Thank you for making a video for this project. I been stalling building Nick's system wondering how it holds up a year later. I don't have such misgivings anymore. Thank you. Going to start this soon.
Since this system is not a closed system and uses an abundance of UV LED lights, you should be concerned about the potential formation of explosive peroxides in the isopropyl alcohol. 2-propanol (isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol) is on the list B of explosive peroxide forming compounds that can form explosive levels of peroxides on concentration. It can also form peroxides given enough time with exposure to air and sunlight (or other UV light sources). There have been several explosions attributed to this and a fair amount of literature written on the subject. At the very least, you should consider buying peroxide test strips and testing your wash station occasionally.
nice Idea I have 2 suggestions . the pump should be after the filter (if possible) so less material is going through the pump and will gum it up . also I can see the clear filter housing cracking due to IPA and the material . might be worth changing to the white housing that will be HDPE
About the pump before or after the filters: in the current setup, the pump being before the filters automatically stops when it reaches a pressure threshold (45 psi for this one) meaning in this case that the pump cannot push the IPA anymore because the filters are full of resin, indicating that these filters have to be changed. I am not sure that putting the pump after the filters would trigger its safety mechanism from too much of a lower pressure at the inlet when the filters are saturated. However this definitely should be investigated because your idea is very interesting to make the pump last longer.
Great video, Eric. I built the same system a few months ago and am very happy with it. FYI, both clear filter housings cracked at the threads after a couple of months and had to be replaced, so I replaced them with the blue, opaque ones. I never figured out what caused the cracks, but the blue ones have been fine. I also had the pump stop sucking after a couple of months, for reasons I was unable to discern, even after disassembly (everything looked and worked OK). The replacement has been working fine. Btw, I think the instructions recommend the pump be mounted with the motor away from the floor, not towards it as you have it.
IMHO this should be included in the washing station, maybe it doesn't capture all the contaminants but it increases the lifespan of the IPA while being pretty cheap. Especially if it used smaller components and ran in the background.
Hi there, your video is very interesting about the process and the equipment required. The UV lighting is very clever. Also, working in industry with solvents , I am a bit horrified about the lack of security during your process. Ipa is extremely flammable as you know and I believe the atex regulations should be in use while filtering solvents. I see that your 2 pipes are simply clipped and not held in place securely, a tube could come off and spill the IPA and electrical plugs or other things. You can also notify that your pipe connection is just few inches away from the electrical power !? I don't want to play the guy who gives lessons or anything, it is just my concern about security that we face in industrial environment. Kind regards.
I remember when I was a teenager, got an internet connection in a "third world country" - knowing a little bit of English surfing through all kinds of enthusiasts discussion boards. It was such a powerful tool. I recall that basically I was able to solve any issue that I've encountered. All of that thanks to some folks that were willing to share their knowledge and experiences with others. This is what the internet is for. Good times. Wish all the best - Greetings!
FYI, vinyl blocks UV light and breaks down. Not only is your UV light doing nothing, it's also destroying your tubing. Depends on the wave length, but those cheapie LEDS are never going to be as advertised and likely have a very broad band if they are even in the UV range at all. High quality UV LEDS are typically $60-70 each, not per strand, but each.
Yeah, I assumed that the vinyl would break down over time, but it is not UV resistant from my research. Any suggestions for replacing the tubing with something else clear that will hold up to the alcohol?
I also wondered how good these cheapo Amazon UV LED strips are. But I measured two different brands with a spectrometer. They gave a peak wavelength of 397 nm with a half width of 10 nm. So they are fairly narrow band, and centered close enough to the recommended 405 nm to be functional. The ones linked above are different than what I purchased, so I can't vouch for those.
Love this, but can't wait for reasonable priced sintering printers, resin printing is a pain in the ass, and I find myself using FDM printing still more because it's less of a chore. Definitely need to evolve past the resin printing stage in 3D tech.
Changing the filters may lead to IPA spillage - would you not need some isolating valves either side of the filters or can you just run the system until empty into a bucket?
Yeah, I was thinking of some drain valves at the bottom of the filter housings for that. Stay tuned for the update vid, I will include that as part of the update, plus a whole bunch of other stuff
The pump that you use named as water pump. I have build that system before. But after few weeks the pump did not make any pressure. I take apart to understant the issue. My conclusion isopropanol make the rubber parts to shrink inside. How about your pump. Does it still work?
Absolutely brilliant! Could you do a video on how to recoat the Form 2 resin trays? Although thinking that the Form 3+ has that film on the bottom...I never upgraded because I hadn't heard good things about it. Total Form fan here...paid $4500 for mine about six years ago.
The form three+ is superior in every way to the form 2. I am extremely happy with the unit. Use the link below to save $500 if you decide to upgrade. Thanks for the comment
@@EricStrebel I would assume that the trays are still plastic? That’s one thing that has always been a problem for me. I use mine for printing jewelry models, but Formlabs has never really had a good solution for castable resin, which is really hard on the trays. I actually had one crack on the printer and leak resin, but Formlabs’ support was awesome and replaced it for me. I have probably more than a dozen in storage and a silicone/PDMS (sp?) kit, waiting to recoat. I’ve also tried BlueCast, but when Formlabs switched to the castable wax (blue) resin with the giant support touchpoints, I never even tried the new resin, although I own it. I think they did jewelers a disservice by saying that their castable resins “works great with minimal residual ash” but never sharing any information on how to actually cast with it. The people who were getting good results refused to share the information with others, and Formlabs didn’t really share the information either except for in a very generic white paper. I’m about to invest in another printer, and although I really love my Form, I’m looking at others as well. I love the PreForm software…I was really happy to find a company that was Mac-friendly! I’d LOVE to see it on an iPad.
Yes, the trays are still plastic. But the mechanism to wipe the resin and how the film separates is totally different from the form 2, it works from underneath to pull the part off the film, using much less force than before. I wish I knew something about the resin you're using I could make a video about it but I don't work in that realm of jewelry making, so it's out of my wheelhouse. But I must say the print that these machines make have virtually no build lines and are quite amazing. I'm really impressed with how good the parts are. My halot mage pro is a hobby machine compared to the form labs machines.
As I understand it, the whole loop system (pump + tubing + filters) is constantly full of IPA. In order to replace the filters, you have to unscrew their housing. How do you do that without spilling IPA everywhere in the room in a messy puddle damage? Someone in the comment of Wilson's original video suggested to add a Y adapter with a valve directly at the pump outlet and a bit of additional tubing, in order to be able to inject air from a compressor to drain most of the IPA out of the filters before removing the housings in a clean, dry way.
How often do you have to change the filters? I run 4 machine and dirty a lot of ipa and I'm wondering if this is a option for my size of if I will just run thru filters daily?
Very interesting! Im wondering though, i think there is a lot of oils in resin that simply dont cure with uv light. Its those residues that break down the ability of the ipa to clean. But im sure it helps a bit to do this, The Ipa will look cleaner and it wont leave those white resin spots when saturated but the oils will finally take over. I think so at least from what ive experienced. Thanks for a great channel.
@@EricStrebel hopefully, but again i think its smaller than so, its on molecular level. the only way to really clean Ipa is to use some kind of chemical separation process, or some sort of evaporation filtering.
@@eddiexx So what a lot of people are saying, after IPA has been used multiple times, it looks clean but leaves a sticky substance on the surface of the model, this is the oil in the resin you are talking about is it?
@@lamberthugh8316 Yes, now it will still clean the worst residuals, even when dirty though. Therefor you use two or even three stations when needed. One for the worst dirty claning, then one for the fine cleaning. when that is too dirty it goes into the first.
@@eddiexx Thank you for your reply. May I ask if you are currently using a dedicated cleaning and curing station from AC or Elegoo? Or just using 2 glass jars. I've watched a lot of videos and it seems like the specialized cleaning station doesn't do much, but I'm not sure how to go about mixing the water if I'm using the glass jars. If you have a good method, can you share it with me? Sincere thanks.
Hi mate great video. Could this be adapted to collect ipa as its being purged as vapour, so the the temp can be kept lower, and keep all the goodness in the canabiss oil. Thanks in advance and keep up the great work! Subd!
Doesn't the plastic of the UV strip covered tubes block UV light? I've tried plastic bottles to contain my dirty IPA, no resin settled. Then I switched to glass and there was a ton of resin goo at the bottom. Is there something different than the usual with the tubes?
@@EricStrebel Oh, I see. Thanks for the confirmation. My approach is mostly based on trial and error, sometimes things work, mostly don't. Your reply is extremely valuable.
@EricStrebel I'm putting together a similar system thanks to your and Nick's video, but I'm concerned about the pump. It says not to use with flammable liquid. Have you experienced any issues with the IPA, or considered switching to a gasoline rated pump?
Unfortunately vinyl is not going to handle the 405nm forever. It will become hard and eventually crack. When? No idea. Could never be an issue. The ideal solution would be a pyrex or regular glass coil, but who knows how expensive that would be. Nice work!
Yes I anticipate that will be an issue at some point. Either replace it every once in a while or come up with a permanent solution. Would the glass allow the UV wavelength though to cure the resin?
@@EricStrebel Have you had enough time to address the other things mentioned in comments? The hose line breaking down from UV/IPA or the clear filter housings breaking down? Someone else mentioned the filter pump needing to be oriented differently too.
None of these things have happened, however they are all getting upgraded. I have all the parts and will make a video about it. So many good suggestions from the community.@@ScottBaker-i2u
Also add the Power Pack and Y connectors (for a complete list). I found and bought. This is such a great idea. I print allot and replace my IPA quite often. This will pay for itself inless than a year. THANK YOU!!!!
Having the powerstrip below the (open ends) of the tubes may buy be the best idea.
(Spil - operate switch - spark - fire)
I just watched Nick's video two days ago. Seeing you do it really inspires me to do it.
Thank you for making a video for this project. I been stalling building Nick's system wondering how it holds up a year later. I don't have such misgivings anymore. Thank you. Going to start this soon.
Since this system is not a closed system and uses an abundance of UV LED lights, you should be concerned about the potential formation of explosive peroxides in the isopropyl alcohol. 2-propanol (isopropyl alcohol or isopropanol) is on the list B of explosive peroxide forming compounds that can form explosive levels of peroxides on concentration. It can also form peroxides given enough time with exposure to air and sunlight (or other UV light sources). There have been several explosions attributed to this and a fair amount of literature written on the subject. At the very least, you should consider buying peroxide test strips and testing your wash station occasionally.
Hmmm, interesting.
thank you for bringing this to light. ive honestly had no clue. getting test strips now.
nice Idea I have 2 suggestions . the pump should be after the filter (if possible) so less material is going through the pump and will gum it up . also I can see the clear filter housing cracking due to IPA and the material . might be worth changing to the white housing that will be HDPE
Very good ideas
About the pump before or after the filters: in the current setup, the pump being before the filters automatically stops when it reaches a pressure threshold (45 psi for this one) meaning in this case that the pump cannot push the IPA anymore because the filters are full of resin, indicating that these filters have to be changed. I am not sure that putting the pump after the filters would trigger its safety mechanism from too much of a lower pressure at the inlet when the filters are saturated. However this definitely should be investigated because your idea is very interesting to make the pump last longer.
Great video, Eric. I built the same system a few months ago and am very happy with it. FYI, both clear filter housings cracked at the threads after a couple of months and had to be replaced, so I replaced them with the blue, opaque ones. I never figured out what caused the cracks, but the blue ones have been fine. I also had the pump stop sucking after a couple of months, for reasons I was unable to discern, even after disassembly (everything looked and worked OK). The replacement has been working fine. Btw, I think the instructions recommend the pump be mounted with the motor away from the floor, not towards it as you have it.
Ok, good information. The clear housings maybe are not so chemical resistant and that's why they cracked. Time will tell
The clear filter housings are typically polycarbonate which can crack when exposed to IPA (Environmental stress cracking).
Glad I looked at the comments and found out you were posting a new one soon. I started to order everything 😂 can't wait for your update.
IMHO this should be included in the washing station, maybe it doesn't capture all the contaminants but it increases the lifespan of the IPA while being pretty cheap. Especially if it used smaller components and ran in the background.
Hi there, your video is very interesting about the process and the equipment required. The UV lighting is very clever. Also, working in industry with solvents , I am a bit horrified about the lack of security during your process. Ipa is extremely flammable as you know and I believe the atex regulations should be in use while filtering solvents. I see that your 2 pipes are simply clipped and not held in place securely, a tube could come off and spill the IPA and electrical plugs or other things. You can also notify that your pipe connection is just few inches away from the electrical power !? I don't want to play the guy who gives lessons or anything, it is just my concern about security that we face in industrial environment. Kind regards.
The internet is made for you Eric.
Lol, thanks
I remember when I was a teenager, got an internet connection in a "third world country" - knowing a little bit of English surfing through all kinds of enthusiasts discussion boards. It was such a powerful tool. I recall that basically I was able to solve any issue that I've encountered. All of that thanks to some folks that were willing to share their knowledge and experiences with others. This is what the internet is for. Good times. Wish all the best - Greetings!
This is very cool. I run a makerspace and this will save me a huge amount of time
Very nice build. I wonder if it would be worthwhile adding a flow meter to it. So you could monitor how dirty the filters are.
I consider that, but you can see the flow very easily.
FYI, vinyl blocks UV light and breaks down. Not only is your UV light doing nothing, it's also destroying your tubing.
Depends on the wave length, but those cheapie LEDS are never going to be as advertised and likely have a very broad band if they are even in the UV range at all. High quality UV LEDS are typically $60-70 each, not per strand, but each.
Yeah, I assumed that the vinyl would break down over time, but it is not UV resistant from my research. Any suggestions for replacing the tubing with something else clear that will hold up to the alcohol?
I also wondered how good these cheapo Amazon UV LED strips are. But I measured two different brands with a spectrometer. They gave a peak wavelength of 397 nm with a half width of 10 nm. So they are fairly narrow band, and centered close enough to the recommended 405 nm to be functional. The ones linked above are different than what I purchased, so I can't vouch for those.
Doens't block UV light, first time i ran this i had resin cure on the walls of the pipes running against the uv leds lol
This seems really cool. Having said that, I wonder how fast the filters clog up. When I clean my IPA A LOT of gunk gets created...
Love this, but can't wait for reasonable priced sintering printers, resin printing is a pain in the ass, and I find myself using FDM printing still more because it's less of a chore. Definitely need to evolve past the resin printing stage in 3D tech.
Very, very nice project. Thank you for sharing.
Changing the filters may lead to IPA spillage - would you not need some isolating valves either side of the filters or can you just run the system until empty into a bucket?
Yeah, I was thinking of some drain valves at the bottom of the filter housings for that. Stay tuned for the update vid, I will include that as part of the update, plus a whole bunch of other stuff
Yeah, I was going to ask about how the filters would be changed. Drain valves at the bottom sounds like a good idea!
The pump that you use named as water pump. I have build that system before. But after few weeks the pump did not make any pressure. I take apart to understant the issue. My conclusion isopropanol make the rubber parts to shrink inside. How about your pump. Does it still work?
Yes, still working well
Absolutely brilliant! Could you do a video on how to recoat the Form 2 resin trays? Although thinking that the Form 3+ has that film on the bottom...I never upgraded because I hadn't heard good things about it. Total Form fan here...paid $4500 for mine about six years ago.
The form three+ is superior in every way to the form 2. I am extremely happy with the unit. Use the link below to save $500 if you decide to upgrade. Thanks for the comment
@@EricStrebel I would assume that the trays are still plastic? That’s one thing that has always been a problem for me. I use mine for printing jewelry models, but Formlabs has never really had a good solution for castable resin, which is really hard on the trays. I actually had one crack on the printer and leak resin, but Formlabs’ support was awesome and replaced it for me. I have probably more than a dozen in storage and a silicone/PDMS (sp?) kit, waiting to recoat.
I’ve also tried BlueCast, but when Formlabs switched to the castable wax (blue) resin with the giant support touchpoints, I never even tried the new resin, although I own it. I think they did jewelers a disservice by saying that their castable resins “works great with minimal residual ash” but never sharing any information on how to actually cast with it. The people who were getting good results refused to share the information with others, and Formlabs didn’t really share the information either except for in a very generic white paper. I’m about to invest in another printer, and although I really love my Form, I’m looking at others as well. I love the PreForm software…I was really happy to find a company that was Mac-friendly! I’d LOVE to see it on an iPad.
Yes, the trays are still plastic. But the mechanism to wipe the resin and how the film separates is totally different from the form 2, it works from underneath to pull the part off the film, using much less force than before. I wish I knew something about the resin you're using I could make a video about it but I don't work in that realm of jewelry making, so it's out of my wheelhouse. But I must say the print that these machines make have virtually no build lines and are quite amazing. I'm really impressed with how good the parts are. My halot mage pro is a hobby machine compared to the form labs machines.
As I understand it, the whole loop system (pump + tubing + filters) is constantly full of IPA. In order to replace the filters, you have to unscrew their housing. How do you do that without spilling IPA everywhere in the room in a messy puddle damage? Someone in the comment of Wilson's original video suggested to add a Y adapter with a valve directly at the pump outlet and a bit of additional tubing, in order to be able to inject air from a compressor to drain most of the IPA out of the filters before removing the housings in a clean, dry way.
I didn't update to this video if you watch it it will answer your questions.
How often do you have to change the filters? I run 4 machine and dirty a lot of ipa and I'm wondering if this is a option for my size of if I will just run thru filters daily?
It's really hard to tell you'll just have to keep an eye on it and change it based on how much you use it, which is way more than I use it
IPA is flammable. Is it safe near an electric source?
That is slick!!
Very interesting! Im wondering though, i think there is a lot of oils in resin that simply dont cure with uv light. Its those residues that break down the ability of the ipa to clean. But im sure it helps a bit to do this, The Ipa will look cleaner and it wont leave those white resin spots when saturated but the oils will finally take over. I think so at least from what ive experienced. Thanks for a great channel.
Time will tell, I suspect higher quality filters will be helpful
@@EricStrebel hopefully, but again i think its smaller than so, its on molecular level. the only way to really clean Ipa is to use some kind of chemical separation process, or some sort of evaporation filtering.
@@eddiexx So what a lot of people are saying, after IPA has been used multiple times, it looks clean but leaves a sticky substance on the surface of the model, this is the oil in the resin you are talking about is it?
@@lamberthugh8316 Yes, now it will still clean the worst residuals, even when dirty though. Therefor you use two or even three stations when needed. One for the worst dirty claning, then one for the fine cleaning. when that is too dirty it goes into the first.
@@eddiexx Thank you for your reply. May I ask if you are currently using a dedicated cleaning and curing station from AC or Elegoo? Or just using 2 glass jars. I've watched a lot of videos and it seems like the specialized cleaning station doesn't do much, but I'm not sure how to go about mixing the water if I'm using the glass jars. If you have a good method, can you share it with me? Sincere thanks.
aweseom video- do oyu have the files avalable for the hose holder for the formlabs wash tank? Thanks in advance
Hi mate great video. Could this be adapted to collect ipa as its being purged as vapour, so the the temp can be kept lower, and keep all the goodness in the canabiss oil. Thanks in advance and keep up the great work! Subd!
Dunno
Doesn't the plastic of the UV strip covered tubes block UV light? I've tried plastic bottles to contain my dirty IPA, no resin settled. Then I switched to glass and there was a ton of resin goo at the bottom. Is there something different than the usual with the tubes?
Watch the next video I switch to a different material
@@EricStrebel Oh, I see. Thanks for the confirmation. My approach is mostly based on trial and error, sometimes things work, mostly don't. Your reply is extremely valuable.
Really nice I like it 🙏❤️🙏
@EricStrebel I'm putting together a similar system thanks to your and Nick's video, but I'm concerned about the pump. It says not to use with flammable liquid. Have you experienced any issues with the IPA, or considered switching to a gasoline rated pump?
Nope, no issue
Where can we get the stl files for both the one to hold the tubes to the form wash and to hang the tubs up after use?
Молодцом!
Would this also work for the spent wash water?
In theory
Unfortunately vinyl is not going to handle the 405nm forever. It will become hard and eventually crack. When? No idea. Could never be an issue. The ideal solution would be a pyrex or regular glass coil, but who knows how expensive that would be. Nice work!
Yes I anticipate that will be an issue at some point. Either replace it every once in a while or come up with a permanent solution. Would the glass allow the UV wavelength though to cure the resin?
Yes. Same as how we are able to use glass jars to cure our resin outside in the sun. Enough gets through.
True
@@EricStrebel To my knowledge, quartz glass is the most transmissible to UV spectra. Pyrex and other glasses only pass a very small percentage.
Ok, good to know, I will look to see if I can get something like that fabricated.... I wonder how hard that's going to be!
🔥🔥🔥Cool hack! Mahalo for sharing! 🙂❤️🙏
Just curious, how do you go about changing the filters? Can you run pump to clear out IPA? Or do you sacrifice the PA in the system?
Running the pump works. I will add drains to the filters, Look for a follow up vid in the next 30-45 days.
@@EricStrebel Great!!! I love this! Just got mine setup. I would replace the IPA every month or so and this thing will pays itself off quickly.
So this is not for the was and cure guys since you already have cure side happening? Just the filtering and pumping would be useful.
Any reason you went with 1 micron for the first filter as opposed to the original video's 5 micron?
Yes, 5 is effectively useless in my opinion. Honestly 1 is too. The pump moves so much volume, get the finest filter you can
@@EricStrebel Have you had enough time to address the other things mentioned in comments? The hose line breaking down from UV/IPA or the clear filter housings breaking down? Someone else mentioned the filter pump needing to be oriented differently too.
None of these things have happened, however they are all getting upgraded. I have all the parts and will make a video about it. So many good suggestions from the community.@@ScottBaker-i2u
How often do you think the filters will need to be replaced?
Dunno, maybe every 3 liters of resin, depends on the resin I think though
is that uv strip type C that you use?
No, wall wart
Do you buy your large quantity IPA locally?
Gallons shipped in from online purchases, link in the description
I use denatured alcohol..........do you see any problem using this system with it?
No
Can you add the 3D print files?
Also add the Power Pack and Y connectors (for a complete list). I found and bought. This is such a great idea. I print allot and replace my IPA quite often. This will pay for itself inless than a year. THANK YOU!!!!