Exposure test failed and nothing prints

[Meh]

First post here and very new to 3D printing so be kind if I'm making a total plonker out of myself

I bought and received my Mars right about the time we locked down so couldn't get hold of supplies for ages. Finally got what I needed so thought I'd fire this bad boy up and get printing.

I followed all of the instructions in the manual. My first test print of the two rooks produced half a print and a perfect print. The one that worked was absolutely perfect. I cleaned up and thought I'd try again. This time I got nothing at all. Nothing printed. I figured I might have done something wrong so reset and tried again and that time all I got was two very thin discs 

So I went back to the manual and did all of the setup tests again. This time the exposure test completely failed. No rectangle. Nothing except faint lights under the print area.

Pretty gutted at this stage, especially with all the cleaning required.

Can anyone tell me what I might be doing wrong or what might be the problem? Thanks

[zemerick]

Is the LCD displaying solid black or white ( clear )?

If it's black, that's the normal state for the LCD, and is usually the result of the cable coming loose. Open it up and check.

If it's white, that's usually a bad screen. Contact elegoo support, it's covered for several months.

[Meh]

Hi. Thanks for your reply.

Not sure what you mean by black or white? There is no colour except the purple lights coming through from under the printing platform.

   

The test worked once. The printer has not been moved since the first test that worked so unsure how the cable could come loose.

I'm happy to try having a look but will opening up the unit not void my 1 year warranty?

Thanks, again. I appreciate you taking the time to offer advice

[zemerick]

Hi. Thanks for your reply.

Not sure what you mean by black or white? There is no colour except the purple lights coming through from under the printing platform.



The test worked once. The printer has not been moved since the first test that worked so unsure how the cable could come loose.

I'm happy to try having a look but will opening up the unit not void my 1 year warranty?

Thanks, again. I appreciate you taking the time to offer advice

First, no, opening it can't void your warranty: It's a required part of operation since the screen is a consumable item. It'd be like voiding your cars warranty because you opened the hood.

While printing, there are vibrations and such, so if the cable was just barely hanging on, this easily could shake it loose.

"White" is when the screen is transparent, letting all of the light from behind through it. ( As much as is possible anyways. It is an RGB screen, and the light is far violet, so it's blocked by the red and green subpixels. This is why they're switching to monochrome, and why monochrome has about 1/4 of the exposure times. )

I would still open it and check the cable, but as it stands there's a fair chance it's either the LCD or motherboard. If the cable is tight, contact elegoo support. They're quite good about replacements.

[Meh]

Ah. OK. Thanks, for the reassurance.

It's quite late here so will try tomorrow and get back with an update.

Thanks again for the help. It's good to talk to someone who knows what they're talking about! I feel like a troglodyte who just saw the sun for the first time. Lol

[Meh]

So I opened up the printer today but couldn't see anything loose. 

I contacted Elegoo's technical support at 3dp@elegoo.com. I hope this was the correct email. Fingers crossed I hear from them soon. 

I'd really like to get printing and painting some of the designs I've seen. There are so many talented designers around! 

Thanks again, zemerick. I really appreciate the time you've taken to offer advice and help

[Gauntfield]

had the same happen, screen went bad, elegoo is sending me one but I also purchased one on amazon to tide me over and ill keep one as a backup.....so I thought.

https://youtu.be/8_TDjzXLZkw

im assuming the screen from amazon is bad too?

[Meh]

Hey Gauntfield. Yeah. Mine goes directly to the end stage where you can see the LEDs underneath. It doesn't even pretend it's going to work like yours. That would be even more frustrating! Hope you get yours sorted out

Elegoo are sending me a replacement so fingers crossed I'm printing soon.

[Gauntfield]

Hey Gauntfield. Yeah. Mine goes directly to the end stage where you can see the LEDs underneath. It doesn't even pretend it's going to work like yours. That would be even more frustrating! Hope you get yours sorted out

Elegoo are sending me a replacement so fingers crossed I'm printing soon.

Thanks, hope you are able to get yours up and running quickly too!

Mine only displays the block once I power the unit off and back on then run exposure test. If i do back to back tests its full transparent and no block flash.

This screen is from the Comgrow Amazon store, they are sending me another one and still waiting on the one from Elegoo overseas, last update was 6/11 and nothing since then. Im sure COVID has slowed the processing down.

Luckily i have my Orange30 to hold me over but man I miss my mars, really want it back up and running

[zemerick]

Hey Gauntfield. Yeah. Mine goes directly to the end stage where you can see the LEDs underneath. It doesn't even pretend it's going to work like yours. That would be even more frustrating! Hope you get yours sorted out

Elegoo are sending me a replacement so fingers crossed I'm printing soon.

Thanks, hope you are able to get yours up and running quickly too!

Mine only displays the block once I power the unit off and back on then run exposure test. If i do back to back tests its full transparent and no block flash.

This screen is from the Comgrow Amazon store, they are sending me another one and still waiting on the one from Elegoo overseas, last update was 6/11 and nothing since then. Im sure COVID has slowed the processing down.

Luckily i have my Orange30 to hold me over but man I miss my mars, really want it back up and running

Well, you could always take the screen out of the longer 30 and put in the Mars. ( Assuming your mars uses the same cable as the l30. There are 2 variants, one straight and one with an L bend. All of the 2k 5.5" printers use the same actual screen. )