How to Clean and Maintain Your Form 3/3B Resin Tank

To be able to make full use of your resin tank for a number of years, you need to make sure that it’s cleaned regularly and adequately maintained. In this post, we’ll be tackling the different ways in which you can properly care for and ultimately maintain your Form 3/3B resin tanks.
 

Overview

The first thing that you should keep in mind when maintaining the Form 3/3B resin tanks, is to always follow the necessary instructions. In the long run, this is beneficial as it increases its performed and also preserves the cutting-edge quality of the prints throughout the tank’s lifetime.

Along with following the instructions, make sure that you use the right tools and materials to clean and maintain the resin tank and dual-layer film. Anything else like sharp or metal objects can compromise the whole process, and ultimately cause irreparable damage to the dual-layer film and also affect the print quality. In this regard, it is highly recommended to solely use the tank tool throughout the whole cleaning process.

Keep in mind that resin might leak from the walls if the tank is tilted at more the 5–10°. In order to  avoid any spillage accidents, it’s best to first clean the bottom of the tank and then empty its contents, to ensure that no spillages are caused throughout the entire process. Another important step in the maintenance process, is to always check that the resin tank is working as it should be in between prints and before storing the resin tank its respective case.

Naturally, you also have to bear in mind that just like any other consumables, resin tanks do have a shelf life. This all depends on a number of factors, including the temperature, layers printed, model geometry, printed resin and the amount of time that the tank is exposed to resin. Therefore, you need to replace the tank when the wear on the dual-layer film affects the quality of the prints, and when the printer is no longer able to stretch the film. The tank also needs replacing if there are any visible cuts and punctures in the dual-layer film and once it reaches its recommended lifetime.
 

The Cleaning and Maintenance Stages

Now that we’ve touched on a couple of points, we will see how you can actually clean your resin tank.

The first step of the process is to keep the top and bottom surfaces free from cured resin. This will help you preserve the quality of the prints, and ultimately increase the printer’s shelf life. Bear in mind that resin can cause allergic reactions or irritation, so make sure that you’re wearing gloves throughout the entire process. Should any spillages occur, just make sure you wash the affected area with lots of soap and water.

Keep in mind that the printer uses ID chips (located at the bottom of each tank frame), to detect and match the right type of resin with the respective cartilage. Therefore, you need to protect these ID chips from resin contamination and damage. Should any of this occur, it can cause serious damage to the printer, as it won’t be able to identify the resin tank when it’s inserted or in use. In this regard, it’s best to avoid the unnecessary exposure of the ID chips, tank carrier and the tank spring fingers to liquid resin.

We will now take a closer look at each of the cleaning processes, to make sure you’re handling all tasks accordingly.
 

Removing Resin From ID Chips and Spring Fingers

If you need to remove resin from the ID Chips or Spring Fingers, here’s what you can do.

1. First, dab some IPA to the tip of cotton bud. Next, rub the cotton bud on the silver pads of the ID Chips or onto/around the spring fingers — never bend these. Eventually this process will dissolve the cured res or contamination.
2. Finally, make sure that the IPA and ID Chips are completely dry before you proceed to printing again.

How to Clean the Outside Part of the Resin Tank

As part of the cleaning and maintenance process, you also need to know how to clean the protective dual-layer film. Here’s how to do it:

1. The first step of the process requires you to pour out the contents of the resin tank into a clear container
2. Next, place resin tank upside-down on a sparkling clean surface. At this stage, you should then apply some clean IPA to a PEC*PAD
3. The last step of the process involves wiping the surface of the protective dual-layer film, to ensure that no contamination or cured resin can cause any damage to the tank.

​​​​​​​Cleaning the Tank After a Failed Print

Failed prints are inevitable at times. If you’re not careful, cured resin might still be floating around in the tank, or stuck to the dual-layer protective film, at the bottom of the tank. That, it’s important that you the resin is free from any debris, to avoid any damages in the long run. Here are a few key points to keep in mind:

1. Carefully take a closer look at the tank after each and every print, to make sure that it is clear of any cured resin or contamination.
2. If a failed print occurs, make sure to remove all the debris and clean it all up to make sure that the print quality is persevered.