Preface:
The upgrading of 3D printing resin printers has brought larger printing sizes, more detailed sizes, and faster printing speeds. For resins, as the types of resins continue to increase, there are more resins for various purposes. In this case, for the post-curing part, the curing time of different resins is not always the same.
Too short curing time: incomplete curing
Too long curing time: overexposure and yellowing
At the same time, I found that the manufacturers of curing boxes always mark the power of the UV lamp, but not the intensity of the UV lamp. This is very inconvenient when we need to test or use it.
If we know the intensity of the UV lamp, we can use and test it very conveniently.
Test model:
- Uniformation cure 3
- Elegoo Mercury XS
- Industrial curing box (For comparison only)
Light intensity test instrument:
LS125 Multi-Probe UV light meter Host
Test method:
- Place the probe on the UV station with the sensor facing up.
- Turn on the UV station and then record three times
- Summarize the results and compare them
Uniformation cure 3
Elegoo Mercury XS
Industrial curing box
Result&Analyze
From the results, we know that the average light intensity:
Uniformation cure 3, 7011μW/cm²,
Elegoo Mercury XS, 15238μW/cm²,
Industrial curing box , 208880μW/cm².
There is a huge difference between desktop and industrial grades, with the light intensity difference exceeding 10 times.
Because we need to consider more than just theoretical situations. So what about the actual situation?
I found some very interesting situations
- Industrial-grade UV Station, the internal temperature rises very quickly
- Industrial-grade UV Station, the internal wall has a reflective layer.
In terms of the use of machines with strong light intensity, it means that if the user does not have professional knowledge, it is easy to cause over-curing or yellowing of the print. While slight yellowing will change and have little impact.
But this process is not always reversible, it has a certain threshold. You may need to care about this point.
This is the end of the test. This may provide you with useful reference information and help your project.
