Changing the Printing Material

Before producing 3D prints using a different type of printing material than is currently installed, run the Material Replacement wizard to flush the print block and feed tubes.

After using the wizard to change the support material and certain model materials, Head Optimization is required before printing.
You should carefully plan production of 3D prints with different materials to avoid unnecessary waste of the materials currently loaded. The amount of material flushed depends on the flushing cycle chosen and if you are replacing one or more cartridges.
The Material Replacement wizard suggests the best slot locations for placing different material cartridges, based on the materials currently in the system. This ensures minimum flushing of materials currently loaded.
Note: When performing manual material replacement, certain replacement options are blocked to protect the system. In these cases, follow the recommendations of the Material Replacement wizard for best replacement options.
To replace the printing material with the wizard:
1.   Start the Material Replacement wizard from the Options menu.
2.   In the opening screen, click Next.
3.   If the printer cover is not closed, a screen appears, prompting you to close the cover. Confirm that it is closed and click Next.
When SUP705/705B Support material is loaded, Digital Anatomy materials cannot be used.
To print Digital Anatomy models, use SUP706/706B Support material.
4.   Choose the configuration for producing 3D prints:
•   7 Materials (High Mix / High Quality)
•   3 Materials (High Speed)
•   Single Material (Super High Speed)

7 Materials (High Mix / High Quality)

Each print head is loaded with two different materials, or cleanser, if relevant.

You can print with any single material, or with a combination of them. High-speed printing is not available, but high-quality 3D prints can be produced.

When using fewer than 7 model materials, you can use cleanser instead of the model materials, as follows:

•   One channel of each print head can be loaded with cleanser.
•   M1 and M7 cannot be loaded with cleanser.
•   If you insert, 2 cleansers, they cannot be in adjacent compartments.
•   If you insert 3 cleansers, they can only be loaded into compartments M2, M4, and M6

For example, you can load 4 model materials, 3 cleansers, and 1 support material. When you print in this material configuration, the print mode is still High Quality / High Mix.

Tips about loading and replacing cleanser cartridges:
  • In High Mix/High Quality, other material cabinet configurations are possible as long as there is only 1 cleanser in each print head, but not in the M1 and M7 compartments.
  • Switching between model materials and cleansers requires running the Material Replacement wizard.
  • Switching between print modes requires running the Material Replacement wizard.
  • It takes longer to run the Material Replacement wizard when switching from cleansers to model materials, compared to switching from model materials to cleansers.

3 Materials (High Speed)

Both sections of each print head are loaded with the same material.

Three model materials are available with high-speed printing.

Single Material (Super High Speed)

Both sections of two print heads are loaded with the same model material.
Both sections of two print heads are loaded with Support material.

This mode produces parts in Super High Speed mode, at a layer resolution of 55 microns.

5.   In the Required materials section of the wizard screen, select one or more replacement materials cartridges.
6.   For model materials, select Both if you need to load two replacement cartridges.

Loading one replacement cartridge is more economical because it potentially requires less flushing of material currently in the system. However, when one cartridge is not sufficient, loading two cartridges enables continuous printing until the print job is completed. When one cartridge empties and the other one is being used, you can replace the empty cartridge with a new one.

7.   For Support material, select the number of cartridges to replace.
•   In High Mix / High Quality and High Speed modes, you can print using one or two Support cartridges.
•   In Super High Speed mode, at least two Support cartridges are required; you can print with up to four Support cartridges.
8.   If the color or mechanical properties of the first 3D prints are unimportant, and if you did not change the printing mode (High Quality/Speed) you can replace the model materials without flushing out the current materials. To do so, continue with Changing Model Materials Without Flushing.
9.   To flush out material currently in the system, choose the flushing cycle that fits your needs:
The default flushing cycle is the one used for the last material replacement.
•   Economy. This cycle can be used when replacing a light-colored model material with a darker material (such as Agilus30 Black™ or VeroBlack™) or if the exact color of the 3D print is unimportant. Use this cycle when replacing cleaning fluid with any model material.

The wizard flushes the system with the minimum amount of material needed to ensure that 3D prints have the mechanical properties of the new material.

•   Full. Use this cycle when the 3D print must have the exact color of the new material.

The wizard thoroughly flushes the feed tubes and print heads needed for printing, based on your selections in the previous screens.

There are additional settings that you can select for special purposes (see Advanced Settings). If necessary, click Advanced Settings before clicking Next.
10.   Click Next to begin the material replacement process in the printer.

The Cartridge Positioning screen appears, showing you the new location of all cartridges in the material cabinet.

Symbols:

The correct cartridge is in this slot.

No cartridge (or the incorrect cartridge) is in this slot.

The cartridge in this slot has insufficient weight to complete the material replacement process.

The expiration date of the cartridge in this slot has passed.

11.   Replace material cartridges as necessary, according to the instructions in the wizard screen.
12.   Click Start.
13.   Read the warning message, and click OK.
If you continue, you must complete the material replacement process before you can produce 3D prints. To replace material cartridges at another time, click Cancel. If you continue (by clicking OK) and you do not complete the process, you will need to run the wizard again before producing 3D prints.
14.   In the final wizard screen, click Done.

The printer-control application is automatically updated, and it restarts.

When it opens, the interface displays the new material(s).

The interface in the job preparation application is also updated, and it displays the new material(s).

15.   Inspect the area around the purge unit and clean it, if necessary.
Before printing, you need to run the Head Optimization wizard in these cases:

• after replacing Vero with Digital ABS or Agilus30 model materials (and the reverse)
• after changing the type of Support material (SUP705/705B/706/706B)
 • after replacing the Support material with cleaning fluid (and the reverse)
See Optimizing (Calibrating) Print Heads
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