How Can Light-off Delay Improve My 3D Prints?

Light-off delay refers to when the building plate lifts up, waits, and retracts while printing 3D models. If the light-off delay time is too high, it will take longer to complete the process. If the number is set too low, there is a higher chance of your prints failing.

What is Light-off Delay?

When a 3D printer’s building plate retracts, it is important to allow enough time for resin to stabilize before the UV lights turn on — the time required for this is called light-off delay.

This is extremely important if you want to print out sharper 3D models with high resolution. 

How Do I Set Light-off Delay on Phrozen OS?

The light-off delay values on the Phrozen Interface are different from the settings on CHITUBOX. In Phrozen OS, you only need to dial in the value provided on our official resin profile. If your resin isn’t listed on our resin sheet, set delay time at 2000~5000 ms depending on the resin thickness. The thicker it is, the longer the delay time.

How is Light-off Delay Calculated on CHITUBOX?

The light-off delay on CHITUBOX is different from the Phrozen OS. The parameters consist of the total time of the Z-axis moving up and down and additional stabilizing time before the UV lights turn on. 

To calculate the light-off delay, we need to know the lifting distance, lifting speed, and retract speed. After learning how long it takes for the z-axis to move up and down. Add another 2~3 second to the total time. The value would be your ideal light-off delay. In short, this is what light-off delay in CHITUBOX means:

Here's an example for you using the parameters above:

The Light-off Delay Auto-Calculator

To make things easier, feel free to use this Light-Off Delay Calculator contributed by our community. The calculator automatically calculates the formula; simply type in your lift distance, lifting speed, and retract speed.