3D model description
This is a VAT drainer for the Elegoo Mars 3. There are various VAT drainer out there but I have not found one that fulfilled my needs to 100% and is safe to operate.
Especially since the VAT of the Mars 3 is oddly shaped and can thus fall out of some drainers or can topple them over. The Mars 3 VAT has not a really good corner where you can pour out the resin without creating a small mess. I wanted a light-weight VAT drainer that does not take up a lot of space nor requires tooling for building a dedicated VAT drainer stand.
A complete list of features I integrated into VAT drainer design:
1. can be directly screwed ontop of the standard brown resin bottles from Elegoo, Anycubic, etc.
1.1. (other threads can be designed on request)
2. has a small pocket where a cut-down filter/sieve fits in if needed, see image
3. holds the vat neatly in place without large wobbling and cannot touch and damage the FEP sheet by accident
4. the center of mass of the VAT is placed exactly in the center line of the bottle when placed onto the VAT drainer. This reduces the risk of toppling over dramatically.
How to use it:
0. (optional) cut down a standard filter/sieve in size so it fits the extra pocket with small retained edge
1. screw the VAT drainer ontop of your bottle
2.1 if VAT is quite full: slightly tilt the bottle with VAT drainer so you can better insert the Mars 3 VAT without accidentally pouring resin everywhere because of the suboptimal Mars 3 VAT design.
2.2 if VAT is quite empty: place bottle on flat table and insert VAT with one hand while stabilizing the bottle with the other
3. leave the bottle + drainer + VAT on a flat table where you cannot ba accident kick it over.
4. when the VAT is empty, take a napkin, remove the VAT and clean the VAT corners.
How to print it:
It can be printed with FDM or SLA. The design is largely print-in-place, i.e., drop it as is on the build plate. Make sure you have good bed/build plate adhesion, e.g. add a brim to it, see image for FDM print. The small arm benefits from support structures and I recommend using them. It will print also without but the outside finish then looks meh. The inside structure that holds the VAT will be good however. Don't print any support structures where the threads are! You will have a hard time removing them later. Learn from my mistakes :-)
3D printing settings
For FDM:
I went with my standard print settings of Voron parts: 4 perimeters, 40% infill, 0.2mm layer height. I'm certain that you don't need that many perimeters and infill. Use your settings you print strucutral parts with and you will be fine. The drainer is sturdy enough, I stepped by accident on it when taking the photos and it is still going strong.
Just make sure your printer is not underextruding and can print water- tight/resin-tight perimeters. I used ABS and vapor smoothed it afterwards to make 100% sure that all walls are guaranteed resin-tight.
For SLA:
I recommend using a blend of ABS-like resin and Siraya Tech Tenacious 3:1 or 4:1 to give the drainer some flex sturdiness. Everything else your standard SLA print settings (might be adjusted slightly when adding Tenacious).