Hey everyone 👋🏻 While it was reiterated to me directly from the company that IPA would be compatible to use within this machine, there are some legitimate concerns about safety if certain parts of the machine were to fail, causing a fire hazard. While I don’t know how likely those failures may be, out of an abundance of caution I’ll most likely be switching to using a proper resin detergent - that was most recommended to use in this machine anyway - or turn it into a water washable resin cleaning station that my workshop has been in need of. As always, stay safe, use your best judgement and have fun building!
so even the sunlu confirmed that you can use ipa? my use case is that I use water washable resin .... normalne I pour it into water ..... clean the worst, then clean it in washing machine with ipa :-D (this one will be also "not that clean" after some time), then I use warm watter and do extra cleaning in water, but mainly to get it out of support :-D And after that I need a cleaner to do the last cleaning :-D And I want to use IPA in ultrasonic ... but .... because its water washable .... it could be maybe used just with water for this last cleanin part ..... did you try it already with just water on water washable resin?
Encapsulating the prints inside something like a thick ziplock bag with ipa inside the bags with them, then placing the ziplocked prints in the ultrasonic cleaner which itself is filled with water instead of straight IPA supposedly still allows the energy transfer of the ultrasonic waves to clean the surface of the prints while eliminating a lot of the fire risk to the process.
As always, love watching your show here from curaçao 🇨🇼 I looked up the price and it looks like a good value. It is of course a standard basic ultrasonic cleaner, but without the basket and manual temp setting. Again, for $69 I think you can’t go wrong. And looks stylish too. Plus, you can clean virtually anything in those things.
I just bought a "normal" ultrasonic cleaner a week or so ago. I love it! For smaller pieces you can actually put them in a plastic container and just fill the ultrasonic cleaner with water and put alcohol just in the container. I use an air tight container. Another tip would be to do a "dirty" clean before you put them into the ultrasonic cleaner. Meaning I have a big container of used (sometimes reused) resin and I just take the whole plate and move it around for 10-20 seconds. I then take the print off, clean the plate and put the print or prints into the ultrasonic cleaner. Keeps he alcohol cleaner for longer.
Yeah the double cleaning is definitely something I need to implement. I tend to not clean my prints right away so I inadvertently have a decent amount of the resin drip off which I’m sure helps things a little but a quick rinse first would help a lot more.
There is a NASA approved procedure where you ziplock bag the part with IPA and then put the bag in the ultrasonic cleaner filled with normal water. Safe and very efficient.
It looks like a big improvement, I would probably have a smaller pre-wash container to get most of the resin off the print then use the ultra sonic cleaner 2nd, just to cut down on alcohol use.
I gotta say, using an ultra-sonic cleaner, with alcohol to clean 3D resin parts, is brilliant. The cavitation effect will make the job quite easy. This would work using virtually any ultra-sonic cleaner with sufficient capacity to submerge the parts. I think Sunlu has started something profound, within the industry. Cheers!
Excellent review. Thank you for all the useful information, especially since I am looking at getting my first resin printer. One thing I have to say is that the first video of yours that I watched was when you made the droid behind you. Very fitting that the second video of yours I watched had it in the background.
If you don't own an FDM printer yet do yourself a favor and get one. I made the mistake of starting with the Mars 4 Max. Great printer, but due to the resin process in general it now sits in a cupboard while my new Qidi X-Plus 3 does literally everything I need. Something like the sovol sv-08 with a smaller nozzle would probably still be good enough quality for even miniatures and without any of the hassle.
ipa is flammable and, like any such material, its vapors simply explode. Washers made of such materials cannot be used open, most of them have a heater (unfortunately this one does not have one), which further enhances evaporation, but makes cleaning easier and probably the removal of supports since people often heat them with a dryer.
Thanks for this video, I just received my normaal ultrasonic machine today. Can't wait for my printer to finish now. Ps. I filled it with water and wil put my model in a zip seal bag with Ethanol (cheaper here than IPA)
Thank you for the review. I have been trying to find a better alternative to cleaning my prints and I was going to go with a standard larger ultrasonic cleaner but, I came across your video. I am a huge fan of Sunlu filament for my Elegoo Neptune 3 Max so I have high hopes for this cleaner. I just bought this cleaner from Amazon for $50 so I am looking forward to using it.
Great video, as yours usually are. Seems like I would be less to go wrong as with the traditional ones, the impeller blades get all 'gunked up' after about 5 uses
Thank you for the review! I use and love sunlu resins, and of course hate cleaning. I think I'll give it a try myself, but I'm worried it might not work with their Toughness resin. Would you say you experienced anything that would cause an issue with that resin, or no?
I haven’t ever personally used their toughness resin, but typically the higher impact resistant resins are thicker. My maker coins were printed with a more impact resistant resin and it cleaned those up well so I’d say it should handle the Toughness resin fine. If anything maybe just have it run a slightly longer cleaning cycle if you’re worried about the parts being cleaned properly.
I checked with Sunlu beforehand and they confirmed that the machine was compatible with IPA. Most instruction manuals for wash and cure machines recommend to not use them with alcohol yet everyone still does. Obviously always be careful and use your best judgement.
@@WhereNerdyisCoolin all fairness you should always read the instructions before use. Never take anyone’s word. Regardless if she mentioned it or not. The only reason I could see her giving a disclaimer is for children, but if you’re an adult you know better.
Good video, as always. I am using a "traditional" cleaning station to clean and cure the resin prints. The ultrasonic cleaner seams to be an improvement because there are no baskets an impeller, where the print can stuck to. I always try to improve my post-processing. Can you make a video how your post-process looks like? For example, do you remove the support before or after the curing?
I have an off the shelf Sonic cleaner and Id recommend trying Simple Green as a Non Toxic cleaner..it works well and smells a ton better the IPA and is cheaper
The closest thing would be curing the resin out of the alcohol. It can still leave the IPA feeling sticky though depending on how much resin was mixed in to begin with. Personally I didn’t find the time and effort it takes to do worth the results in the end.
@@MMsPropShop Good to know thanks. After reading your comment below as a beginner I may start off with the resin detergent. I can always use IPA in more stubborn cases
I empty it into a bucket and leave it to cure in sunlight. The alcohol will gradually evaporate and the resin left over will properly cure so that it can be disposed of.
@@MMsPropShop thanks. I searched on Amazon and Sunlu advertises this machine as a jewelry cleaner, not a dedicated resin cleaner. I guess they are the same machine to do both resin cleaning and jewelry cleaning?
@MakerDan55 yeah, ultrasonic cleaners are typically marketed towards jewelry cleaning use so it makes sense they’d also advertise it as that when it comes to a wider market like on Amazon.
It really depends on the size of the prints you’re cleaning in the IPA. If you want to extend the lifespan you can always do a double cleanse where you do a quick dunk of your parts in a separate container of alcohol (can be old IPA) to remove excess resin from the surface and then put it into your wash machine for more thorough cleaning. If you let the resin settle to the bottom of the alcohol you can technically cure it and then strain it through something like a coffee or paint filter. There will be a point where the alcohol just can’t be cleaned out and will almost have a sticky feeling that will then stay on your prints.
Hey, I’m completely new to 3D printing and I’m about to purchase my first printer after a bit of research I’m looking at getting the ELEGOO Saturn 3 ultra I have been interested in 3D printing for years and I think after some research that Resin printing will be a better option for me due to the amount of detail you can get and the smaller amount of post print processing needed. Is there anything I need to consider before doing this and also any suggestions or recommendations would be hugely appreciated
Typically for first time resin printer owners I recommend starting with a smaller size class printer; smaller size means smaller messes to deal with when things don’t work out. It can be easy for someone with lots of experience to accidentally make a mess when dealing with changing out resin from VATS or cleaning up a failed print, inexperience and larger, heavier parts can just exacerbate that. I completely understand why you’d want to go for the larger build volume though, especially with the prices the machines are these days so please don’t have this be the one thing that talks you out of going for the printer you’ve been looking at. It’s just something to possibly keep in mind. The Saturn 4s also have some features that could be beneficial to a beginner with the automatic bed leveling at not a huge price jump between models.
It seems that more traditional ultrasonic cleaners have a heating component to them so yes, you definitely would not want to be putting IPA into one of those.
That's straight up misinformation, all it takes is the transducer to fail and the electrical charge it uses to clean with bubbles will instead be sent directly into the ipa itself and ignite the liquid.. You can just do a little bit of research on how ultra sonic cleaners work in order to see for yourself
I completely meant to include a clip with the sound it made, darn it! It’s not particularly loud but it does make a very distinctive sound. It reminds me of laser guns or something they would have used as part of the Tron:Legacy soundtrack.
I had seen this advertised on Amazon before and when I asked them a question on their FAQs, they said to only use the detergent, have you seen any issues with just using alcohol?
I checked with Sunlu directly and while they did recommend using the machine with detergent, confirmed that it was compatible with any type of cleaning liquid that you may wish to use. I believe the concern with using alcohol in the machine is due to the lid not locking in any way to prevent spills, etc. I’m sure for most people they plan on using it in a stationary spot, not moving it around a bunch. I didn’t notice any issue with using the alcohol, seemed to have worked well. I’d also love to try it with actual resin detergent to see if that made any difference in how the prints cleaned up. Obviously always be careful when handling these kinds of projects with the various chemicals and cleaning agents involved and use your best judgment.
If the transducer fails in the machine the ipa will ignite and splash flaming contaminated alcohol all over your work space Please do a bit of research for yourself and be safe 😅
I still have the original IPA in it right now, but as the interior is a smooth stainless steel bowl, it seems like it would be quite easy to clean out.
Surprised there's no comments about how putting alcohol in there might cause it to explode due to the heat from the cleaner getting so intense it ignites the alcohol
Hey everyone 👋🏻 While it was reiterated to me directly from the company that IPA would be compatible to use within this machine, there are some legitimate concerns about safety if certain parts of the machine were to fail, causing a fire hazard. While I don’t know how likely those failures may be, out of an abundance of caution I’ll most likely be switching to using a proper resin detergent - that was most recommended to use in this machine anyway - or turn it into a water washable resin cleaning station that my workshop has been in need of.
As always, stay safe, use your best judgement and have fun building!
so even the sunlu confirmed that you can use ipa?
my use case is that I use water washable resin ....
normalne I pour it into water ..... clean the worst, then clean it in washing machine with ipa :-D (this one will be also "not that clean" after some time), then I use warm watter and do extra cleaning in water, but mainly to get it out of support :-D And after that I need a cleaner to do the last cleaning :-D And I want to use IPA in ultrasonic ... but .... because its water washable .... it could be maybe used just with water for this last cleanin part .....
did you try it already with just water on water washable resin?
Encapsulating the prints inside something like a thick ziplock bag with ipa inside the bags with them, then placing the ziplocked prints in the ultrasonic cleaner which itself is filled with water instead of straight IPA supposedly still allows the energy transfer of the ultrasonic waves to clean the surface of the prints while eliminating a lot of the fire risk to the process.
@@mlwillardthis is the method I use and I’ve learned it from a cool NASA document from the 70s.
@@mlwillard I believe another creator on TH-cam uses a plastic container in a water filled cleaner which seems to work well
The Battle Droid casually standing behind you, lol
Well at least it isn’t an assassin droid that would be a little concerning .
There are droids all over my workshop; at least one is bound to make it into the background of any given video 😂
As always, love watching your show here from curaçao 🇨🇼
I looked up the price and it looks like a good value.
It is of course a standard basic ultrasonic cleaner, but without the basket and manual temp setting.
Again, for $69 I think you can’t go wrong. And looks stylish too.
Plus, you can clean virtually anything in those things.
I just bought a "normal" ultrasonic cleaner a week or so ago. I love it! For smaller pieces you can actually put them in a plastic container and just fill the ultrasonic cleaner with water and put alcohol just in the container. I use an air tight container. Another tip would be to do a "dirty" clean before you put them into the ultrasonic cleaner. Meaning I have a big container of used (sometimes reused) resin and I just take the whole plate and move it around for 10-20 seconds. I then take the print off, clean the plate and put the print or prints into the ultrasonic cleaner. Keeps he alcohol cleaner for longer.
Yeah the double cleaning is definitely something I need to implement. I tend to not clean my prints right away so I inadvertently have a decent amount of the resin drip off which I’m sure helps things a little but a quick rinse first would help a lot more.
Yup this. This is just a glorified ultra sonic cleaner not a new way... This is what we all did BEFORE there were any wash and cute stations...
There is a NASA approved procedure where you ziplock bag the part with IPA and then put the bag in the ultrasonic cleaner filled with normal water.
Safe and very efficient.
It looks like a big improvement, I would probably have a smaller pre-wash container to get most of the resin off the print then use the ultra sonic cleaner 2nd, just to cut down on alcohol use.
That was a very comprehensive and well-thought-out review. It answered all my questions. Thanks for sharing it with us!
Thank you for the review!! You really cover everything and give an honest account!
I gotta say, using an ultra-sonic cleaner, with alcohol to clean 3D resin parts, is brilliant. The cavitation effect will make the job quite easy. This would work using virtually any ultra-sonic cleaner with sufficient capacity to submerge the parts. I think Sunlu has started something profound, within the industry. Cheers!
Excellent review. Thank you for all the useful information, especially since I am looking at getting my first resin printer.
One thing I have to say is that the first video of yours that I watched was when you made the droid behind you. Very fitting that the second video of yours I watched had it in the background.
If you don't own an FDM printer yet do yourself a favor and get one. I made the mistake of starting with the Mars 4 Max. Great printer, but due to the resin process in general it now sits in a cupboard while my new Qidi X-Plus 3 does literally everything I need.
Something like the sovol sv-08 with a smaller nozzle would probably still be good enough quality for even miniatures and without any of the hassle.
Great review. Shows the benefit of ultrasonic cleaning vs spinning.
ipa is flammable and, like any such material, its vapors simply explode. Washers made of such materials cannot be used open, most of them have a heater (unfortunately this one does not have one), which further enhances evaporation, but makes cleaning easier and probably the removal of supports since people often heat them with a dryer.
Always appreciate your content. Thank you !
Looks like it would help if you placed some kind of mesh platform at the bottom for when the resin begins to accumulate.
Thanks for the review!
Thanks for this video, I just received my normaal ultrasonic machine today. Can't wait for my printer to finish now. Ps. I filled it with water and wil put my model in a zip seal bag with Ethanol (cheaper here than IPA)
Thank you for the review. I have been trying to find a better alternative to cleaning my prints and I was going to go with a standard larger ultrasonic cleaner but, I came across your video. I am a huge fan of Sunlu filament for my Elegoo Neptune 3 Max so I have high hopes for this cleaner. I just bought this cleaner from Amazon for $50 so I am looking forward to using it.
Yo lo logré por $39 en Amazon y a la espera de que tal se comporta 😅
Dont use any solvents in ultrasonic cleaners. It will cause very high vapour pressure and can ignite below its flashpoint.
Great video, as yours usually are. Seems like I would be less to go wrong as with the traditional ones, the impeller blades get all 'gunked up' after about 5 uses
Thank you for the review! I use and love sunlu resins, and of course hate cleaning. I think I'll give it a try myself, but I'm worried it might not work with their Toughness resin. Would you say you experienced anything that would cause an issue with that resin, or no?
I haven’t ever personally used their toughness resin, but typically the higher impact resistant resins are thicker. My maker coins were printed with a more impact resistant resin and it cleaned those up well so I’d say it should handle the Toughness resin fine. If anything maybe just have it run a slightly longer cleaning cycle if you’re worried about the parts being cleaned properly.
Wow they're almost sold out. Glad I could snag one for my first Resin printer.
The manual (page 6, step 3) says "Please do not use alcohol as the cleaning liquid" - this is a huge fire hazard.
I checked with Sunlu beforehand and they confirmed that the machine was compatible with IPA. Most instruction manuals for wash and cure machines recommend to not use them with alcohol yet everyone still does. Obviously always be careful and use your best judgement.
@@MMsPropShop you should definitely include that information and disclaimers prominently. Please print safe!
@@WhereNerdyisCoolin all fairness you should always read the instructions before use. Never take anyone’s word. Regardless if she mentioned it or not. The only reason I could see her giving a disclaimer is for children, but if you’re an adult you know better.
No basket? Normally an ultrasonic cleaner has a basket to not let to parts touch the bottom because the generators are directly attached there.
this is to prevent metal items from damaging the cleaner, and vice versa. For the short cycles, and resin prints it should be fine.
Nope, no basket. I honestly didn’t miss it either. Was a lot more convenient to be able to just place the pieces into the bowl of the machine.
Good video, as always. I am using a "traditional" cleaning station to clean and cure the resin prints. The ultrasonic cleaner seams to be an improvement because there are no baskets an impeller, where the print can stuck to.
I always try to improve my post-processing. Can you make a video how your post-process looks like? For example, do you remove the support before or after the curing?
More general tip videos like that are definitely on the to do list!
I do clean, remove supports, then cure.
Where did you get that Ashoka sweatshirt?
It’s a Her Universe one. Not sure if they still make it though.
Man looks like hand washing parts is still superior
Love your vids keep up the great work!
I have an off the shelf Sonic cleaner and Id recommend trying Simple Green as a Non Toxic cleaner..it works well and smells a ton better the IPA and is cheaper
What scale did you print the Neimoidians at? I want a resin printer just for 6 inch stuff. Thank you
The files for them were originally designed as 1:48 scale pieces, so I printed them at about 400% to keep them in line with the Black Series figures.
Plenty of alternatives at the same price that have drain valves. I can’t believe they expect you to pour it out.
Ooh. That's a very posh ultrasonic cleaner. Can the liquid be filtered to separate the residual resin from the isopropyl alcohol?
The closest thing would be curing the resin out of the alcohol. It can still leave the IPA feeling sticky though depending on how much resin was mixed in to begin with. Personally I didn’t find the time and effort it takes to do worth the results in the end.
@@MMsPropShop Good to know thanks. After reading your comment below as a beginner I may start off with the resin detergent. I can always use IPA in more stubborn cases
What do you do with the solution when you have finished with it, how do you dispose of it please ?
I empty it into a bucket and leave it to cure in sunlight. The alcohol will gradually evaporate and the resin left over will properly cure so that it can be disposed of.
Thanks for the review. Would you be able to use it with water for water washable resin?
I can’t see why not. Whatever your preferred cleaning liquid is for your prints should work in the machine.
@@MMsPropShop thanks. I searched on Amazon and Sunlu advertises this machine as a jewelry cleaner, not a dedicated resin cleaner. I guess they are the same machine to do both resin cleaning and jewelry cleaning?
@MakerDan55 yeah, ultrasonic cleaners are typically marketed towards jewelry cleaning use so it makes sense they’d also advertise it as that when it comes to a wider market like on Amazon.
What is the lifespan of the alcohol? Can you pour it through a coffee filter to extend its usefulness?
It really depends on the size of the prints you’re cleaning in the IPA. If you want to extend the lifespan you can always do a double cleanse where you do a quick dunk of your parts in a separate container of alcohol (can be old IPA) to remove excess resin from the surface and then put it into your wash machine for more thorough cleaning.
If you let the resin settle to the bottom of the alcohol you can technically cure it and then strain it through something like a coffee or paint filter. There will be a point where the alcohol just can’t be cleaned out and will almost have a sticky feeling that will then stay on your prints.
Hey, I’m completely new to 3D printing and I’m about to purchase my first printer after a bit of research I’m looking at getting the ELEGOO Saturn 3 ultra I have been interested in 3D printing for years and I think after some research that Resin printing will be a better option for me due to the amount of detail you can get and the smaller amount of post print processing needed. Is there anything I need to consider before doing this and also any suggestions or recommendations would be hugely appreciated
Typically for first time resin printer owners I recommend starting with a smaller size class printer; smaller size means smaller messes to deal with when things don’t work out. It can be easy for someone with lots of experience to accidentally make a mess when dealing with changing out resin from VATS or cleaning up a failed print, inexperience and larger, heavier parts can just exacerbate that. I completely understand why you’d want to go for the larger build volume though, especially with the prices the machines are these days so please don’t have this be the one thing that talks you out of going for the printer you’ve been looking at. It’s just something to possibly keep in mind.
The Saturn 4s also have some features that could be beneficial to a beginner with the automatic bed leveling at not a huge price jump between models.
I thought that IPA directly into a sonic cleaner was a fire hazard, is it not?
It seems that more traditional ultrasonic cleaners have a heating component to them so yes, you definitely would not want to be putting IPA into one of those.
@@MMsPropShop okay awesome, thank you for the clarification
That's straight up misinformation, all it takes is the transducer to fail and the electrical charge it uses to clean with bubbles will instead be sent directly into the ipa itself and ignite the liquid..
You can just do a little bit of research on how ultra sonic cleaners work in order to see for yourself
What is the noise lvl? Very well done video.
I completely meant to include a clip with the sound it made, darn it!
It’s not particularly loud but it does make a very distinctive sound. It reminds me of laser guns or something they would have used as part of the Tron:Legacy soundtrack.
I had seen this advertised on Amazon before and when I asked them a question on their FAQs, they said to only use the detergent, have you seen any issues with just using alcohol?
I checked with Sunlu directly and while they did recommend using the machine with detergent, confirmed that it was compatible with any type of cleaning liquid that you may wish to use. I believe the concern with using alcohol in the machine is due to the lid not locking in any way to prevent spills, etc. I’m sure for most people they plan on using it in a stationary spot, not moving it around a bunch. I didn’t notice any issue with using the alcohol, seemed to have worked well. I’d also love to try it with actual resin detergent to see if that made any difference in how the prints cleaned up. Obviously always be careful when handling these kinds of projects with the various chemicals and cleaning agents involved and use your best judgment.
@@MMsPropShop Thank you so much for doing the homework, we all appreciate it!
If the transducer fails in the machine the ipa will ignite and splash flaming contaminated alcohol all over your work space
Please do a bit of research for yourself and be safe 😅
I clean my prints in a regular wash station and finish in a ultra sonic with mean green. Probably over kill.
how easy is it to clean the machine out.
I still have the original IPA in it right now, but as the interior is a smooth stainless steel bowl, it seems like it would be quite easy to clean out.
❤
Surprised there's no comments about how putting alcohol in there might cause it to explode due to the heat from the cleaner getting so intense it ignites the alcohol