EPAX 3D X156 15.6 Inch 4K Color LCD 3D Printer User Manual

: June 4, 2024
: EPAX 3D

Table of Contents

EPAX 3D X156 15.6 Inch 4K Color LCD 3D Printer
Technical Specifications
Touchscreen Menus
EPAX Resins
Slicing Software – ChiTuBox
Slicer Operations
The Printing Process
Troubleshooting
Warnings
Returns and Refunds
References
Read User Manual Online (PDF format)
Download This Manual (PDF format)

EPAX 3D X156 15.6 Inch 4K Color LCD 3D Printer

EPAX-3D-X156-15.6-Inch-4K-Color-LCD-3D-Printer-product

Technical Specifications

EPAX 3D

| ****

---|---|---|---

Model Name

| ****

EPAX E6 UV LCD 3D Printer

| EPAX E10 4K UV LCD 3D PRINTER| EPAX E10 5K UV LCD 3D PRINTER
Build Volume (LWH)| ****

128mm81mm155mm

| ****

192mm120mm250mm

| ****

221.4mm129.6mm250mm

9 x 8 x 15 inches

| ****

13 x 12.25 x 21.25 inches

| ****

13 x 12.25 x 21.25 inches

Product Weight| 20lbs| 40lbs| 40lbs

Platform

EPAX 3D

| ****

|
---|---|---|---|---

Model Name

| EPAX X1-N UV LCD 3D

Printer

| EPAX X1-N-DJ UV LCD

3D Printer

| EPAX X1K 6” UV LCD

3D Printer

| EPAX X1-4K UV LCD 3D

Printer

Build Volume (LWH)| ****

115mm65mm155mm

| ****

115mm65mm155mm

Connectivity

| USB Flash Drive, Ethernet| USB Flash Drive, Ethernet| USB Flash Drive, Ethernet| USB Flash Drive, Ethernet
Wi-Fi| No| No| No| No
Product Size (WDH)| ****

9.5 x 10 x 17 Inches

| ****

9.5 x 10 x 17 Inches

| ****

9.5 x 10 x 17 Inches

| ****

9.5 x 10 x 17 Inches

Product Weight| 25lbs| 25lbs| 25lbs| 25lbs

Platform/Vat

EPAX 3D

| ****

| |
---|---|---|---|---

Model Name

| EPAX X10 4K UV LCD

3D Printer

| EPAX X10 5K UV LCD

3D Printer

| EPAX X133 UV LCD 3D

Printer

| EPAX X156 UV LCD 3D

Printer

Build Volume (LWH)| ****

192mm120mm250mm

Resolution

| ****

3840*2400 (4K)

| 14402560 (2K Color) or 49202880 (5K Mono)| ****

3840×2160 (4K)

| ****

3840×2160 (4K)

Layer Thickness| 0.02 ~ 0.1 mm| 0.02 ~ 0.1 mm| 0.05~0.1mm| 0.05~0.1mm

Connectivity

| USB Flash Drive, Ethernet| USB Flash Drive, Ethernet| USB Flash Drive, Ethernet| USB Flash Drive, Ethernet
Wi-Fi| No| No| No| No
Product Size (WDH)| ****

14.5 x 15 x 21 Inches

| ****

14.5 x 15 x 21 Inches

| ****

18 x 15 x 31 Inches

| ****

20 x 17 x 31 Inches

Product Weight| 50lbs| 50lbs| 115lbs| 125lbs

Platform

Light Source

| ****

Parallel Light Matrix

| Parallel Light Matrix (5K only)| ****

LED Matrix

| ****

LED Matrix

File Type

| ****

.ctb

| .cbddlp (2K only)

.ctb(5K only)

| .ctb

.cbddlp

| .ctb

.cbddlp

Max Resin Volume| 900mL (With Platform)| 900mL (With Platform)| 1700mL (With Platform)| 2300mL (With Platform)

Touchscreen Menus

New UI EPAX-3D-X156-15.6-Inch-4K-Color-LCD-3D-Printer-
fig-10

EPAX Resins

EPAX developed the resins below for our customers. They have been printed continuously in our factory for our printer R&D and testing needs EPAX-
3D-X156-15.6-Inch-4K-Color-LCD-3D-Printer-fig-11--

Slicing Software – ChiTuBox

Installation

For the latest slicer download, please visit: https://www.chitubox.com/download.html

Slicer Settings

You can ﬁnd the most up-to-date resin settings for EPAX and eSUN resins here: https://epax3d.com/pages/resin-settings
For additional machine settings and print settings. you may also visit: https://epax3d.com/pages/slicer-settings-chitubox
The latest version of ChiTuBox also has settings preloaded for most models. See below for where to ﬁnd the printers. EPAX-3D-X156-15.6-Inch-4K-Color-LCD-
3D-Printer-fig-12

The settings include the Machine Settings (machine volume size, resolution, etc.) as well as basic Print Settings (print layer height, bottom layers, bottom exposure time and regular exposure time, etc.) for our resins under average printing conditions. If your model does not show up in ChiTuBox’s presets, or the predeﬁned proﬁle does not match your machine, you can create a generic proﬁle and enter the values yourself. See below for where to ﬁnd the generic proﬁle. EPAX-3D-X156-15.6-Inch-4K-Color-LCD-3D-Printer-
fig-13

If you are using a resin that is not EPAX or eSUN, we recommend talking to the resin manufacturer about settings. We can try to get you a starting point, but we do not test many other resins on our machines. For assistance at any time please visit our Facebook group. Many of our users are very active and give advice on the page, including slicer settings for speciﬁc resins. Request to join at the link below: https://www.facebook.com/groups/epax3d We also answer questions during our business hours Monday through Friday, 9 am to 5 pm EST USA.

Print Settings

The correct Print Settings are critical for successful and detailed prints, but there is an acceptable range for most types of resin. Some resins are also impacted by the temperature in the printing environment and you will need to adjust your settings accordingly. Generally, resins prefer warm temperatures, and many do well between 25°C and 30°C (~77°F and 85°F).

Layer Height: 0.05mm is recommended (range: 0.02- 0.1mm (0.05-0.1mm on X156/X133)). The thicker the layer height, the longer the exposure time per layer needed.
Exposure Time: Varies depending on resin. Usually between 6-15s on a color screen and 1.5-3s on a mono screen.
Bottom Exposure Time: Varies depending on resin. Usually between 35-60s on a color screen and 20-35 on a mono screen.
- The longer the bottom exposure time, the better the bottom layer will stick to the plate. Longer exposure times decrease the lifespan of your ﬁlm and LCD screen because it essentially bakes them.
- X156 bottom exposure can go as high as the 90s for large/heavier prints.
Bottom Layer Count: 4 – 8, depending on the model.
Light Delay: Not needed so it can be set to 0
Lift Distance/Bottom Lift Distance: Varies depending on the printer. Preset fairly conservatively on ChiTuBox
Lifting Speed/Bottom Lift Speed: 40-60 mm/min is optimal to work on all of our printers and print jobs
Retract Speed: 150mm/min is optimal to work on all of our printers and print jobs

There are some major diﬀerences in settings depending on the size of the printer and which type of LCD screen it is using (Color vs Mono):
Normal Exposure Time – The General rule of thumb is that mono screens require approximately ⅓ to ¼ of color screens’ values. The exact time will vary based on the resin being used.
Bottom Exposure Time – Another general rule is that the mono screen value is usually about ½ of color screens. Again exact time will vary based on resin being used.
Bottom Lift Distance – Larger printers require higher lifting distances
Lifting Distance – Larger printers requires higher lifting distances Some settings can be adjusted to increase the speed of a print. These settings require experimentation on the end user to adjust to reliable settings and also have consequences if not carefully monitored:
Layer Height – Increasing the layer height will lower the overall amount of time needed to print. The consequence will be some increased exposure times. For example at 0.1mm vs 0.05mm, you would essentially cut the print time in half. How much to increase exposure time depends on the resin. Printing at 0.1mm instead of 0.05 does not mean doubling the exposure time.
Lifting Speed – Increasing this will speed up how fast the build plate lifts the print oﬀ of the ﬁlm.
WARNING: Going too fast could result in failed prints or torn ﬁlm meaning wasted resin and potential damage to the screen/machine. Do not increase too much. This is a setting that you progressively increase the more comfortable you feel with the print job being able to handle the speed.
Retract Speed – Increasing this will speed up the build plate lowering back down after lifting.
WARNING: Going too fast could result in prints prematurely lowering before resin ﬁlls in gaps in the vat. This will result in missing layers and potentially broken or failed prints. This is a setting that you progressively increase the more comfortable you feel with the print job being able to handle the speed. Lifting Distance/ Bottom Lift Distance: The Larger the printer means that values increase. The preset values we have on our website, and in ChiTuBox can be decreased depending on the print job and layer height to save a little extra time. It won’t save much though and can be a bit harder to get right.
WARNING: Lowering too far can result in the print not fully peeling oﬀ of the ﬁlm. This can result in missing layers, failed prints, and broken FTP in special cases.

Slicer Operations

There are many useful operations in the ChiTuBox slicer. If you need additional assistance, remember that our Facebook group is a great resource. You can also email EPAX directly and we will be glad to help. Here is more information about the options in your slicer.

Supports

Many complex designs/models will need additional support while printing. (All supports will need to connect with the foundation or stable part of the print for success. You can always remove them from your ﬁnal product.) The Supports menu is located on the top right beside the Settings icon. The types of support that can be conﬁgured are Light, Medium, and Heavy. Each choice has default settings that can be adjusted via the top, middle, bottom, and raft areas. Learning how to use support properly stems from experience.

Light: Small Contact area. Best for small prints and in detailed areas.
Medium: Larger contact area, and stronger than light supports.
Heavy: Largest contact area and the strongest support setting.
Raft: Base the support sits on. Best used for prints where no part of it is touching the build platform i.e. the print is suspended. Can be edited for stronger adhesion to the build platform.

Hollowing

If you would like to save on resin, or you printing a very large and heavy piece, you may want to consider hollowing the print. When using the hollowing feature, make sure to create vent holes near the bottom of the print (closest to the build plate) and drainage holes near the top of the print (closest to vat). Ventilation holes are necessary to avoid a vacuum eﬀect causing failed prints or torn nFEP ﬁlm. Drainage holes are necessary to drain out liquid resin that could be present in the print. Liquid resin inside will eventually cause damage to the outer areas of the print.

Slicing and Saving the ﬁles

Once you are done setting up the ﬁle and getting the settings correct in your slicer, you should now Slice the ﬁle. Slicing the ﬁle will create a .ctb or .cbddlp ﬁle, which you can then save to the USB stick and it is ready for printing. This is the process that creates the individual layers on a print. If you attempt to slice a ﬁle that is already sliced, you may end up with a non-working ﬁle. Note that most of our printers use the .ctb ﬁle format exclusively. If you are unsure of which ﬁle format you should use, please refer to the tables in Section I.

Here are some tips

Make sure not to remove the USB until your ﬁle is completely exported. If ejected before being 100% saved, your model will be incomplete when printed.
We have test prints available on our website if you would like to run one before trying your own models. https://epax3d.com/pages/slicer-settings-chitubox

Ethernet/Network Printing

If you ﬁnd that utilizing the USB stick to print is too inconvenient, you may also opt to remotely send prints via the network feature. To set this up, connect your printer with an ethernet cable to your wireless router. Now go to network and toggle on ethernet. Wi-Fi shows up as an option, but there is no Wi-Fi adapter in the printer. An IP address will then ﬁll in and green LED should now be illuminated where the cable is plugged in. Plug in the USB as you will need the storage for the prints to be received by the printer. Load the latest version of ChiTuBox, and slice a ﬁle. You will be presented with the option to save or send the ﬁle to the network. Select “Network Sending,” and you should see all of the EPAX printers that are connected to your network. If this is your ﬁrst time, you may need to select the refresh icon.

Note that you can click on the pencil icon and rename what each IP address is called.
Now press the send button. You should see it showing the progress where it says “Send ﬁle to the printer…”
When the sending is complete, it will ask if you would like to print the ﬁle. If you select “OK” it will start printing. If you hit “Cancel” it will not print. However, the ﬁle will still be on the printer’s USB memory card, where you will be able to manually start from the printer’s touch screen.

NOTE: Sending a print via network requires a good amount of bandwidth to be available. We recommend not sending a .cbddlp ﬁle over the network as they are very large in comparison to the .ctb ﬁle format which is more compressed. If you ﬁnd that you are running into issues where the network is timing out quite a bit, you may not have enough bandwidth to support network send.

The Printing Process

Make sure your machine is placed on a stable, ﬂat surface.

Install the Build Platform and Resin Vat Insert the build platform into the Z-axis build arm. Make sure you slide the platform plate onto the arm. You should have a black knob screw to secure the build platform onto the arm. It is very important that you have slid the platform into the correct position fully, and secured it well.

Turn on the printer and complete an “Auto Home”. Go to Tools > Manual > Home icon.

Once homed, you may use the touch screen arrows to raise the platform to the middle of the Z-axis. Now you may insert the resin vat into the platform. On X series the vat slides in, and on the E series the vat is slotted in from above. Make sure the vat is placed in the correct direction. X series vats will have a drainage groove in the front right of the vat, and E series vats will have slots for a handle in the front. Secure the vat using the provided screws or knobs, and then you are ready to add resin into the vat.
NOTE: Our printers are pre-leveled from the factory. You do not need to relevel the platform! EPAX-3D-X156-15.6-Inch-4K-Color-LCD-3D-Printer-
fig-21

Load Resin

Each resin vat has a maximum capacity with and without the build plate. You may refer to the tables in section 1 for the max capacity of the vat with the platform in it. It is highly recommended to only ﬁll to about ⅓ of this capacity when ﬁrst starting the print so that you do not risk resin overﬂow. Unless you are utilizing the full build volume, you will rarely ever need to ﬁll the vat to max capacity.

EXTREME CAUTION! Always wear gloves, goggles, and a mask for your protection. If liquid resin gets on your skin, immediately wash the aﬄicted area with soap and hot water.

Starting the print

Insert the USB into the printer. Select a ﬁle with the correct format. You may download a test ﬁle for your model from our website or slice your own. Press the play button to start the print. During the printing process, you must close the top cover to avoid light aﬀecting the curing process and seal in the fumes generated by the warming resin. It is recommended to print a test ﬁle as the ﬁrst ﬁle printed with your new printer. The ﬁle was already tested and works. Doing so will establish a good baseline for future support needs and if you need to make adjustments to your slicer settings. If you ﬁnd that you are running low on the resin in the vat during a print, don’t worry. Press Pause, wait for the build plate to rise up, then pour in more resin slowly and onto the angled platform so that the resin drips into the vat.

WARNING: Pouring room temp. resin directly into resin warmed by printing may induce a temp. shock to the resin. This could cause some roughness or failures in layers of the print. For the ﬁrst print, it is a good idea to check on the print after around 30 minutes to conﬁrm that the ﬁrst layers stuck to the build platform. If it looks good, then resume printing.

If the print does not stick to the build platform, then you need to modify your design by adding more support, changing orientation, or adjusting the ﬁrst several layers’ exposure time.
Typically the ﬁrst several layers require at least 35 seconds each depending on resin and room temperature.

Post-Processing

When the printing is done, wait until no more residual resin drips from the platform, and wear gloves before removing it. You can wipe oﬀ any residual resin as well. Twist the knob screw counterclockwise and take oﬀ the build platform. An eﬀective way to remove a print is to use the metal spatula to dig between the base and the platform, and then use the plastic spatula as a wedge to release the print. Soak the print in at least 91% IPA (Isopropyl alcohol) for about 5-10 minutes. This helps to clean oﬀ residual liquid resin on the print. Substitute water if you are using a Water Washable resin. After your model is clean, put it in a cool, dry, well-ventilated area until it dries. Please make sure to still be wearing gloves during this time. To cure it, you may use a UV light machine for a few minutes or expose it directly to sunlight. If using sunlight, we recommend submerging the print in water (unless using WW resin) and putting it in direct sunlight for a few hours.

Troubleshooting

There are many resources available online to help you troubleshoot problems. You can ﬁnd a list of error codes and tips here: https://epax3d.com/pages/troubleshooting
You can also join our Facebook Group to get help from other users, especially if you need help tuning slicer settings. Since we don’t typically test third- party resins, we can only give a general idea of where to start. There are many users who have used a variety of resins and can help the best when it comes to dialing in settings. Each particular model might need special support thickness and positions. These are the experience-related questions which we rely on our community to help each other. Most of them are just ﬁne tuning your slicer settings for the particular scenario. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you may have in our Facebook group:
www.facebook.com/groups/epax3d
If you need additional support you may contact us via Facebook messenger (You can use the chat window on the epax3d.com page) or email us directly at support@epax3d.com. We provide technical support Monday-Friday 9 am to 5 pm EST. Any questions related to your order may be directed to our sales team at sales@epax3d.com.

Warnings

When you ﬁnd that a print has failed or there is solid residue in the resin vat, you must ﬁlter the resin in order to protect the LCD. Clean the resin in the resin vat by ﬁltering out the solid residue using one of the provided ﬁlters or a paint ﬁlter which can be found online or at your local hardware store. If ignored, when the build plate dips into the vat, the force of the plate may crush residues, puncture the ﬁlm and damage the LCD. This is a costly mistake.
If there is residual resin in the resin vat or on the build plate’s outer surface, please clean with a soft tissue soaked in IPA to avoid it dropping into the machine and curing inside.
Always wear gloves, a respirator mask and protective goggles when handling liquid resin or a print before the post-processing. Only touch the print without gloves after it’s been fully cleaned and cured!
Print in a well-ventilated area. It is strongly recommended to use a vent fan drawing air around the printer to outside the building. Resin fumes can cause lung irritation!

It is strongly recommended that you watch our tutorial videos before operating your printer for the ﬁrst time.

For printer instructions, videos, ﬁrmware updates, and more please visit www.epax3d.com.
You can also search “EPAX 3D” on Youtube.
Customer Support Email: support@epax3d.com
For printer replacement parts, supplies and a variety of resin options, visit www.epax3d.com.
Join us on our Facebook group for active discussions and knowledge-sharing: https://www.facebook.com/groups/epax3d/

Warranty Information

Our printers have a 1-year warranty that begins from the date you receive your printer.
Please note: The LCD screen, film, pre-cut tape, filters and resin are consumable technology which are NOT covered by this warranty. The warranty is also NOT valid for international (non-USA) orders due to high shipping costs. If you are outside of the USA, please consider purchasing from our distributors with warranty. All other components of the printer are covered by the warranty. In the event of a defect, we will ship you replacement parts free of charge. It does not void the warranty if you open your printer and perform maintenance. Our printers were designed to be user-friendly both inside and out. Warranty does not cover user related damages and tears, due to accidents, normal wear and tear, improper care andmis-use. If you need parts for repair or to perform maintenance on your printer for you, we are happy to send them. We will provide parts and labor, but you must cover the round trip shipping costs and any price of parts not under warranty. You may use your preferred carrier.

Returns and Refunds

If for some reason you decide our printer is not for you, simply contact us within 30 days from the date of your purchase. You must cover the return shipping back to the warehouse, but you will receive a full refund if the printer is unopened when returned to us.For opened/used printers there is a 15% restocking fee and if any parts/accessories are missing you will not be refunded for those items.

EPAX 3D X156 15.6 Inch 4K Color LCD 3D Printer

Technical Specifications

Touchscreen Menus

EPAX Resins

Slicing Software – ChiTuBox

Slicer Operations

The Printing Process

Troubleshooting

Warnings

Returns and Refunds

References

Read User Manual Online (PDF format)

Download This Manual (PDF format)

Related Manuals