Elegoo Transparent Resin settings?

[zimpenfish]

I've tried three prints with the clear transparent resin now - all of them have come out as nothing more than a handful of broken supports. Exposure times were 8s (trusted the ChiTuBox defaults!), 15s (from the Google Docs spreadsheet that's floating around), 12s (from another Google Docs spreadsheet). Third model was one I've previously printed successfully at 8s with the transparent green resin (to check it wasn't my model, etc.)

(There's a review on Amazon saying 14-16s works great in their Photon.)

Do I just bump up the exposure times? Or is there something else I need to be doing for the clear transparent resin? Why's it behaving differently to the transparent green? Do I need bigger/more/magical supports? (I'm using the settings off a 3dPrintLabs video which is linked elsewhere on this forum.)

Dear Elegoo, please provide official exposure etc. settings on your resin bottles, a web page, SOMEWHERE. PLEASE.

[manton]

I've tried three prints with the clear transparent resin now - all of them have come out as nothing more than a handful of broken supports. Exposure times were 8s (trusted the ChiTuBox defaults!), 15s (from the Google Docs spreadsheet that's floating around), 12s (from another Google Docs spreadsheet). Third model was one I've previously printed successfully at 8s with the transparent green resin (to check it wasn't my model, etc.)

(There's a review on Amazon saying 14-16s works great in their Photon.)

Do I just bump up the exposure times? Or is there something else I need to be doing for the clear transparent resin? Why's it behaving differently to the transparent green? Do I need bigger/more/magical supports? (I'm using the settings off a 3dPrintLabs video which is linked elsewhere on this forum.)

Dear Elegoo, please provide official exposure etc. settings on your resin bottles, a web page, SOMEWHERE. PLEASE.

You can find community contributed resin settings here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1...t140#gid=0

[zimpenfish]

Yeah, that’s the soreadsheet I used for print #3.

[zimpenfish]

Partially solved it - found that printing flat on the build plate works ok with the original settings which lead me to discovering that beefing the supports up to 3mm means I get prints now. Supported ones are not great - issues with layer slumping around the supports but I'm happy I can print flat with the translucent resin for now.

[mikembley]

I'm having similar issues with clear elegoo resin, my supports print fine but then the model is just slumped on the FEP, both at default 8s expose and 7s expose as recommended by spreadsheet.

I then printed out a model flat, which worked fine overall, minus a flaw which was probably because i didn't shake my resin beforehand.

I've read on the elegoo mars subreddit that PTFE lubricant on the FEP could help stop it from sticking, I've ordered some to test.

Where are you getting 15s and 12s from?, i dont see that in the spreadsheet.

[CPatrick]

I had issues with the translucent resin, until I bumped the layer exposure up to 16 seconds.  It takes a long time to produce prints, but I had no issues with soft, not fully cured parts.  I've stated this in another post... be careful with the contact time of any cleaning agents you're using post print (IPA, Mean Green, Mr. Clean).  They really dull the translucent finish.  If you can clean the parts without the use of chemicals, your pieces will cure to a much more transparent finish.

The torso and surf board pieces of this model were cleaned with Mean Green in an ultrasonic cleaner for 7-10 minutes.  Way too long.  The other pieces spent only 3 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner.  Where I "welded" the pieces together, with translucent resin and a UV pen light, the resin retained it's glass like finish.



Layer Height: 0.05 mm
Bottom Layer Count: 5
Exposure time: 16 seconds
Bottom Exposure Time: 70 seconds

Hope this helps.

[mikembley]

Yeah i tried 15s exposure, and that worked.

[manton]

I had issues with the translucent resin, until I bumped the layer exposure up to 16 seconds.  It takes a long time to produce prints, but I had no issues with soft, not fully cured parts.  I've stated this in another post... be careful with the contact time of any cleaning agents you're using post print (IPA, Mean Green, Mr. Clean).  They really dull the translucent finish.  If you can clean the parts without the use of chemicals, your pieces will cure to a much more transparent finish.

The torso and surf board pieces of this model were cleaned with Mean Green in an ultrasonic cleaner for 7-10 minutes.  Way too long.  The other pieces spent only 3 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner.  Where I "welded" the pieces together, with translucent resin and a UV pen light, the resin retained it's glass like finish.



Layer Height: 0.05 mm
Bottom Layer Count: 5
Exposure time: 16 seconds
Bottom Exposure Time: 70 seconds

Hope this helps.

The surface of a perfectly cleaned print is a matte finish, anywhere that there isn't an exposed surface that was peeled off the FEP (i.e. the top of a print is always shiny, as that is what the surface of the the FEP is like, and it was cured with that finish).  If you get something other than a matte finish, that means the part was not fully cleaned, and there is some uncured resin remaining on the surface, filling in the matte texture of the cured part.  So, yes, coating the part with resin, will leave a glass like finish.

[zimpenfish]

UPDATE: Tested the exact same CBDDLP files with Technology Outlet and AnyCubic Clear resin and they worked fine. Same models also worked with a much shorter exposure time (8-12s vs 20s) and much thinner supports (normal small ones rather than 3mm+ big ones). Maybe it was just a bad batch of Elegoo Translucent.

[djpsyc]

Not sure if it really is a batch problem or just their overall compound as i have only gotten consistently successful print with my elegoo translucent resin by cranking up the exposure to 18s even!
And here i thought translucent resin would cure faster than resin with pigments in them.