Sovol 3D Printer Resin Vat - Anodized Aluminum Tank with Preinstalled FEP Film & Steel Ring, Durable Metal Frame with Double Silicone Covers - Compatible with Mars 2 Pro & ANYCUBIC Photon 3D Printers - Perfect for High-Precision Resin Printing & Miniature Model Creation

i bought this like so many people because of youtube videos saying it's a good alternative to the stock photon mono vat that needs an overpriced proprietary (and from what i've read and heard, also rare) FEP replacements. didn't know about the redesigned gasket thing until it arrived. after it arrived i read bad reviews criticizing it but i opened it up to look at the included FEP to see if anything could be done and i am now agreeing with other reviewers saying they couldn't get their FEP tight enough. ideal frequency is in the ballpark of 333hz. the FEPs that come installed on these sovol vats have a protective film on them by the way that you need to remove first, so you have to unscrew the the screws and take the FEP out, remove the film, and then put it back in the vat. before doing this with the film on that you are supposed to remove, it measured 190hz. after removing it and even bottoming out the screws it was only 160hz, way below what it should be. in case you are wondering why this matters, you can have problems with prints sticking to the FEP and other issues caused by the fep either being too tight or too loose which creates improper peel force. by the way if you get these and you decide you want to use them and you notice scratches or bubbles in the FEP that appear to be caused by a piece of debris trapped between two layers of plastic, this is the protective film. you have to take the gasket off, remove the film, and put the FEP back on with the gasket. i saw at least one bad review saying their FEP was scratched. if i had to guess, they didn't know the protective film was still on it. after i removed mine on the one i did it to, there were no scratches and the FEP looked very nice and clean. i wasn't told anything about the protective film, i had to figure it out on my own. i originally thought it was because of poor quality control while they were assembled but it makes sense to protect it during shipping.when i took off the gasket and looked at the holes that were punched originally to fit in the pegs and screws, they were super stretched out and despite that the FEP still couldn't reach proper tension. i wonder if it could ever reach proper tension even if there was more travel, or if it would just tear through the holes before that ever happened. i think this design is just fundamentally broken because rather than gripping down on the sheet all around rigidly and pulling it equally all around like how the alternative two part gasket sandwich type design works, it relies on stretching out these holes to make tension. another huge upside to the sandwich gasket is that you can vary the tension before even screwing it into the vat by putting something like a milk jug lid under the sheet while you tighten the gasket, or put something smaller, or even nothing at all, if you want it to be tighter. this is significantly less grip as like i and many others who have left bad reviews have said, it can't create proper tightness. maybe if you used a really thick FEP but even then i don't think that would work because it would have to be thick around the holes, but thin in the parts where you actually want it to stretch which isn't a product that exists as far as i am aware.if you want what the original sovol vat was before the nonsensical redesign, apparently the elegoo mars vats are compatible with the anycubic photon mono, and they have the 2 part sandwich type gasket. the only meaningful difference being they only come in anodized aluminum, not teflon coated like these, and they only have a max fill line, not the ml lines, but those aren't going to mean much if your prints are failing constantly because the FEP is way too loose. you can get two of them for the same price as two of these sovol vats. as of writing this, the amazon listing is titled: ELEGOO 2 PCS Metal Resin Tank for ELEGOO Mars 3D Printer with FEP Pre-Installed and 2 Lids and 2 Allen Wrench, Resin Vat for ELEGOO Mars, Mars pro, Mars 2, Mars 2 pro, Photon and Epax X1i will be returning these sovol vats in the mail back to amazon tomorrow afternoon, and i have already ordered the elegoo vats to replace them. i'm glad i wasn't even able to waste time or resin trying to get these to work since my printer doesn't arrive until the end of the week. save yourself a headache. maybe they would have worked ok but i have only heard complaints of the nature described about this redesigned version, i've never heard anything of this nature about the 2 piece sandwich gaskets so i think it's fair to say it's just generally a safer use of your time and money to steer clear of this unless they bring back the old style gasket and liquidate old stock of this new 2021 gasket that doesn't work.Buena compra para mi impresora photon monoSo initially they look nice and solid, but not exactly the same dimensions as my Elegoo Mars OEM vat, but they seem to fit just fine and should work. I haven't actually used them yet...because they came in such poor shape!! The paint finish has dings here and there, has chunks of aluminum under the surface that creates bumps in random places, some of them really in bad places that WILL cause damage to the FEP or possibly to your build surface if the fit is tight. They also did not remove the protective film from BOTH sides of the FEP, it's nice they pre installed the FEP, but I had to take it all apart to remove the film anyhow so it just added work for me instead of making it faster and easier to use. You can clearly see in several images the double plastic film before I removed it.You can also see in several images that there are bumps between the FEP and the vat body!! Guess what, those are little sharp shards of aluminum! Since I had to remove the FEP frame to peel off the protective film, it was easy enough to remove that bit of aluminum, but I was afraid it had punctured the FEP already. You can also see I have circled points on the film where tiny aluminum bits came off other places when I removed it! So that means many pointy bits could have been anywhere! So I filled the vat with a mix of simple green and isoproyl alcohol to test for leaks. I left it sit overnight and sure enough you can see on the one image it leaked through and filled the vat body around the FEP frame with liquid.So now instead of having vats I can just use, I have to get replacement FEP sheets and install them, thus adding time and money instead of saving both by buying these vats with pre installed FEP sheet! WOW.In addition the sharp aluminum and film issues, the resin volume markings are barely visible. They must be viewed in just the right light and angle to see them. When I first got the vats I really didn't even notice them and thought they weren't there. And the silicone covers fit just 'OK', but not really tight at all. They sort of just friction slip on. I would prefer them to be stretched just a bit so they hold better.The only reason I give it three stars is because I think they will work just fine after removing all the aluminum bits and burrs in the paint and fixing the FEP problems.SOVOL, you really need to fix your quality control problems!EDIT: Contacted seller, was nice and easy to work with, they replaced the FEP sheets. Sadly Amazon shipping could use some serious help in this area as the FEP sheets were shipped by them and were curled in half (like a "C") and stuffed into a bubble mailer. Then that mailer was then jammed into another envelop thus forming multiple creases in the FEP sheet. When I first saw the packaging and looked at the mangled FEP I was concerned, but after warming up the sheets and letting them sit flat and outside of their envelop they seemed to straighten up fine. Once installed I could only see one very minor deformation, but I don't think it will affect anything. Thanks SOVOL, boo on Amazon shipping..why the heck would you do such a thing to a flat object?? The FEP cardboard package would have easily fit in the bubble envelop without folding. Amazing.This resin vat feels super solid and fits perfectly on my Anycubic Photon Mono 3D printer.I didn't realize I had to buy a whole piece to replace the FEP on my Anycubic Mono. Ordering 2 from Anycubic would cost $40 with shipping from China (plus, for me, it would have been 10-15 days shipping).These resin vats are quality! They are nice and solid, unlike the one that comes with the printer. They have a FEP sheet already installed and you can replace the FEP later with single sheets purchased anywhere.They come with two silicone covers on each vat. One, so you can use different resins and swap out the vats without having to dump the resins (or if you have a failure, you can set it aside covered to keep the odor down) and the other to put on the bottom to protect the FEP when you set it down.This is a no brainer purchase. I have zero negative things to say about these.It is a steel vat! Not plastic like the one ANYCUBIC give with the 4K monoWorked well on first printSecond print i noticed the failed print so I tried to remove the tank. It was stuck on leaked resinSee pictureOn inspection it had not holes it had simple leaked from the side which suggests it is very lose . Testing it and it leaks from one area. Totally trashed my screen and I’m still trying to clean it up. I suspect il will need a new screenI can not find a way to contact the company to question them. Very annoyed all roundI brought the 2021 version of Solov £D's VAT for the elegoo Mars 2 a good few months ago and it has been a right work horse with the printer running 20 hours or more a day every day.Until I stupidly left a small amount of support on the flex plate which damaged the FEP, Rather than going back to the stock VAT whilst waiting for more FEP to arrive I carried on using the VAT and ordered this one.The fact I have just ordered another of these VATS when the other is still fully usable must say how happy I am with the product.And it comes with silicon cover to protect the FEP and a silicon lid, I leave resin in the VAT when using a different colour and just swap out the VATPros - Aluminium - Fill markers on the side - Cutout on side to aid with draining - Easy FEP replacement - Vat and FEP very hard wearing and can take some abuse - Silicon Top and BottomCons - Have to say something bad haven't I? - I'm a messy bugger and use some light coloured resins and well it makes it look dirty when I dont clean it as often as I should (so a choice of colours would be awesome).In all seriousness, this is an excellent replacment for the standard VATS on the Mars 2 and Mars 2 pro, and I think it will also fit other similar sized printers.I was given a Photon Mono for Christmas, I could only find replacement FEPs on the Anycubic site. They weren't too expensive the shipping costs were really high. So I found this resin vat which:1) fits my Mono2) is made of higher quality materials (solid aluminium Vs plastic)3) has good availability for replacement FEPs4) costs less than 2 replacement FEPs and shipping from the official manufacturerI've done a few prints from it and have had no problems with them, and the covers are a really good idea.If you have a Mono, I can't think of a reason why you wouldn't get one if these.Anyone that has a photon mono 2k knows that the fep replacements are getting harder to come by and are around £20 for two sheets. Considering the rate I print on this machine they don’t last long but this replacement vat has saved me time headache and money a must have for anyone that wishes to move away from the proprietary feps on their original tank. Who doesn’t like saving moneyJust got this today! Man! I think they milled it out of a solid aluminum block. Feels like something you would use for industrial production. Nice, heavy, well marked. Flawless at first sight! Did not get to use it yet, but since my original vat, of a much lesser quality, is still going strong, this will not have any issues, I am sure.