(WORKING) Nicks-Fix "Continuous IPA Filtration" system

The alcohol used to wash UV resin printed parts can get slimy as snot in no time at all; fortunately this issue now has a solution!


Who

Nick Wilson of the Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@nicks-fix posted a video about a new Continuous IPA Filtration system he had created.  The breakthrough for me was seeing someone pair up the cheap water filters I had already rejected with an alcohol safe diaphragm pump to handle the pressure needed to use those cheap filters!  (...and WHY didn't I think of that?)

Resin Printer Mods and Continuous IPA Filtration!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfM1CXBOZns


The Basics
  1. Expose the resin containing alcohol to a UV light source
    • Creates a suspension of really tiny & very hard to remove, plastic particles within the alcohol
  2. Separating out these miniscule lightweight plastic bits is harder than one might expect
    • All of the other separation methods had some significant negative, from added cost or labor to increased exposure to chemicals
    • Nick's design used a diaphragm pump to push this nasty alcohol solution through some easily changeable water filters


Background

I have made many unsatisfactory attempts to reclaim some usable alcohol from the resinous sludge left behind after washing resin prints.  The only reliable solution found to date is exposing the mix to UV light, which fortunately & unfortunately hardens each super tiny dissolved particle of resin, creating a gel like plastic/alcohol suspension that is not fun to separate and less fun to use.


What


Why

Nick's continuous filter system enables me to run resin prints through my wash and cure station without additional alcohol rinses.  

      1. <1min - Parts have already been dripping for at least a few minutes, Tilt parts 45 degrees and drip for another few minutes
      2. <2min - Rinse in gooey slimy alcohol to get most of the excess resin off (Nasty alcohol)
      3. <variable> - Remove supports
      4. <2min - Run through a 30 minute wash cycle (medium cleanliness alcohol)
      5. <5min - Hand spray with New alcohol (unused alcohol)
      6. <5min - Dry with compressed air
      1. <1min - Parts have already been dripping for at least a few minutes, Tilt parts 45 degrees and drip for another few minutes
      2. <variable> - Remove supports
      3. <2min - Run through a 30 minute wash cycle (clean? alcohol)
      4. <5min -Dry with compressed air



How

...



Revision #12
Created 14 April 2024 21:59:04 by smokintbird
Updated 19 April 2024 15:49:45 by smokintbird