Washing prints with TPM

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freeamfva

Age: 2023
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Tripropylene glycol monomethyl ether (TPM) dissolves liquid resin, making it effective for washing parts printed on Formlabs SLA printers. Depending on your use case and work environment, TPM may be a viable alternative to isopropyl alcohol (IPA) for washing parts using the Form Wash, Form Wash L, or the Finish Kit.Get more news about Tpm 3d,you can vist our website!

The surface of the part may have a waxy feel until it is fully dry. Some resins, noted below, may have additional surface waxiness for up to a week if they are not post-cured. When post-curing, follow the recommendations in the support article Form Cure time and temperature settings for each resin. Printed parts washed in TPM will feel indistinguishable from parts washed in IPA once they are post-cured.

TPM can dissolve roughly three times the amount of resin as IPA before losing efficacy. If a thin film of resin remains on printed parts after washing with TPM, the solvent is overly contaminated with resin and should be replaced. Replace the TPM in your Finish Kit rinse bucket or the Form Wash as you would replace IPA.

The water bath will eventually have too much TPM dissolved in it to be effective and will need to be replaced. Water and TPM that have been exposed to resin should be disposed of in accordance with local regulations.

When purchasing a hydrometer to measure the resin concentration of TPM, consider the following recommendations:

The Form Cure does not vent air while operating, so any evaporated solvent will condense on the heater, fan, and internal surfaces. If a print that still has TPM on it is placed in the Form Cure, the TPM will evaporate off the print and condense on the inner surfaces of the Form Cure and Form Cure L. This can occasionally cause clouding on the reflective surfaces. Always let prints fully dry (whether they have been washed with IPA, TPM, or water) before placing them in the Form Cure or Form Cure L.

Posted 29 Jul 2022

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