Have you ever wondered if the yellow/orange plastic windows that all resin/SLA 3D printers have are sufficient?
Here’s your answer:
interesting data points:
- 500nm: 54.9% (transmission)
- 490nm: 37.9%
- 480nm: 16.9%
- 470nm: 1.6%
- 460nm: 0.3%
**What does this mean? Feel free to comment. **
My take:
First of all, this instrument is not designed to measure OD, so it can barely measure down to OD3. The actual value for 400-450nm could be lower (e.g. 0.001-0.0001% transmission).
SLA 3D printers work at 405nm. This means that the enclosure will likely protect you from the UV radiation of the printer. This is good news.
Does it also protect the resin from sunlight? To answer this question, it is important to understand how the resin behaves to wavelengths above 460nm (not measured). In my practical experience, it does not provide adequate protection. Clean the vat after each print or add another light-blocking layer for (short-term) storage.-
So having my printer sitting next to my cure station is perfectly fine
Especially considering the light has to go through 2 of the covers to get to the resin
Thank you for the info, I’d love to see the numbers for the smaller wavelengths but I have no idea the kind of equipment cost it’d take to get those.
0.3%. Instrument limitation. So it’s actually <0.3% for 465nm to 200nm.