Models
| How do I get my supports off? |
All support removal is to be done BEFORE curing. 1. Use the exact-o knife to snip off the tips of the support structures and be cautious when decreasing the tip thickness in the RP when adjusting OR 2. Use some small wire cutters to snip the supports. You can also send a little of the nubs off the model after you snip the supports off to easily get the model flat if needed. |
| Is there an easier way to get my models off the platform? |
1. Hold the build plate against a wall and use your metal spatula to get the models pried off when using the baseplate enabled in the support structures. If you have a rubber mallet it helps a lot with working the models off. 2. Tap the model on the perimeter with the glass cleaner, a small boxcutter knife tool helps a lot with separation of the edges of the model slightly tapping with a rubber mallet. 3. Separate the model with a box cutter knife. Going through with the metal putty at a shallow angle to the plate I’ll start the peeling from the build plate. One way to make sure you don’t have anything on your build plate is to clean your build plate off and run the knife putty at a shallow angle to the build plate. 4. Presoak the models in a tray for a couple of seconds. 5. Use compressed air to get the resin off the models. 6. If you have the cleaning apparatus, clean the models for the indicated times. |
Hardware
| How long does my material tray last? | The lifetime of your material tray is specific to the number of prints you run or the time it is used. For the most part, a material tray is good for up to 1000 hours of print time or 3 months of use, whichever comes first. To increase the life of your material tray empty the material tray as often as possible after a couple of days of use. Regularly a weekend of breathing time is ideal for a material tray to exceed the life span expected. |
| When can I turn off the oxygen concentrator (Companion 5) or do I need the oxygen concentrator? | If there are no prints going on your Envision One, you can have your oxygen concentrator off. When you need to start a print, you need at least 30 minutes of prime time for the oxygen concentrator to produce a perfect flow. The oxygen concentrator is necessary for Envision One accuracy. The Envision One material tray was engineered to grow high-accuracy models on a blanket of air. The oxygen membrane is a thin layer of oxygen that speeds up the procedure of printing reducing the stress of the separation thus giving more prints per material tray. |
| What is the plastic panel in the curing box used for? | The plastic panel in the curing unit is called the tray and is used to hold the models in the mid chamber to cure all the geometry of the models being printed. The tray comes with about 4 small tray supports to get the panel suspended at the desired height. |
Material
| How do I get new material or order material? |
A way to order material from us is to email Orders@envisiontec.com. When you receive your material, you receive a new material card that measures the amount of material your bottle has. Material cards specific to Envision One is the size of a business, debit, or credit card. If you order new material, you have not worked with, you NEED a new buildstyle specific to your printer. You can submit a support ticket to ETEC Support. Important: When you order materials, you need to specify the serial number of your printer, and company name. |
| How long can I leave the material inside the material tray? How do I clean my material tray? |
A good rule of thumb is to give the material tray some breathing time over the weekend. But the good practice is to mix the material in the tray with a silicone spatula every morning before printing if the material is left in the material tray. If you are not printing for a couple of days, it's best to remove the material from the tray to prevent the material from getting any light exposure or getting any foreign objects (dust as an example.) We also recommend straining the material into a new bottle to not cross-contaminate the material used with the new one. This preventative measure helps in case there is dust or foreign objects floating around the printer. After getting the material out, use the rubber spatula to squeeze the material off the tray into the bottle to decrease the waste of material. When the material is wiped off and strained, clean off the material tray with a paper towel. See Cleaning Envision One Material Tray for details. |
| What kind of cone filters should I use? | We provide Trimaco SuperTuff Cone Strainers Medium in the Starter kit and that is what is used to filter out the material in our office. The cone filters should be at any home improvement store and the old material should be isolated from the new material to avoid possible cross-contamination. Always use dark bottles for the material. |
Post-Processing
| What type of alcohol do I use? How do I clean my models? Can I soak my models? |
The Alcohol/Isopropyl needed to print must be 99%. When cleaning models, we recommend filling a spray bottle and vigorously spraying the material off the models. You can also soak the models but for a very limited amount of time ( max of 45 seconds). After cleansing the models over with alcohol, you can use compressed air to blow dry them. See Cleaning Models for details. |
| Why are my appliances sticking to my model? Should I be using a separator? What can I use? | We have tested with the E-Model Light material the use of the Siliform BEA for a clean and easy separation of the appliance from the model. You can also request a sample from the website. Also, E-Sep Free is a great waxy material that is as the name says. |
| I cannot get the manual debris removal off the material tray, what can I do? |
Just as a reminder nothing is to be touching the inside of the material tray but paper towels and gloves. If you have any trouble peeling the manual debris removal you should pour your material out into a clean container and attempt to remove the sheet of resin. It is a difficult task but not impossible. It takes some practice to perfect the material in the material tray. Caution: If you damage your tray you are not covered under warranty for damaging a material tray. |