Successful settings for Acer projectors and other advise?

[Tony Masciola]

For the longest time, I was getting nowhere with my new DLP kit -- adhesion on first layers and not beyond, broken prints, undercuring, etc.  Based on things I have read from other people, lately I adjusted a number of new variables and achieved my best results so far.  Very close to acceptable.  I am now curing properly for the most part with 5 second times, where I previously couldn't achieve adhesion beyond the first layers with under 10 or 15.  This is what I changed:

1) Smaller print area - Hoping to achieve more focused light, I no longer try to fill the platform area (as I did before, trying to maximize size) and fill about 75% of its width and am now using 16:9 aspect.

2) Settings - Hellinocopter clued me into some settings for my projector that I didn't know about, namely HDMI Color.  I have it set to full color now (instead of Auto), changed it to the Bright profile, and kept other settings I had before -- econo mode off, 50% brightness and contrast, gamma at 1.8, white projection surface, etc.

3) I turned my whole projector mount around and have my H6510BD as square as it can be -- no keystone correction required.  Very hard to do with this projector except by cranking it as far as it can go on the mount, so much so that it is not easily removable.

Good progress.... but I'm still getting holes in my prints here and there and major Z waviness.  Can anyone please tell me?

1) Acer Color Settings - Anyone that is achieving perfect prints with an Acer projector, preferably the H6510BD (Finhead?)... What are all of your color settings?  Especially, "Color temperature"?  Please give me all that you can from the first menu screen or any others that you think might have play in the UV light quality -- brightness, contrast, profile, HDMI color, gamma... everything.  I just want to make sure I have it 100% right before only playing with times.  The latest tweaks had such a profound impact and I was getting nowhere tweaking times as I was.

2) Waviness in Z Axis - No matter what I do, I am still seeing significant gradations along the Z axis -- almost FDM quality, which sucks.  The Z axis is definitely not holding its position.  I was very cautious in my second assembly of the rods and motors -- the movement is smooth, relatively noiseless and well lubricated.   I can't see a way to improve it any more than it is.  Any ideas from people who have achieved smooth sides on models (the top is good, just sides have gradations)?

3) Z Placement of Prints - If I print a model with a good, solid base, it adheres well... but of course, I get circles in the model from the perforated build platform.  I have tried to lift it .5 and place supports under it, but it never sticks well.  Is there a preferred system to lift it off the platform -- maybe X mm along Z, with a baseplate and supports Y thick?  I need a good, reliable system for a break-away support.

I just need some advise from those that are clearly have consistent quality prints nailed, as I am still at ground zero but finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.  Thanks for your help!

[Hellenicopter]

Dear Tony,

My 2 cents:

For my projector (Acer P1510) I have left the native color temperature (CT2) in my setting. The HDMI color is crucial, otherwise we cut off the lower wavelengths that are most useful for printing. The Acer P1510 is very similar to your projector. My brightness and contrast are at 50% (still slightly too bright), gamma at 1.8.

I have tested today the MakerJuice SubG+ with white pigment and I got the exposure time down to 4s (3s should be also doable as my projector can theoretically give 3500lumen, I didn't have the time to test more though). The resin is brittle at 4s so I suspect overcuring. I have the DLP system with the new aluminum plate. I cure the first 4 layers with 8s and adhesion is very good. Nevertheless, the aluminium plate gives me headaches because it can really get stuck on the Qsil due to a vacuum effect when at the home position. This is due to the lack of holes at the extremities of the plate. Maybe I need to lift a bit higher the plate at the home position I guess.

Regarding the wobble: If it is no too much for you to do, try to test the leadscrews on a flat marble or glass surface. If they wobble when you roll them flat upon then you need new ones. This is the first step. The next step is to mount them carefully and have them aligned as much as possible with the motors' axes. One thing to check is the horizontal distance between the vertical guides to be constant. To achieve this you need to carefully adjust the top horizontal beams as well as the moving horizontal beam of the plate attached to the slides. All horizontal distances between the guides must be equal (check attached photo - red arrows).
My system still has some visible wobble but the prints come out very decent with much less waviness than any fused filament system.

I hope I helped you a bit.

Best regards,
Dimitris

[Tony Masciola]

Thanks for the detailed feedback Dimitris!

Then it would seem that I have made all of the color adjustments that are required.  My guess is that the last of my issues lies in the wobble (or possible walls too thin on the object I'm trying to print) now that I have it down to a reasonable exposure time and still my prints tend to tear at points... and fairly unpredictably.

Regarding checking the rod again...  I think I did all of tat before assembling, but not sure -- I think I checked the rod and definitely checked alignment and squared it all.  Seems to run smoothly.  That seems reasonable but the idea of taking this apart again really scares me with the trouble I had getting to this point.  I will see how far I can get and may be forced to do it anyway.

@Finhead or others using Acer projectors (especially the H6510BD):  What settings are you using?

Thanks!

[Hellenicopter]

Dear Tony,

Of course, taking it apart would scare me too, it's fully understandable!
My experience so far is that narrow parts (small cross-section) is difficult for the SubSF resin and bit easier with SubG+ (but not 100% reliable either). The big problem I have so far with SubG+ is that it is too brittle.

For the base layers (4 in my case) I finally have chosen 10s as with 8s I mentioned before is a bit too short for some places at the back of the plate (not 100% parallel to the vat).

I post a picture of my latest print (it is for my Agusta-Bell AB-206B RC scale heli, the base for the pedals). Just for the scale: the top holes are ~1.4mm in diameter and those at the sides ~1.75-1.8mm and the part is ~1 inch long. All holes go through without alignment problems. You can see the layer (100μm) lines a bit but it is still quite OK (at least for me). As I told you, I too have some very slight wobble in my Z-axis so the lines are expected. I don't know if this result would be acceptable for you.The resin is a SubG+ with added white pigment (one full pot of pigment dissolved in 500ml).

I hope you will manage to solve your problem.
It is true that a more stable z-axis system would be very welcome. I think all of us here wait for the new one to get ready. To be honest, for the price of the DLP system the z-axis could have been a bit better as it is the only moving part and a good one makes a huge difference.

Cheers

[Hellenicopter]

I have just realized that the pigment concentration I have used is huge (one small jar is enough for 10 liters of SubG+) and the increased brittleness of my parts most probably comes from that (very stupid from my side, I didn't check the concentrations first!).
So if you happen to mix things by yourself pay attention! I am surprised that I was still able to cure with a 4s exposure...

[Tony Masciola]

Admittedly, the Z axis is pretty rocky on all of these, but it would seem I finally dialed in the settings well enough to get a series of successful prints.  I was worried that I wouldn't ever get it to work after a couple of months of effort and experimentation.

But... attached are my first successful prints.  The Legos are a bit warped (had a failure rate of about 50%) but notice how the red one snaps onto a real Lego (green).  Guess I got the scale right.  :)

And the little men/game pieces were printed all on the same plate at once.  Too small for detail (and the wobbly Z axis makes them all look like mummies with the gradations) but not a single failure in the batch.  Pretty cool!

Thanks to everyone for your help to get me here!  Next to fix the Z axis.  :/

[Hellenicopter]

Dear Tony, dear All,

I have seen a big reduction of my exposure time (by more than a factor of 3) when I use a white-colored resin (SubG+).
I suspect that (at least) with my Acer projector (P1510) the color of the projection surface has to match the color of the resin (as close as possible).
Does anybody have any experience regarding this aspect? With a setting for a white-colored projection surface I get 10-12s exposure time with a red SubG+ whereas I get less than 3.5-4s with a white SubG+. I will try to use a color closer to the red next time I use a red SubG+ and see if this setting is really a factor.

Any feedback on this would be very welcome.

Best regards,
Dimitris

[Nasser Sharareh]

Hi everyone

I can't print a model with height more than 3 mm. Do you have any Idea?

I'm not familiar with settings in Software
Please help me

[mUVe 3D Admin]

Nasser,

Creation Workshop has an instruction manual in the folder the files are in, I suggest you read that thoroughly. Read on of the other threads where you mentioned your other problem. We've already replied to it multiple times as you posted it many times over.

mUVe 3D Support