• Wear dedicated protective work clothes and shoes.

• Wear splash goggles when working with NaOH.

• Wear min. 0.22mm (0.008”) nitrile gloves, which fully cover the wrist.

Gloves must cover the sleeves on the lab coat.

Do not use short gloves, never have bare skin.

• Review MSDS before use and wear appropriate PPE.

• When mixing the demolding solution, fill vat with water and then mix in NaOH pellets. Water and NaOH create an exothermic reaction which can splatter if water is poured unto NaOH.

• Due to corrosive properties of NaOH solution, do not use any metal tools with the machine which have not been explicitly recommended by Nexa3D. 

• Store chemicals ventilated, on a drip tray.

• Demolding machines should be placed under fume hood.

1  Pour cold water in the demolding station, filling it halfway.

2  Weigh out the appropriate amount of NaOH pellets, for a 1M solution. 1L of water requires 40g of pellets, i.e., a 40L vat will require 1600g of NaOH.

3  Gently pour the pellets into the demolding vat.

4  Add remaining water to the demolding station

1  Switch on the machine and set temperature to 70°C.

2 Wait for the machine to heat up. You can expect a heating speed of 1-3C per minute.

4  Close the machine lid and wait for items to demold, checking progress hourly or daily, depending on size. Expect dissolving at 0.5mm of thickness per hour

5  Once demolded, remove from demolding vat.

6  Rinse the demolded parts in water to remove any residual demolding solution.

Replacing demolding solution

Empty machine

1. Switch off heating and leave to cool to 30-40C.
2. Neutralize solution by adding 72g per L of citric acid.
3. Let the agitation in the vat mix the citric acid into the solution for 30-60 seconds, before switching off the machine.
4. Attach hose to drain valve (making such it is completely secure
5. Place the opposite end of the hose in a certified chemical waste container.
6. Open the valve and let the fluid drain, making sure not to overfill your waste container. If the container becomes sufficiently full before the vat is emptied, simply close the valve and place the hose in a second container.
7. Once fully drained, close the valve, remove the hose and secure the waste containers.

Clean empty machine

1. Wipe off any resin residue inside the machine using paper towels.
2. For machines which use pumps, remove the pump intake screen and remove any clogging agents with paper towels or water, before reattaching it.

Fill machine

Follow the steps in ‘Preparing Demolding solution’, these are:

1. Pour cold water in the demolding vat, filling it halfway.
2. Weight out the appropriate amount of NaOH pellets, for a 1M solution. 1L of water requires 40g of pellets, i.e., a 40L vat will require 1600g of NaOH.
3. Gently pour the pellets into the demolding vat.
4. Add more water to the demolding vat, until the water reaches 0.5-1 inch below the max line.

General cleaning

Keep the exterior and surroundings of the machine clean, by wiping any spills immediately.

Between uses

Wait

Not in use – short term

Switch off the machine and keep lid closed to limit evaporation.

Not in use – long term

Empty machine

1. Switch off heating and leave to cool to 30-40C.
2. Neutralize solution by adding 72g per L of citric acid.
3. Let the agitation in the vat mix the citric acid into the solution for 30-60 seconds, before switching off the machine.
4. Attach hose to drain valve (making such it is completely secure
5. Place the opposite end of the hose in a certified chemical waste container.
6. Open the valve and let the fluid drain, making sure not to overfill your waste container. If the container becomes sufficiently full before the vat is emptied, simply close the valve and place the hose in a second container.
7. Once fully drained, close the valve, remove the hose and secure the waste containers.

Clean empty machine

1. Wipe off any resin residue inside the machine using paper towels.
2. For machines which use pumps, remove the pump intake screen and remove any clogging agents with paper towels or water, before reattaching it.

Descale

Empty machine

1. Switch off heating and leave to cool to 30-40C.
2. Neutralize solution by adding 72g per L of citric acid.
3. Let the agitation in the vat mix the citric acid into the solution for 30-60 seconds, before switching off the machine.
4. Attach hose to drain valve (making such it is completely secure
5. Place the opposite end of the hose in a certified chemical waste container.
6. Open the valve and let the fluid drain, making sure not to overfill your waste container. If the container becomes sufficiently full before the vat is emptied, simply close the valve and place the hose in a second container.
7. Once fully drained, close the valve, remove the hose and secure the waste containers.

Descaling solution

1. Fill the vat with water.
2. Add 300g of citric acid to the water.
3. Switch on machine with no heat for 30-60 second to mix.
4. Switch off machine.
5. Leave acidic mix in machine for 1-2 hours.
6. Attach hose and an acidic waste container.
7. Open valve and drain machine.
8. Wipe down any residual limescale with paper towel.
9. With the hose still attached, rinse machine through with water, covering all surfaces, which have been submerged in the acidic mixture.
10. Close valve, detach hose and seal waste container.