# 3D Printing > 3D Printer Parts, Filament & Materials >  Can't pay 150 € each time for Formlabs Resin !?! Any other way?

## lamagna

Hey,we just bought the Formlabs Form 3 and i bought 1L Resin for over 150 Euros.That is impossible to pay 150 € each time for 1 L Resin.I asked the reseller and also some other shops and they say the Form 3 is not compatible with other resins yet but the company will release something which makes it possible in some month ( didnt even get it really).My question is if there is a way to buy a catrige much cheaper than 150 € for our Formlabs Form 3 !?Thanks in advancelamagna

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## curious aardvark

buy some cheaper resin and try it. 

be prepared to change the resin vat though if it causes issues. 

Can;t think of any reason normal resins wouldn't be compatible. 

Can you refill the cartridge ?

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## lamagna

> buy some cheaper resin and try it. be prepared to change the resin vat though if it causes issues. Can;t think of any reason normal resins wouldn't be compatible. Can you refill the cartridge ?


i dont know if i can refill the cartridge, according to the shop its not possible.what do you mean by normal resin ? can you link me to some example so i know what the prices are ?is there nobody here who has the form 3 ?thanks again

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## xyzrus

> Hey,we just bought the Formlabs Form 3 and i bought 1L Resin for over 150 Euros.That is impossible to pay 150 € each time for 1 L Resin.I asked the reseller and also some other shops and they say the Form 3 is not compatible with other resins yet but the company will release something which makes it possible in some month ( didnt even get it really).My question is if there is a way to buy a catrige much cheaper than 150 € for our Formlabs Form 3 !?Thanks in advancelamagna


Try a California company called ApplyLabWork they do one liter bottles of resins for formlabs at $70 and free shipping within the USA mainland. Just done some business with them and they sound very profesional.

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## cokreeate

> Try a California company called ApplyLabWork they do one liter bottles of resins for formlabs at $70 and free shipping within the USA mainland. Just done some business with them and they sound very profesional.


Agree try applylabswork thats what we are using as well.
Their resin is really comparable to OEM for half the cost and excellent customer service.

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## printgeek3d

The Form 3 does not have something like an "open mode" like the Form 2 and you cannot refill a used cartridge as the machine will block it being as empty.

So normally it is not possible to print with 3rd party resins. I wonder what the resellers really said about allowing it in a few months as so far Formlabs hasn't said a word to add open mode(it is not in their interest to allow it).

The only option to print with 3rd party resin in the Form 3 is by using the "Universal Cartridge" by ProtoART.
You can fill the cartridge with any 3rd party resin you want.
Several of the 3rd party resin manufacturers like ApplyLabwork are developing their resins using this cartridge. So that resin is a very good option. But there are others like Harzlabs(russia) and Druckwege(germany)

Here is the link to the product:
Universal Cartridge form Formlabs Form 2 & Form 3

Link to the manufacturer's website:
http://www.protoart.net

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## wisdomknight

> Agree try applylabswork thats what we are using as well.
> Their resin is really comparable to OEM for half the cost and excellent customer service.


does it work with the Form 3?

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## cokreeate

> does it work with the Form 3?


From what we know Form 3 decided to no longer have the open mode.
That means you'll have to use form resin.
You can try and search to see if anyone have some kind of hack to use 3rd party resin.

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## curious aardvark

Are the cartridges chiplocked ? 

otherwise - why can't you drill a hole, make a bung and just refill with 3rd party resin :-)

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## printgeek3d

Yes, they are chiplocked. You cannot fill cartridges and print. The printer will detect this after a while and block the cartridge.

You need a device called "Universal Cartridge" to print with 3rd party compatible resins in the Form 3 / 3B / 3L.

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