Elegoo Mars Pro Grid Lines, Hot, Spots and Potential Fixes Catchup

[@skurky]

Been following this, as I am in the market for a good budget resin printer. Thank you for all of your videos, they made me pause instead of buying straight away after watching a ton of raving reviews! I was probably going to end up disappointed like you. Now I'm not so sure what printer I'm going to end up chosing. Have you seen the new Mars 2 Pro they just announced? It only has one big lens. I think this is their fix for this problem. You should try sending them a link to this and your other videos. In my opinion, they should just give you the improved version.

[@Cloakfiend]

Yes id wait. I cant believe it took this long for them to finally address this. Its as if no one cared about the obvious issues until now. Luckily they are changing but i will be keeping an eye on this.

[@PigeonPrint]

Thanks for your work on this and for getting the message out there!

[@Pepino2012]

Thanks for this. Could you link to the forum where people are working on these prototypes please? Another thing: Could you get rid off the grid altogether? Or perhaps print it on a clear material?

[@Cloakfiend]

The grid will be posted on thingverse later... and unfortunately you need it to prevent light bleed from the other leds on the array.

[@Cloakfiend]

Here is the file. www.thingiverse.com/thing:4575245

[@peterteal880]

Once again, I agree with you 100%.

[@Cloakfiend]

Thanks, this means I just can't trust any youtuber doing reviews on resin printers if they havent mentioned this. I mean how can you ignore something so obvious... why even make printers bigger if this affects bigger prints even worse? Did they really think people would only use these printers to print minatures?

[@peterteal880]

Cloakfiend *miniatures with holes running through them and scars across their faces.

[@Cloakfiend]

@@peterteal880 Exactly!!

[@forouza1]

Nice video. I suspect something changed in the manufacturing process pre/post COVID. I think they sourced their product elsewhere and the specifications/tolerances were off. Would explain how early reviewers did not have this issue or at least to the degree with newer Mars Pros.

[@axellizear2309]

a few prints in and already questioning what these lines are.... how is this not a problem

[@Cloakfiend]

I know! i found it crazy that no one even talked about them before? I felt compelled. Even on larger machines. Its as if people are being paid not to talk about them.

[@Shadow27374]

I have had 3 MSLA printers so far. The old Anycubic Photon which only had a small LED in the middle. That was extremely poor illumination. Actually, only the center was good and the very large edges were always underexposed. After that I had the Phrozen Sonic Mini which also has this matrix. So it had a much better illumination but exactly these grids on the print objects. In the meantime, I have the Elegoo Mars 3 Pro, which has a single LED, slightly larger than the old Photon and a very thick fat lens and a diffuser directly under the display. I don't have a light meter, but apparently the illumination is perfect in every corner and there are no grid lines anywhere. I can recommend the printer, only its fan is by far the worst thing in the world.

[@Cloakfiend]

Im have a mars 2 pro and its also perfectly fine. One light solutions are the best by far.

[@Make3DTV]

Thank you! This is driving me nuts! I'm seeing the grid on my Epax X1-K too. Minor, but still annoying!

[@Cloakfiend]

No problem! im going to study this issue until the engineers resolve it! In the meantime im just going to kerp updating peoplecas things are moving quite quickly behind the scenes!

[@Make3DTV]

@@Cloakfiend I've reported my issue to EPAX, sent them files and settings. Awaiting a reply. I also have the Mars Pro, so awaiting your results as well.

[@Cloakfiend]

@@Make3DTV ill try and post today or tomorrow!

[@Make3DTV]

@@Cloakfiend Thank you.

[@Make3DTV]

@@Cloakfiend Any news on this? Does the new FDM printed bracket work? I haven't tried it yet.

[@darren990]

have you got a stl for the new file

[@Cloakfiend]

Its going up on thingverse soon.

[@stackthatcheese7020]

With this fixed grid, would you still say the Regular Mars is better quality? Because if after this modification the quality of the Regular Mars is still better, I'll just get the cheaper regular one

[@Cloakfiend]

Not sure stilldoing some testing. An adjustable grid is also in the works which could greatly improve things further without constantly taking things apart. Im sure thats getting released soon as well. Stay tuned!

[@sexybooru]

I suppose the diffuser could lower the light output by up to 50% Try putting the diffuser closer to the screen. Does the anycubic mono X or any model with the light matrix have the same problem ?

[@Cloakfiend]

Any printer with a solid grid separating leds will have this issue to some extend imo.

[@stackthatcheese7020]

So did all those reviews that I watched just ignore this problem? I was about to buy a Mars Pro because it looks better compared to the regular Mars in all those review videos, but now I'm confused. Was this problem there since the release of the Pro, or did something happen with the new batch?

[@Viking2Go]

From what I understand the problem has always been there. But it's only noticeable on bigger prints, like the example he uses in the video. But since a lot of people only uses the printer for small miniatures or jewelry or similar they don't get the flaws.. I'm also very confused.. Because I just got one today.. And I don't know if I should return it even though I will more or less only use it for smaller miniatures.

[@Cloakfiend]

Yes all those reviewers did not raise this, so be careful!! wait before you make your purchase, apparently this is getting fixed at the moment, but has not been addressed yet, so I would wait. It affects the plain areas of your models. i even saw it on a few smaller models and sanded it out! It was apparently less visible on the early mars pros but then covid hit and the manufacturing went downhill.

[@rdcsvideo]

Wow that doesn't look good. I am glad I checked this video before getting a Mars Pro. This sounds like a design flaw. Do you know whether this is a common issue for other SLA printers with similar design such as the anycubic photon S and the creality LD002R etc?

[@Cloakfiend]

Apparently this is a design flaw on any resin printer that currently uses an array light setup unfortunately. Its finally gettimg addressed luckily. Im posting an update on this today! A new mars pro 2 printer is coming out very soon.

[@rdcsvideo]

@@Cloakfiend Ok that will affect quite a number of printers out there then ... thats true I think the pro 2 is using a single lens.

[@forouza1]

Can confirm. Mars Pro 2 looks completely uniform across the lcd.

[@Cloakfiend]

@@forouza1 Thanks good to know. I've just ordered mine 30mins ago! Lol

[@rdcsvideo]

Cloakfiend cool looking forward to a review!

[@saturnjason]

I ordered mine a day before I found out about this problem. It came today, and it has this same problem. Should I send it back? Try fixing?

[@forouza1]

Send it back. Mars Pro 2 just released and grid issue has gone away.

[@Cloakfiend]

I agree just send it back. Avoid all resin printers with any arrays.

[@saturnjason]

@@Cloakfiend well, my wife said keep - she wants to use it as a problem solving something-something, heh.

[@saturnjason]

@@forouza1 wait...what?...where do I get one, and how long til its available?

[@saturnjason]

(sorry, replied from the bell icon, and didn't see these in order)

[@coulterjb22]

I noticed the same thing on other maker's printers. Not much of a response. It might be they need to add more LEDs and remove the plastic grid mount altogether. Raise the lens off of the machine to where it is now. Most LED printers are pretty much the same core design is the conclusion I've come to.

[@Cloakfiend]

Then they really need to sort this issue out and atop burying their heads in the sand. I mean to think making even bigger printers and just ignoring the issue just seems ridicoulous to me.

[@coulterjb22]

@@Cloakfiend I hearya. I think the technology is advancing so quickly, each company is rushing to market. But they are also pushing the tech quicker than ever. The cost/speed of these printers is amazing and coupled with an increasing lineup of different resins is making these so attractive now. Thanks for getting the word out about the grid lines. Most didn't notice and wrote it off as the other guy has a bad printer. Either way, I'm loving the fact the technology is advancing so quickly. The thing that surprises me is how slow the slicing software industry is moving. FDM slicers are so bloated trying to make up for poorly calibrated printer beds it makes Chitubox look like a pre-school coloring book.

[@Cloakfiend]

@@coulterjb22 the main problem with all the resin printers is that they all use the same core parts which have not been tuned at all. Just generic from the creators. I hope with all the chat now these companies actually fine tune them so we the consumer can get better results and they sell more printers. Its a win win for everyone.

[@coulterjb22]

@@Cloakfiend Me too.

[@darren990]

try printing it out of clear filement aswell give that a try

[@Cloakfiend]

It has to block the light though it needs to be dark.

[@fredgl01]

Tried clear, worse than Black. Tried NO GRID, it yields super hot spots, in the center of each LED.

[@darren990]

@@fredgl01 the black grid must contain the light then.maybe some sort of filter would do semmy tranprant but more clear

[@deiviuds]

Why doesn't you get rid of the grid in the middle? I don't see the point on it, because the only job job of this piece is to lift the lens, plus if you print in pure white or make it from an aluminum/metalic part it could be even brighter!

[@deiviuds]

Some thoughts and facts: - An array of hard light points (as in the LED's and in the lenses) can create a problem with multishadow cast, a layer of diffusion is a solution as you tried, but the reduction of the light as in a ND, as you've mentioned in a past video, is due to two things, the placement of the sheet is in an out of focus position from the projection pattern of the lens, and this doesn't solve the problem if the pattern is still visible; the second thing is light absorption, and different materials have different behaviors affecting the entire light spectrum, maybe the material was interfering with the 400ish nm frequency, thus maybe explaining the bad curing and the glossiness, because if you compensated correctly the exposure time, it shouldn't have any problem - Another thing is that this grid panel, in the photography world is similar to a honeycomb array, and sometimes it can create the same problems of multishadow cast, and it's uses are to reduce the light exposure and focus the beam angle. - And you are 100% correct to complaint! If you bought a product, you want to make it work as it should, but it has a problem from the manufacturer that doesn't give the results consistently, and the visible inconsistency is shown during any printing make some parts looking good os some not... But I am just curious on how other people aren't complaining of the same thing, because it is clearly visible!

[@Cloakfiend]

@@deiviuds this is a weird issue that many people i have asked have simply put up with or as in the case of some you tube reviewers not mentioned. I mean with all the youtube reviewers out there and not one mentioned this problem... well that just goes to show how little attention these people pay to actual quality and detail. And the internal grid is designed to stop the led light interfering with each other. They have been redesigned now apparently. The weird lines are from bad led design leading to shadow projection. All diffusion produces a gloss finish. I just stripped an lcd backlight off and may try that out out of curiosity but i hear its already been done.