning method is going to add to the wear and tear, so it's a double edged sword.
Good news is that new FEPs aren't particularly expensive, it's just that replacing one will take a small chunk of time out of your day.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2022/01/08 12:26:48
I totally abused my Elegoo Mars for a few years running it almost constantly and had to replace the LCD about every 200-300 print runs or so. being the screen was only about $29 and took about 5 minutes to replace, it was not a big deal.
Flinty wrote: Regarding clearing failed prints, if you just press gently up from underneath the vat, the failed blob tends to pop off and you can just hook it out with the scraper. No scraping should be required.
Or use the vat cleaning function that bakes the whole screen for 30 seconds, and as long as you can get 1 corner up the whole thing will peel off in one go like foil from a new phone, taking any previous residue with it.
The old meta is dead and the new meta struggles to be born. Now is the time of munchkins.
Flinty wrote: Regarding clearing failed prints, if you just press gently up from underneath the vat, the failed blob tends to pop off and you can just hook it out with the scraper. No scraping should be required.
Or use the vat cleaning function that bakes the whole screen for 30 seconds, and as long as you can get 1 corner up the whole thing will peel off in one go like foil from a new phone, taking any previous residue with it.
Put a bit of support from a previous print in the corner before doing that (also remove build plate to make it easier/avoid accidents). That way the bit of support gets baked into the layer of resin that you create with the vat clean. Then you can pull on the support and the whole lot comes up - no need to use any scraper or take the VAT off to push underneath or anything
Flinty wrote: Regarding clearing failed prints, if you just press gently up from underneath the vat, the failed blob tends to pop off and you can just hook it out with the scraper. No scraping should be required.
Or use the vat cleaning function that bakes the whole screen for 30 seconds, and as long as you can get 1 corner up the whole thing will peel off in one go like foil from a new phone, taking any previous residue with it.
Put a bit of support from a previous print in the corner before doing that (also remove build plate to make it easier/avoid accidents). That way the bit of support gets baked into the layer of resin that you create with the vat clean. Then you can pull on the support and the whole lot comes up - no need to use any scraper or take the VAT off to push underneath or anything
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
