3D Printing Forum

Posted: **April 11th, 2022, 7:50 am**

Hello,

I've just joined, so I haven't posted before.

I recently bought an AnyCubic Photon Mono 4K resin printer and so far I've done about half a dozen prints. I quickly found that the FEP sheet at the bottom of the resin vat was getting very small scratches on it from me scraping it with the plastic scraper. I was worried that this would affect the prints, so I found a solution that has worked for me and may work for you as well.

I got hold of an old spray can of furniture polish and a soft cloth duster. Holding the resin vat about 2ft away from the polish spray can I lightly sprayed the inside of the vat. I made sure to only get a few small spots of the polish on the FEP, then used the duster to spread it around and polish the surface. I then did the same thing with the outside of the FEP and later on I used the same method on the actual LCD screen as well in order to make sure there was no dust on it.

When I finished polishing the FEP and the screen I couldn't see any scratches on the surfaces, and I've used the printer since and had no problems with my prints. I also found that when I poured the resin into the vat it didn't seem to stick to the FEP anymore, but reacted like water on a polished table and went into little resin blobs till I poured enough in to completely cover the base.

If you have any small scratches on your FEP then it might be an idea to do what I did and try polishing it with furniture polish. Don't use anything like car polish or T Cut, as that will only scratch the surface more. Just use an ordinary wax polish from a spray can and very little of it at that, then buff it up with a very soft duster. You may find it will help prevent any further scratches on the FEP and allow you to use it for longer.

Best of luck,

Bob

Posted: **April 11th, 2022, 9:11 am**

Hi Bob.
Thanks for the tip.
Can I ask why you are scraping the FEP. I have been using my Photon for about a year without touching the FEP sheet. I do have more than 1 tray that has different resins in them. My first tray lasted over a year before I had to replace the FEP sheet. When I looked at it it was in a horrible state but still produced good prints.
Can you get extra trays for the mono?
I leave the resin in the tray and cover it with a plastic top that just sits on the tray. I sometimes go a couple of months between prints so it's left standing in the tray with no problems.
I lift and lower the top plate to mix the resin if it looks a bit iffy.
Most of the time I just top up the tray and take off the prints. The printer gets very grubby between cleans.
Lez

Posted: **April 11th, 2022, 10:14 am**

LezO,

I used the plastic scraper to help clean the FEP when I emptied the vat back into the resin bottle. I found that the resin likes to cling to the inside surfaces of the vat/tray, and trying to clean it all off I managed to get some tiny scratches on the FEP surface. However, using wax polish on the inside surfaces of the vat prevent the resin from sticking, so it empties out easier and leaves less residue behind. The wax also helps to prevent any scratches on the LCD screen, and when I get my next printer the first thing I'll do is wax polish the screen and the FEP before I ever let resin get anywhere near it.

The reason I emptied the vat back into the bottle was because I noticed that there was a lot of stringy resin hanging off the models when they'd finished printing and I put this down to the low temperatures out in my garage at the time (around 1-3 degrees C). So what I now do is keep the resin in the bottle till I need it, then heat it up in a washing up bowl of hot(ish) water, then shake the bottle to mix it all up before pouring it into the vat.

I've got two vats at present. There's the plastic one that came with the printer, and I bought a Sovol one for £30 that's made of metal. It fits the Mono 4K just as well as the standard one, and has the advantage that the FEP can be changed. On the standard vat for the Mono 4K the FEP comes ready assembled into a plastic frame. There's nothing wrong with that, it's a good idea as it means the tension is always correct. However, if you want to change the FEP it's expensive as you have to buy ready assembled units and they cost around £10 each. On the other hand the Sovol takes ordinary FEP sheets, so I can change them much more cheaply.

Posted: **October 6th, 2022, 7:32 am**

BobHUK wrote: ↑April 11th, 2022, 7:50 am
Hello Bobhuk,

I gone through your thread, And I read your post about AnyCubic Photon Mono 4K resin printer. I impressed with your idea about FEP sheet plastic scraper. I like to suggest this type of solution to my colleagues and friends.

Thanks for sharing !!!

Hello,

I've just joined, so I haven't posted before.

I recently bought an AnyCubic Photon Mono 4K resin printer and so far I've done about half a dozen prints. I quickly found that the FEP sheet at the bottom of the resin vat was getting very small scratches on it from me scraping it with the plastic scraper. I was worried that this would affect the prints, so I found a solution that has worked for me and may work for you as well.

I got hold of an old spray can of furniture polish and a soft cloth duster. Holding the resin vat about 2ft away from the polish spray can I lightly sprayed the inside of the vat. I made sure to only get a few small spots of the polish on the FEP, then used the duster to spread it around and polish the surface. I then did the same thing with the outside of the FEP and later on I used the same method on the actual LCD screen as well in order to make sure there was no dust on it.

When I finished polishing the FEP and the screen I couldn't see any scratches on the surfaces, and I've used the printer since and had no problems with my prints. I also found that when I poured the resin into the vat it didn't seem to stick to the FEP anymore, but reacted like water on a polished table and went into little resin blobs till I poured enough in to completely cover the base.

If you have any small scratches on your FEP then it might be an idea to do what I did and try polishing it with furniture polish. Don't use anything like car polish or T Cut, as that will only scratch the surface more. Just use an ordinary wax polish from a spray can and very little of it at that, then buff it up with a very soft duster. You may find it will help prevent any further scratches on the FEP and allow you to use it for longer.

Best of luck,

Bob

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