A Quick and Easy Way to Filter Dirty Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) for Washing Resin 3D Prints

[@digodog]

I have tried the micro filter method. What I found works better is to find a clear glass container that will fit in your UV unit. Load the glass container with dirty isopropyl set the timer for 45 minutes. All the suspended plastic will solidify and settle to the sides and bottom. What's left in between is crystal clear isopropyl. Pour it off and use a spatula to remove the muck. If you do it twice even better.

[@kajabrunke]

I’ve just done what you described in 2 different methods: one was placing dirty isopropyl in PET bottle next to the window and I waited approx. 2 months, it didn’t really clear out that well, but on the bottom there was some solidified residue. I’m filtering it through coffee filters, but it’s a very slow process and it clogs almost immediately. The other was also in PET bottle but I put it under the UV lamp for an hour and there was no visible change either, however I’ll wait and see if the residue will fall to the bottom. Do you use an open glass container? Like a beaker? I used closed bottles so it doesn’t evaporate. Later I read that both plastic and glass aren’t really good at passing UV light through. Maybe there is a different material that would work more efficiently?

[@ChainsawDNA]

@@kajabrunke Sometime this year I'll need to find time to post the mini solar distiller. You place it out on the sun and just make sure it has enough cooling water. Super easy to make. Crystal clear alcohol from the nastiest dirty mix.

[@israelmartinez4097]

@@kajabrunke let it sit and then when the stuff separates try to get a small fish tank hose that connects to the air pump let it drain out the alcohol it won’t make the bottom settlement mix again if you don’t disturb it then run the newly filled bottle in a filter. Should not clog so easily

[@Ывэоэх]

Вы сами пробовали??? Если сделать как вы сказали, получиться каша.

[@Ывэоэх]

​@@kajabrunkeуф-спектр пропускает кварцевое стекло.

[@donneuenschwander4457]

I stumbled upon your video and, intrigued, decided to give it a try. I ordered one of these filters from Amazon, which cost around $28. I gave it a go tonight, and I must say, it was an incredible experience! It effectively removed all the tiny particles, leaving my IPA remarkably clean. I plan to get a distiller to filter after a few more runs, as I’d like to achieve an even clearer result. On a side note, I want to express my gratitude for sharing this product. It worked flawlessly for me, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve the clarity of their IPA.

[@brandonb417]

For me I put my dirty IPA in my cure box. Throw on some UV glasses to protect the eyeballs and then let 'er rip. While the resin is curing in the IPA I scrape the sides down with a metal scraper (the resin will cure on the sides and prevent the inside from curing). After a lot has cured out I put a lid on and let it sit for a few days to a week. The IPA is crystal clear doing it this way. The cured resin turns into a block on the bottom, so just pour it off and throw away the block of cured resin.

[@Ывэоэх]

Это реально работает?

[@DaveDeVault]

Thanks for the tip. I ordered one. You can also use puppy training pads to put under places that might have a spill AND use them to soak up spills. They wick the liquid away and have the one side that is waterproof. I have been using them for a while now.

[@JerryBWagoner]

Thanks for the great video. I'm about 2 weeks into this rabbit hole and here is what I'm going to try. ... stage 1... 1. I'll have empty 1 liter ipa containers that I'll fill with dirty ipa. 2. Cure for 20 minutes. 3. Add 1 teaspoon of aluminum sulfate and shake, after which it will coagulate over 24 hours. .....stage 2.... Have 2 two gallon buckets that stack with a ceramic water filter at the bottom of the top one that feeds into the bottom (actually seems similar to your setup). It will be slow, but hopefully somewhat clog resistant and I'll reuse from the bottom bucket. Sort of overkill, but I tend to lean that way. It is mostly passive and I'm hoping I can get a year out of my ipa, although I know I'll loose some along the way. :)

[@Arkenald]

They also sell a 10 micron version, though it only appears on their website and not on Amazon. I noticed that they also sell Polyester Felt bags that go down to 1 micron, along with pale heaters which could be used to heat vats in cold winter months through they look a little bulky.

[@ChainsawDNA]

The best solution that I've found is to leave a transparent container exposed to indirect sunlight, so the resin slowly cures and deposits at the bottom. It takes a few days but works very, very well. Then you just pour the clear alcohol out or use a fish-tank siphon pump.

[@MrDmitriRavenoff]

How do you ever get it clear again?! I've had a container sitting in the sun for weeks and it still is cloudy as hell.

[@ChainsawDNA]

The trick is to not let the alcohol get that dirty before you start the cleaning process.

[@ChainsawDNA]

I've been using a super simple, home made solar distiller for the past 3 months. It's the best thing since sliced bread! Crystal clear alcohol. 2 cups every 2 days. I need to make a video showing how to do it.

[@spamspasm8183]

@@ChainsawDNAdistilling alcohol, DIY and at home. Those words together sound like an explosive combination.

[@jbrunch8082]

You can buy rolls of coffee filter/tea bag material in a variety of widths that can be cut to fit the size of your bucket filter.

[@ZacHiggins]

Awesome idea!

[@blueckaym]

The clearer alcohol you want to get the denser filters you should use, but that would take much longer, and denser filters will clog much sooner. For 3d printing most of us I think would be happy to get rid of the bulk of the resin, which can be done easier way by siphoning (it disturbs the resin a lot less than decanting), or another method I just discovered (that's actually often used in chemistry) is by separating funnel, which allows to first drain from the bottom the separated resin with only the dirty bottom layers of alcohol, then close the tap, and the clean(er) alcohol will be left in the funnel which you can pour out into a clean container for use. In both cases the wait for good separation is what takes a long time, siphoning/funneling is quick. Btw there's an easy way to do siphoning faster and with minimum disturbance of the resin - just use one of those pumps for big water bottles - they have tube or pipe that can be easily cut or lowered to the necessary depth, and it'll pump the clean(er) alcohol with a push of a button only. After both siphoning/funneling there will be some alcohol left with the most of the resin, which you could put to drain over a dense filter. It'll take long time to drain, but it'll be only a small amount of alcohol that you'll wait for, and you can continue cleaning your prints with the rest. But the only way I can think of for faster separation is by centrifuge. I'm thinking of the easiest method to make DIY centrifuge. One way is by a bicycle wheel mounted horizontal and driven manually/or by pedals/ below the plane of rotation of the bottles (attached to the wheel). The other one might take a bit of investment and hacking, but if you can get cheaply an old washing machine that has its centrifuge still working, you can adapt it to work spinning horizontally (ie around a vertical axis), and you make a bracket for inside the drum so that you can attach couple (or more) bottles, you'll get faster and better separation (most washing machines work between 1200 ~ 1600 RPMs, which at the radius of the drum would produce good amount of Gs).

[@Ывэоэх]

Вау! Центрифуга! Это великое открытие для разделения жидкостей! Ты гений.

[@blueckaym]

@@Ывэоэх, Thanks! Btw that comment was from when I was still brainstorming the idea ... Now I think a design for flow-thru centrifuge like a Waste Motor Oil Centrifuge (you can find examples on the net & YT) can be very convenient in our use-case. One can even be 3d-printed :) And even if it's smaller radius higher RPM increase effective g-forces exponentially while the radius only linearly.

[@MarklTucson]

Thanks for posting these videos; they give a great overview of what to expect when moving into resin printing

[@ZacHiggins]

It's my pleasure! Hoping that they help out. I wish I could get more videos made and posted, I have so many I want to make but not enough time. Need to get faster at it!! 😅

[@3DJapan]

Interesting idea with that filter. I designed and printed a funnel that takes a coffee filter. I pop that into a 1 gallon water bottle.

[@pankajmistry4600]

awesome Just what I'm looking for to filter out flux junk from wash solution in an industrial batch cleaner!!! Thank you. I'll order the filter now!

[@electricamish]

There are some filter socks as well that slip into buckets like a garbage bag and you can pre filter , or use just those , maybe even double up the filter, that works OK, but like you said, were just removing the clumps, not the color.

[@pugwallbelfast]

easiest thing to do is just leave the gunked up alcohol to sit for about a month, when you come back you will find it is pretty clean with a layer of the resin on the bottom of the container, just gently pour the alcohol into another container and peeel the resin layer off the original container.

[@ZacHiggins]

I just don't have the patience for that LOL

[@specialingu]

ive had that do strange things, couple of times ive added new alchol to old, and it generated "snow". my guess is the resin isnt 1 thing, its many things, and some does seporate out, and other parts dont.

[@-Wolfheart]

So I won’t be able to print for a month? Might as well pour it all out clean the wash container and order new alcohol for $30

[@WoodenItBeNice]

Nice video Zac and if I ever get into 3D Resin Printing this will be very useful. Take care Zac. Cheers, Huw

[@cedarshack]

100% agree with @digodog except that I placed the clear container in the sunlight for a day or two. The IA was super cloudy when placed outside. After sunlight crystal clear IA was left and resin cured at the bottom of the container. Easiest method out there - minimal effort, no filters and no cleanup!

[@1objection]

Great idea, I've been looking for something like this. Thanks for the tip!

[@ZacHiggins]

Hope it speeds things up and makes it easier for you 🙌🙌

[@watchmanstate9212]

Use a shop vac to pressure the top OR depressure the bottom to force the alcohol through faster.

[@jimbalz3017]

I wonder if a thin layer of sand on top of the filter would work well as a pre-filter.

[@ZacHiggins]

I'm not sure, that is an interesting idea

[@Ывэоэх]

Остаётся открытым вопрос утилизации. Я не могу позволить себе выбросить ядовитые отходы с общим мусором. Аккумуляторные батареи и щелочного типа необходимо сдавать на переработку. У нас в Росси многие выкидывают опасные отходы с общим мусором. Это беда, мне хочется плакать.

[@jimbalz3017]

Good point @@Ывэоэх

[@irkedoff]

Do you have any videos showing how you print with mica? I would love to see it and the results. Thanks for the cleaning tip.

[@FattyGuyRiles]

How well is this working for you? Did you ever try it with the pads? How well did that work?

[@nathanpotter8569]

Sweet, just noticed they also have a 100 micron and a 200 micron as well.... picking up the 3 pack.

[@ZacHiggins]

Nice!!

[@barkingsheltie]

Appreciate your efforts!

[@supersaltlee7657]

So im going to get 3 buckets with filters and try to uv cure the rest

[@Calamity_Jack]

Dang, they're all gone. Hopefully, they'll bring them back sometime.

[@mikefromwa]

The simplest, easiest, and most effective way I've found to clean alcohol is to distill it. Get a $50 water distiller and run your alcohol through it. Make sure you do this outdoors and away from any structures. I found this to be quick and extremely effective at cleaning alcohol.

[@MammothPaige]

Very cool, Thank You

[@kristiemercer287]

Thank you so much!

[@keithtam8859]

would 400 micron works?? can't seem to find the 25 micron one that would ship to my location...

[@specialingu]

it might work better if you use a extra filter material :)

[@ZacHiggins]

400 is like a typical paint strainer, probably won't help much

[@Ghxzt2161]

Was anyone else expecting him to say “you have so much junk in the trunk”

[@JohnVanderbeck]

That filter look convenient but also a total waste of money and materials, because now you're throwing away not just a filter, and a huge one, but also the entire plastic housing around it!

[@gcardinal]

So much work for such a bad result. This is how you do it: Take the bucket, place it outside in the sun, leave it there for a few hours. Put lid on it, leave it for a day or two. All the resin will settle to the bottom and you can gently pour out the clean alcohol. No filters or work or anything required.

[@ZacHiggins]

Yeah, it's not perfect but filtering it gets it back to the point where the prints come out clean again in about 5 minutes. Also, it looked worse because there were dyes in that alcohol bucket I poured out. No amount of settling or sunlight will remove that

[@gcardinal]

@@ZacHiggins Yes it will. Seriously - try the sunlight or the direct UV light exposure. You will be amazed - not kidding.

[@ZacHiggins]

@@gcardinal I've tried it, didn't work for me unfortunately

[@williambolton4698]

I followed the link to Amazon UK. They want £216 for the filter!! On the US manufacturers webpage it costs the equivalent of just over £10. It doesn't cost £206 to send the filter from the USA to the UK, so something is really, really wrong.

[@LightSpinAngler]

Yes we’re using this for …. 3D printing 🔥🥬