Anycubic Photon M3 resin printer. How good/bad is it?

[stanstocker]

Greetings,

A fume extractor setup would certainly be a good thing. I'm trying to figure out a way to do something similar, but also for fume / smoke removal from my laser. I hate to just do the window fan blowing out deal as that wastes a large amount of conditioned air. In our humid hot summers in coastal Virginia US, that means sucking in hot humid make up air, or cold air in the winter. Even today, with an early morning air temp of 70F the air is very humid. I was hoping to open up the house to air it out, but nope, not this morning...

With an enclosure you could adjust the flow rate to just get the fume extraction you need without excessive waste of conditioned air, and as you said also contain heat.

I may try rigging up some sheets of charcoal filter foam and one of the allergen / small particle capture furnace filters on a fan and see if that provides suitable fume / smoke reduction. I've used the allergen / bacteria rated furnace filters on box fans successfully for years to help with allergies and dust reduction.

The obvious solution is for all of us to move to some place with 74 to 86 degree F daily temps year round, low humidity, nighttime rain to keep everything green and veggies growing well, and gentle breezy sunny days all the time. We get occasional periods almost that good once in a rare while, quite the treat. Easy delivery for all the Amazon goodies, or a large well stocked Microcenter in nearby "civilization" (at least half an hour away). We'll put all our lasers and resin printers in a fairly open pavilion at the downwind end of our community and have a nerdfest every day

Keep dreaming!
Stan

 

[lee webster]

The obvious solution is for all of us to move to some place with 74 to 86 degree F daily temps year round, low humidity, nighttime rain to keep everything green and veggies growing well, and gentle breezy sunny days all the time. We get occasional periods almost that good once in a rare while, quite the treat. Easy delivery for all the Amazon goodies, or a large well stocked Microcenter in nearby "civilization" (at least half an hour away). We'll put all our lasers and resin printers in a fairly open pavilion at the downwind end of our community and have a nerdfest every day

You've almost described Cornwall to a T. I am only 3 miles from the sea, by road. But the temps here can fluctuate a lot. 4 or 5 days ago it was 80 deg f, the next day 55. A day later it rained, yesterday back up to mid to high 70s, as I was digging out for a pond I might add. Today low 60s intermiitant rain and I am sitting in the garden, no coat, filling the newly lined pond with water from the waterbutt. If my neighbours had seen me....

 

[stanstocker]

Hi Folks;

HEADS UP! The M3 uses framed FEP film, you can't replace it with FEP sheets from Amazon in spite of the claims by sellers.

I got sloppy and left off the screws that secure the resin vat to the printer. As a result, the vat lifted along with the build plate, resulting in a hundred+ layers bonded to the FEP rather than to the build plate. Getting these off the FEP left the film a tad distorted and with pips and stretches, and prints started to fail.

While taking the vat apart for cleaning and removal of the old film while awaiting the big brown truck to bring my new film I was surprised to confront around 20 screw heads facing me, while all the replace FEP videos tend to show six. Many (most?) other vats have a two part steel frame which sandwiches the flat FEP film. Anycubic has a plastic frame which is bonded to the film on both sides. OK, go find the correct part. Crap, only available from Anycubic... 20 USD for a two pack, seems OK, film sheets seem to be around 8 to 10 bucks anyway, and this saves a few steps. Go to buy two, gulp at 30USD shipping on 20USD in parts. So I bought 4 sets for 8 replacements and five OEM screen protectors as well. Still 30 USD shipping, but at least I should have a long run before needing more.

Now it's just a a matter of waiting maybe 15 days for the parts to arrive from China. I hope the replacements look better than the original film, which had fine scratches when I received the printer and no screen protector in the box. I'm referring to the printing screen protector sheet that goes between the polarizing sheet and the underside of the resin vat, not film for the front panel.

The more bothersome thing is that printer models come and go. Will these be available in another year or three? It would be a shame to have an orphan printer for the lack of available consumable part replacements.

If I had realized that the M3 requires an OEM film / frame assembly I probably would have selected another model or maker. Hopefully this printer will be popular enough the aftermarket folks start cranking them out. Oh well, it's my first resin printer, live and learn. The delta FDM printer built in 2015 isn't very satisfactory any longer, I just hope to get a few years use before this one becomes obsolete or unsupported with parts.

I'll try to separate the bonded frame from my existing film, it may be ugly but possible to use generic film with some mods to the plastic film frame. Probably will need to glue the film to one side, so it will be a one shot repair at best. Because the screws that hold the frame in are the same screws that tension the frame, just plopping film between the frame sides and running in the screws won't work.

In a couple weeks this thread will probably be past it's best by date, but I'll pass on the results once the printer is back up.

Cheers,
Stan

 

[lee webster]

Those are the sort of details I wanted. It echos some of the faults found a youtuber who reviewed the M3 and was not impressed.
I wonder if it would be possible to 3D print a new vat that would accept replacement films? You would probably need to print it on an FDM printer because of its size.

 

[lee webster]

A bit of an update on the 3D printer search. I thought I would give the M3 a miss and go for something a little smaller. I typed the name of an internet based company that I had checking out printers on and noticed that there was a Trustpilot entry for them. I looked at the reports and decided that this wasn't a company to do business with. It looks like, against my better judgement, I might have to use a company advertising on Amazon. I hate giving them business.

 

[lee webster]

Yesterday I ordered an Anycubic mono 4K and Creality wash and cure station along with a bottle of water washable resin. I hope to have them soon.

 

[stanstocker]

WooHoo!

Please let us know your feelings on the mono 4K when you've made a few prints.

Cheers,
Stan

 

[stanstocker]

Those are the sort of details I wanted. It echos some of the faults found a youtuber who reviewed the M3 and was not impressed.
I wonder if it would be possible to 3D print a new vat that would accept replacement films? You would probably need to print it on an FDM printer because of its size.

I think the most likely option will be to hope this size becomes standard and then purchase a two part steel frame to allow flat film to be used. Then hope the tensioning screw holes align with the existing film frame retaining screws or that enough meat is on the frame to add holes. Probably just a sketchy sort of deal, now that I know a bit more about how to screw up a FEP film, perhaps not doing so will be easier

As 7 spares will be on hand we'll see how often they need to be replaced in regular use and go from there.

Cheers,
Stan

 

[ddmckee54]

Lee:

Let me know about the "low odor" of the water wash resin. The resin smell is one of the main reasons that I haven't pulled the trigger on an SLA printer yet.

Don

 

[lee webster]

The mono 4k was delivered today, along with the resin. No sign of the wash and cure yet. Hopefully tomorrow. I won't print one of the files that comes with the printer, I will print one of my own. A small cylinder head I've already printed on the Ender3. It will be interesting! I am watching a few videos on youtube on setting up the printer before I get stuck in.
Lee
Edit. I didn't have to resort to amazon for the printer, I ordered it from the same people I bought my Ender3 from.

 

[lee webster]

I now have the wash and cure. I have installed the printer and washer in the utility room just off the kitchen. It has a door I can keep shut, and an extractor fan that might help with smells. I will learn how to use either the Anycubic slicing software or Lychee slicer. Lychee does look better. I should be ready for a test print soon-ish.