Damaged or malfunctioning components may cause your Form 3 or Form 3L generation printer to experience display issues. In cases where the printer powers on normally but the touchscreen is not behaving as expected, the issue is usually caused by a problem with the touchscreen or the touchscreen ribbon cable.

• Parpadeo o manchas horizontales en la pantalla
• Pantalla atenuada
• Varias pantallas superpuestas o imágenes fantasma
• Esquinas más oscuras o más claras de lo normal
• Pantalla táctil que no responde
• Líneas verticales en la pantalla

• Faulty or damaged touchscreen
• Faulty or damaged display cable
• Transient glitch

1. Power cycle the printer. Confirm that the motors move when the printer initializes and that the machine is otherwise functional. If the printer does not appear to power on or shows no signs of activity, follow the troubleshooting steps in in our articles on printers not powering on:
• Printer does not turn on (Form 3 generation)
• Printer does not turn on (Form 3L generation)
2. Follow the steps below based on the type of touchscreen issue your printer is experiencing. If the issue persists after troubleshooting, contact Formlabs Support or your authorized reseller. Include a video showing the touchscreen’s behavior with your message.

Unresponsive touchscreen or horizontal smearing

1. If the touchscreen is unresponsive or the display images are smeared horizontally, check the touchscreen ribbon cable’s connection to the touchscreen. Unplug the ribbon cable from the touchscreen, then reconnect it. Follow the instructions in the guide for replacing your printer’s touchscreen assembly:
• Replacing the Form 3 touchscreen assembly
• Replacing the Form 3L touchscreen assembly
2. If the ribbon cable has obvious damage, replace it following the same guide. Replacement touchscreen ribbon cables are available for purchase on the Formlabs Store.
• Form 3 generation only: The display ribbon cable runs along the right side of the machine, under the right side shell, from the touchscreen assembly to the motherboard. Follow the steps to remove the rear shell and right side shell from the guide Replacing the heater (Form 3 generation) [EN] [DE] [ES] [FR] [IT] [JA] [ZH].
3. If the ribbon cable is undamaged but reseating it does not fix the issue, replace the touchscreen and the ribbon cable. The two components are sold separately, and both are available for purchase on the Formlabs Store:
• Form 3/Form 3+ touchscreen assembly
• Form 3B/Form 3B+ touchscreen assembly
• Form 3L generation touchscreen assembly
• Form 3 and Form 3L generation touchscreen ribbon cable

Dim touchscreen, overlaid images, or brightened/darkened corners

1. To temporarily resolve this issue, power cycle the printer until the display behaves as expected. In most cases, the problem will continue to occur until the touchscreen is replaced.
2. Replace the touchscreen, following the instructions in the guide Replacing the Form 3 touchscreen assembly or Replacing the Form 3L touchscreen assembly, depending on your printer. Replacement touchscreen assemblies are available for purchase on the Formlabs Store.
• Form 3/Form 3+ touchscreen assembly
• Form 3B/Form 3B+ touchscreen assembly
• Form 3L generation touchscreen assembly

Unresponsive touchscreen with vertical lines

If the touchscreen is unresponsive and shows flickering vertical lines, there may be damage to the printer’s System on Module (SOM) rather than a problem with the display or its cable. Contact Formlabs Support or your authorized reseller. Include a video showing the touchscreen’s behavior with your message.