SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist  

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

I think that at least an upgrade of the screen to 4k (better 5k) and UV-light to parallel light source is indispensable to keep up with the competitors on the marked.

• What I missed the most to get a kind of one touch feeling are the slicing experience. The automated support function doesn’t work proper for bigger models, customized supports are necessary.
• Modification of the tank design, so you can clip a cover on the top, for storage the resin filled tank between prints.
• Angled corners of base support structure, so the scraper will easier go under it.

I like the tough design of the SL1, but to recommend this printer to anyone I don’t see a key feature what justified the price. I own a SL1 myself and hopefully Prusa won’t drop out of the further development of the SL1 architecture, so I don’t regret my investment in the SL1.

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

My wishlist:

1. Tier 1 support that some idea of the product.
2. Tier 2 support that is more responsive (e.g. not limited to emails to people with business hours almost entirely outside of when I'm awake). Note that this wouldn't be as much of an issue if Live Chat could do more than point you to KB articles that you've already read.
3. A properly designed tank that seals correctly as no amount of resin leaking is an acceptable amount.
4. A mono screen

Posted by: @kane

• What I missed the most to get a kind of one touch feeling are the slicing experience. The automated support function doesn’t work proper for bigger models, customized supports are necessary.

I actually find the opposite where smaller models are worse with the auto supports. I have noticed, however, that on larger models it appears to focus on islands and not take into account the weight or cantilever forces.

• Modification of the tank design, so you can clip a cover on the top, for storage the resin filled tank between prints.

No need for a change to the tank for this: https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/5577-prusa-sl1-tank-cover

I use that cover and it works great for both protecting the resin and also containing the fumes. Unless you have done the o-ring mod to your tank, however, I would not recommend leaving resin in your tank. Especially if it is a thinner variant.

• Angled corners of base support structure, so the scraper will easier go under it.

This doesn't really have anything to do with the printer itself as the base is generated by the slicer. There is also already an option in PrusaSlicer where you can change the angle of the wall of the base.

I recently found, however, that I was using too high of an exposure both for the base layers and normal layers. After dropping the times I'm finding that my prints are popping off the platform pretty easily and in a single piece and I don't need the angled wall (which I forget to do at least 50% of the time).

I like the tough design of the SL1, but to recommend this printer to anyone I don’t see a key feature what justified the price. I own a SL1 myself and hopefully Prusa won’t drop out of the further development of the SL1 architecture, so I don’t regret my investment in the SL1.

I thought the killer feature was going to be the Prusa reputation for quality and support, but I bet you can guess how that has panned out for me... 😉 

Now that the damned thing is finally working and the tanks aren't constantly leaking it is proving to be an easy to use printer, but it will take a long time of hassle free use for me to not regret buying the thing.

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

@gnat

Especially the prusa support issue. I opened a call at Jan 13 about a constant beeping sometimes in long prints. There answer came a couple of days ago and it was

"The developers may have found something related to that uncontrolled behaviour and ensure that it is not anything affecting the printer reliability. Unfortunately, they could not reproduce the issue to confirm but should be readdressed in a future firmware version."

When i asked for more details the 1stlevel support said it could not tell me because and i quote

"I'm sorry I have no further details and no direct communication with the developers.Again, unfortunately, we were not able to reproduce your issue and confirm that they found what may have caused a conflict in the firmware, but it shouldn't be affecting printer functionality."

Honestly for my wishlist for a 1700E printer first comes a decent support. Otherwise i strongly advice people to go with other brands. Like a 300E Elegoo Pro 2 from amazon and a chepaer curing station.

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

I would also suggest:

1. Twice cheaper price tag (with current features) - if they want SL series to become "MK3 of resin printers" - as claimed 

2. Resin auto-refill system 

3. PFA (nFEP) film instead FEP film - great air permeability (less suction force)

PS. Sorry Prusa, but EPAX printers are currently leading with their high quality budget workhorse MSLA printers. You should really take them as SL competitor.

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

I posted the following a long time ago and got one response to just post these requests on GitHub. I think that's just for software though.

HARDWARE (SL1):
1. In kit form, some of the connectors on the board are difficult to install like the WiFi antenna and print LCD ribbon cable. It would be nice to have the WiFi antenna pre-connected and somehow make the print LCD connector easier to install since that is something that will need to be replaced after a certain number of hours.
2. Speaking of the WiFi antenna - the reception is very poor. Is the antenna being hidden behind the metal panel? At least with my experience, WiFi functionality is too slow (taking more than 30 minutes to transfer a simple file; unable to download OTA updates without dropping connection).
2. The carbon filter should be accessible from the outside. Having to pull the panels of the printer off to replace it seems overly-complicated. There should also be some form of included part to mate to a hose so you can directly vent the fumes somewhere like through an exterior wall (user prints do exist, but they do not integrate-they replace so lots of disassembly is required). EDIT - Nevermind, I did not realize you can access it from the outside.
3. The build plate should have a taller area to grip. It is difficult, especially with gloves, to grip it and the top of the tank lid to install it properly. It's great build quality, just a little unwieldy.
4. The top of the build plate should have something other than a rough finish to make cleaning it easier. That being said, the part where the print adheres is superior to every other brand of resin printer I have used so far. Easy to clean this area, does not scratch easily, never seems to lose the grip battle between FEP film.
5. There should be some included part to hold the build plate for dripping. There are user prints that are available, some work better than others but it would be nice to have something Prusa designed.
6. The print LCD should come unmounted from the metal frame to make the cost lower. I don't understand why this is not the case with replacement LCD screens - we don't need the expensive machined metal frame every time we replace just the screen.
7. The kit should not have the front LCD touch screen adhered to the plastic. This would enable users to print their own parts if they wanted. Same goes for the tilt sensor. Glue is not something I want to see on a Prusa printer.
8. The acrylic lid should not slam shut when accidentally dropped. The hinges seem expensive - perhaps they could be upgraded to something that had a soft-closing functionality built-in?

FIRMWARE (SL1):
1. The vat should lock in the home position after completing the print. It takes extra steps to do this manually after printing and you have to have it at the home position to fill it to the right level.
2. The build plate should not move all the way to the top immediately after printing. By doing so, it makes the dripping print sometimes splash too hard into the vat creating droplets outside of the vat area. If it moved up just enough to clear the print for a while, it would be better. Maybe it could be programmed to only move to the top when the lid is opened.
3. When selecting a print, it would be nice to see a preview like on the Mini.

HARDWARE (CW1):
1. The tank lid should have some sort of locking mechanism to keep cleaner from spilling. (Prusa has now released a print of this and though complicated, it works well.)
2. The build plate connector on the tank lid is difficult to use with gloves. The top part where you insert your fingers is a little too small. And the bottom where you slide on the build plate just does not have enough clearance for your fingers without smashing them into the top of the build plate and getting resin on them. I think this whole part needs to be redesigned.
3. I think that while using the readily-available gastro pan is easy, that designing the whole CW1 around it seems like everything else is suffering. I think, given the price of the CW1, that Prusa should design their own tank. This would solve so many (most) of the design and performance issues. Perhaps Prusa could design a polypropylene tank that would have superior propellor with real bearing, easy-to-use lid with closure, etc.
3. The tank might be better being polypropylene rather than stainless steel as it would make it easier to see the cleaner condition (how much residue is on bottom). But maybe the design needs a metal tank for strength?
4. The propellor is disappointing. It's the only part I have ever seen from Prusa that was glued together like this, and the whole thing balancing on a single ball bearing makes it so there's always an edge scraping the bottom. It would be great to have a nice, stable, quiet propellor like on the Anycubic wash and cure station (an excellent washer, not such a great cure-er.) The propellor on that model has an actual sealed bearing and it keeps it nice and level.
5. The rotating platform should not have curing lights underneath if you are going to use the hexagon pattern on the stainless steel platform part. All of my prints seem to have the hexagon shape burnt into one side because of this. Maybe make the rotating platform out of plexiglas? Prusa typically seems to show prints being cured with supports still in place but in my experience it is better to remove supports before curing as it is easier and seems to show less damage to print surfaces.
6. Again, the acrylic lid should have some sort of a soft close mechanism or at least more of a handle.

FIRMWARE (CW1):
1. The wash function should change direction halfway through the cycle. I think it would be more effective.
2. The LCD screen should have user-adjustable contrast. Mine is very dark and difficult to see the letters from the background.

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

@bioluminous

Regarding the SL1 filter, I can remove mine without taking the printer apart. It's kind of a pain as the filter kinda gets in the way, but it does come out.

Regarding the WiFi, it's certainly slower than writing to a USB stick, but even large print files will be finished before I walk downstairs to the printer (a minute or two tops).

For the CW1 firmware, I noticed the other day that someone submitted a PR to add the auto reversing washing function at the end of January. Given that they have been ignoring my PR to allow longer drying times since November, however, I don't expect to see it merged anytime soon...

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

And following-up after having used this for about a year (alongside my Epax X1K):

1. The rubber o-ring trick to seal the vat works really well. Haven't had a leak at all and sometimes I leave resin in for a week or two with no issues now. I just use the lid referenced above and it works to keep the resin from curing.

2. I have replaced the FEP with Epax's nFEP. Superior in every way. I get about two months of prints, so maybe around 50 or so before I need to change it.

3. PrusaSlicer support autogeneration still mostly sucks. It seems like SLA features are beginning to lag behind the FDM features.

4. I second the idea about using the CW-1 as a scanner. How awesome would that be to have it do that!

It seems to me that the SL1 will be Prusa's sole resin printer and that it will likely not receive updates like monochrome screens, parallel LEDs, etc. I think they seem to be satisfied being the FDM people. And with their apparent focus on the XL I just don't see much happening with resin in Prusa's near future, especially with Covid making such a dent in the production. Maybe there will be someone who makes new software for the CW1 to make it a scanner, but I wouldn't hold my breath because I don't think there are enough CW1s out there to make it a worthwhile endeavor.

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

@bioluminous

Prusa announced work on a big brother to the SL1 in a blog posting a month or two back.  No details were discussed and I haven't noticed any more info since.

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

I hope we can make the sl1 a bigger printer somehow otherwise need to make space for yet another product :/ + extra big costs

RE: SL1 Upgrades *Wishlist

1. Currently I´m missing only two things.
   The possibility to get the download directly via network and not only via USB drive.
2. Wake-on-LAN functionality