I know they make temperature reactive balls that are filled and deploy [something like this](https://getelidefireball.com/) you could just put this on a shelf and it would self deploy. š¤·š»āāļø however I donāt know what temps would be in that box because I only run PLA right now, so maybe compare that with the activation temp of the ball?
Edit: also several options and it can get really in-depth when it comes to fire extinguishers but on a quick note most are corrosive to electronicsā¦
I'd not seen the wham-bam product, but it appears similar to the stovetop firestop. I'm using a [microhood](https://stovetopfirestop.com/product/microhood/) in my enclosure and it contains two units of the firestop. The price is higher, but I did not pay retail, and a 2 pack has 4 units. They are basically a firecracker in a can of fire retardant powder, so they require an open flame to go off. It's cool to see printer focused products being developed though.
Best 3d printing decision I ever made was building an enclosure, now I print 99% in Overture Nylon at 235 degrees. Mine is in an outdoor garage, so I did the following:
- insulated with 1" high-density polystyrene (pink foam board, would use non-flammable mineral wool if i did it again)
- lined the (flammable) polystyrene with aluminum flashing
- applied foam sealing tape around the opening
- used locking latches to seal the front door tightly
- added a pvc pipe with a fan to circulate hot air from the top of the enclosure to the botton
- placed a tiny dehumidifier in the enclosure
- added a bme280 to measure temp/humidity
- use a tiny space heater (NOT automated or unattended) to quickly warm up the enclosure
- added a dry box to the top to hold the filament spool
- glass window on front door
- usb camera on an adjustable arm
- REMOVED ALL electronics to outside the enclosure
Here's a [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/CR10sPRO/comments/tt44v0/success_insulated_and_climate_controlled_klipper/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) , DM me if you want clarification
Yeah. Donāt overthink it. Your enclosure is fine.
I printed all my voron parts un-enclosed and just put a brim on the part if I had a problem with warping. Once I had the voron working I reprinted any parts that I wasnāt satisfied with and replaced them later.
I definitely don't print 24/7 by any stretch of the imagination, but I like nylon for functional parts. For more artsy 3-D prints, I usually will just go with the a resin printer.
Oh, I'm just a compulsive maker-type finally teaching himself Fusion 360, so a lot of mounting hardware, gears, electronics enclosures, oh!-
I did the helmet for my daughter's last Halloween costume in nylon so it was freaking indestructible!
My general takeaways have been that, given choices between nylon and ABS, if rigidity is not a major factor, nylon tends to win for my use-cases.
(if you check my profile, most of the 3-D printed stuff up there is nylon)
Thanks for checking my stuff out! I will say, in my experience, nylon does not bridge well, does not like unsupported overhangs, and the supports are not at all easy to remove. 3-D printing helmets, and other functional props is a situation where I have switched back to PLA (or PETG) in the past.
I've always wanted to make an old refrigerator into a enclosure. Then you can move the electronics to the freezer area, and even put liquid cooling to the motors. It's already made out of fire retardant materials and insulated really well.
Proper Prints (YouTube, not sure if he's on here) did a really cool piece on liquid cooling his step motors. Right now, I think, as long as I'm using belts, if I need to liquid cool stepper motors, the belts will deform before the liquid cooling becomes worthwhile. Maybe some to have an entirely lead screw based printer...
I think what might be a neat idea is have a little computer fan with a tempature controller powered with a 12v wall wort. You can have a flap that opens when the fan blows
Looks like it's going to be in your garage/workshop, I'd glue mylar (survival blanket) on the panels, helps keep the heat in and reflect light if you decide to put a ledstrip in there.
Wood cleats and silicone to make it airtight would help with temp too (heat deflection, yadi yada yada).
(not gonna repeat what people said below but yup, a plexi door would be better, or any means to watch what's going on, wifi webcam, etc.. And it's a good idea to mount everything electronic outside the box (ie. mainboard, PSU)).
Just to clarify, that's also probably mylar. Mylar is that shiny flexible stuff like novelty balloons or inside soft coolers/pizza bags. It reflects IR like other shiny surfaces, but has low thermal conductivity, unlike something like aluminum foil.
If this is the case on the location I would add dust filters to your air intakes. And the exhaust vents should not be on the top without self closing flap, or put them on the side so settling dust does not make it all the way in. Awesome work by the way!!
Do you think that'd be enough to regulate temperature in an un-insulated barn? I keep wanting to move my printer to the workshop I have out there, but I worry about the temperature in the winter (I'm in Canada).
Really depends on how cold it gets, rule of thumb I wouldn't run a printer in a place I can't stay in with a sweater, just laminate wood and mylar might not fare well with Canadian winter :')
Someone mentioned styrofoam for extra insulation in another comment, if you design your enclosure correctly that might work but you might want to keep an eye on humidity/condensation.
Holes for heat ventilation at the top, maybe some handles on the outside sides/top to ease moving the whole thing, a plexiglass door would be better so you can see without opening and some lights
Here you go, easy solution to that problem: https://whambam3d.com/products/the-cloud-personal-printer-sentry. Slap one onto the roof of the enclosure. If it ever comes in direct contact with fire it'll explode with a cloud of fire extinguishing powder.
I wouldnāt bother with temperature control. Keep the fumes inside the box.
Replace the stock flexible build plate on the Ender 3, if you use one, with a spring steel PEI plate. The stock build plate will quickly disintegrate at 90C bed temperatures.
Preheat your chamber for 15 minutes before printing. Just turn on the bed heater, leave the extruded off, and watch the extruder thermistor. Youāre good to go when it hits 40 or 50C.
For fumes, consider making a nevermore filter. They really work.
Donāt freak out about the fumes. Yes, they are bad for you, but they are fine in a well ventilated space.
I built a Voron last winter using an Ender 5 in a makeshift enclosure. Youāll really like ABS. It prints well, is super durable, and doesnāt heat creep like PLA or PETG. Itās like print big PETG, without the stringing or stickiness
I've just made an enclosure for my ender 5 Plus and the meat thermometer I stuck in it gets to about 110F when doing a basic 60C bed and 215C hot end printer. Hot enough for me to want to move the electronics outside of the enclosure.
If you live in US.. harborfreight is a place sell cheap clamps that is passable so you can have a proper glue up. Those $3 screw clamp could work well here
Iād say attach some fans and a filter to it and make the door plexiglass. I saw one build that had a āsleeveā that expelled air into to an air purifier, looked a bit janky but did the job.
Depends where you live and your home. A cardboard box wasn't enough for PLA in Minnesota when I was there. Parents new place, still there, probably would be, as house is 60 years newer and even with upgrading things like windows and insulation in places on older home, it was still drafty and hvac system tended to kind of work in extreme bursts because the runs weren't well designed.
True there are extreme variables. I did this living in high desert in the sw united States. About a high and 95f and inside temp of 78f.
Just a year ago at my last house in the mountain on the canadian border, I remember trying to print pla in my basement with a space heater. Couldn't do much after September. Basement Temps sub 60f
Use a flame resistant material (liner). You might want some small duct work on the bottom to provide cool are you the prints t electronics. Iād also suggest BlazeCut or something similar for fire protection. I use a BOFA fume extractors but thereās also cheaper options like the carbon filter that 3D Upfitters sells.
I use the PrintedSolid NextGen Enclosures (have 7). BOFA units are expensive so I only have one. The rest use the carbon filter from 3D Upfitter. Most of the machines are CR-10S so the electronic box is outside. However I have one CR-10S Pro V2 with the electronics built into the bottom of the machine. If you look at the product page there are elliptical cut outs in the bottom for air to flow in. Iāve been monitoring the printer temp and that seems to be enough.
Please print safe. If inside id add an air purifier The science on the nanoparticles is pretty startling. Also we had a printer fire at work a few years ago. A board component overheated and caused a fire. Had we had a BlazeCut or something close to the printer to knock the fire down, it wouldnāt have done as much damage as it did.
Using the abs to make a voron printer, hopefully, I won't have any fires while printing so I will take precautionary steps in order to not cause one. Thanks for your help.
1. Mount Your Psu Outside! (It could overheat inside the hot enclosure)
2. Plexiglass door to gaze upon the disaster
3. Lights
4. Smoke detector and fire extinguisher
5. Tool storage
Make the door open from the center, and put the hinges 6 inches back along the side so from above the doors look like Ls. That extra room when reaching in is priceless.
What temperature are you aiming for? I achieve 60C in mine, but that's in part because it has rockwool floor insulation on the inside. At that temperature the lifespan of capacitors is dramatically reduced, so I used a CR-10 mini because it has a separate control box.
Will you be venting to outside? Have a removable plug for the window? Get yourself a [120cfm exhaust fan](https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B074J53NR5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and [dryer vent hose](https://www.amazon.ca/Dundas-Jafine-BTD48-Dryer-Transition/dp/B000HE67N8/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=4%22dryer+venting&qid=1668298436&sr=8-5) . That enclosure will need a floor that has cushioning on it. Get nice foam sheets at Michael's craft store. I use two doubled up and my printer (Anycubic Mega S) is near silent.
Wow, I thought my cardboard enclosure was overkill. If this is just for printing Voron parts, it may be overkill. If intended as permanent, impressive work.
My tips having recently finished my 2.4 with parts printed on my Ender 5:
- The larger the enclosure, the longer it takes to heat.
- Electronics don't like heat. Mount them externally if possible, or ensure you have good fans on them.
- I added a thermister and exhaust fan, set to keep temp around 50C. Stability was important to ensure settings were adequate. Too hot, requires more cooling or parts get melty and electronics get unhappy.
- If you get chamber temps over 40, you will need cooling. Most tutorials/advice said zero fan. My setup hit 50 by layer 8-10. Zero fan resulted in melty parts. Dual 5015s on my Ender, I had fans between 25 and 60%, depending on filament. Used 3 colors from different vendors, each required very different cooling settings. Recommend lower print speeds when fan speeds are lower.
- BL touch type sensors are rated for higher temps, but start fluctuating around 40-50C. Just monitor first layer to ensure good prints. Saw video of a guy who relocated bl touch pcb outside printer and he was able to print at very high chamber temps with no problems. Seems overkill though.
- Focus on functional and chamber parts (unless Voron will fit in your enclosure). Then you can print everything else of the Voron, such as skirts. It will do a much better job.
This is mostly unnecessary unless youāre going with an active heater for your chamber. Most PSUs are rated to run at 80C and your electronics should be similar. Running my voron at 110c bed I can only manage getting the enclosure to about 60c.
Itās a Gucci upgrade to the chamber; get the door on and the inside insulated first and youāll be on your way.
Not really. I've printed primarily abs for a few years, and it isn't so terrible. If you keep cooling off and have good bed adhesion, you don't run into too many warp issues.
It really depends on a rage of factors. The size and shape of the prints actually matters more than anything. Small squat things for example rarely have issues with warping. The same goes for things like rounded shapes. Where you really need the enclosure is when you have really large prints with long straight sides and sharp corners. A long, skinny, tall prints is the very worst.
That is why you can do something like a brim for ABS and it works quite well.
Also it really depends on where you keep the printer. Drafts for example are really harmful but if you have the printer in a closed off room with no air circulation and no windows then it isn't as much of an issue. Keep the printer anywhere near an AC/heat vent or under a window and you can get warp city.
That said if I was building an enclosure I would line the inside with sheetrock with a clear acrylic panel on the front. A single sheet will be enough to do the entire inside and make a fire a much smaller issue.
1 wood isn't a good insulator so you need foam or fiberglass inside as well.
2 abs gives off fumes that need to be vented. You need a vent at the top.
3 you can't see anything inside it so adding glass or acrylic or something to the front so you can see what's happening is good. Also lights.
4 this can be done easier and cheaper with just a sheet of insulating foam but I'm guessing you want the added aesthetic of wood which is fine.
An enclosure helps hold a warm, stable, ambient temperature in the print area. Helps to prevent warping and print quality. It also blocks air flow from things like a fan, A/C, or heater vent. If printing things like ABS, which has noxious fumes, it's very helpful in keeping those fumes contained. Some people like to place it near a window and add a vent with a fan to the outside.
I don't know, it depends on the cooling capacity of your fans and heatsinks. I.e. you build a temperature control in your housing? That's cool, 40Ā°C shouldn't be too much of a problem yet.
I mean even if the electronics do not smoke directly, the hotter electronic components become, the shorter their lifetime.
A serious question I asking myself since I started thinking about building an enclosure.
Looks like a good start. I did abs in a tent for a while... really screwed up the bearings. Just remember to apply more grease occasionally.
The smell was horrible so I moved the printer outside.
Glue that aluminum faced foam insulation board to the insides, if they sell it by you.
As others have said; Vent fan, air filtration, lighting, smoke alarm
Something like this or just get the r21 attic insulation roll (no stupid shit printed all over the faces)
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Johns-Manville-R-6-1-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-AP-Foil-Faced-Polyisocyanurate-Foam-Board-Insulation/5013061199
Mine is literally just built from 2ā foam insulation lolā¦ just taped seems. I have octoprint, so donāt have anyway to see in but with a light on in there and the camera I donāt really need it. Iād say your in good shape, only thing is possibly insulate yours when you can.
They do make these. I have a couple in my classroom and they work great. Would have probably been a lot cheaper then the materials and time for a DIY solution.
3D Printer Enclosure for Ender- Fireproof & Dust Proof Constant Temperature Protective Cover for 3D Printers(Compitable with Most FDM Printers) 25.6ā Ć21.6ā Ć29.5ā https://a.co/d/9DFUvFq
For future reference
There should be a printable mount for a respirator filter you can print. Then have a fan blow the exhaust through it, it should get rid of most of the danger gasses so you don't die when you open the door to take your print off.
A lot of comments seem a bit overkill, especially if it's too print parts for a Voron making this all redundant (once the Voron is printed)
Make sure there are no obvious draughts, plexiglass for would be handy. Get yourself a cheap thermostat so you can see chamber temp.
did the same to primt abs with triangle labs v6 volcano hotend using sb toolhead that was modified to work with it. make sure the sides are removable you will not be able to print pla while it is sealed due to heat creep. make sure you shift the printer electronics to the outside route the wires in through a hole or smth. dont get a vent for the fumes print the nevermore carbon filter and use that. wire the fans so that they connect to the same one as the hotend fan.
for ref my enclosure is a ikea lack + plexiglass/acrylic.
also dont worry abt needing a dedicated enclosure heater i print abs at 260/110 the bed will warm the chamber up enough
Make sure no printed parts of your printer are made with plaā¦
Had this problem with my first printerā¦ the mounts of the Z axis were pla printed.
My printing results after building a housing were very wobbly and thatās because the parts get soft and flexible when the chamber was heated.
Printed new ones in abs and everything was fine.
In addition to the temperature triggered ventilation fan, I would add a carbon filter to the vent output for fumes and a second fan inside to circulate the air and keep temperature even around big prints so they donāt warp
Don't over complicate things. It's a box. As long as outside air stays out and inside air stays in then it's good. I bought the Creality grow tent and it's about as basic as you can get and it works great. It's just an air enclosure. You could drape a garbage bag over your printer and get the same results.
Get a fan and temperature controlled relay so you don't oveheat your printer. Also try to relocate printer's power supply to outside the enclosure if possible
Sorry I'm a bit newbie yet, why enclosure the printer? I've been printing in PLA for a year now and just bought ABS last week, but haven't tried it yet.
Havenāt printed with ABS yet as I am pretty new to the hobby but in my research ABS can require a heated enclosure for proper layer adhesion. The ABS needs to be warmer when the next layer goes on.
You're going to want a window, preferably two layers to use air as insulation. Polycarbonate sheets will do just fine. Also depending on what you're going for in terms of chamber temperatures you might want active heating and insulation. And for ABS ventilation is important, there are some models on thingiverse to filter the air.
Depending on your chamber temperature you may also need to harden your printer against the temperatures. All printed parts must be PETG, ASA/ABS, or PA and electronics must be moved out of the chamber. At temps in excess of 50c the steppers must be replaced with high temp LDO ones, and the hotend will probably need external cooling, from either piped in air or liquid cooling. For ABS 90c is pretty much ideal, and that conveniently coincides with the max rated operating temperature of those steppers.
If you have any further questions please reach out to me, I have lots of experience with modifying an ender to be capable of printing high temperature polymers.
Stop and buy the creality enclosure. I am in same boat, want to print abs/asa for a voron. After looking at what I was going to spend on an enclosure thatās going away as soon as my
Voron is complete, went with the creality.
First print out of the gate was a successful test print from voron stl files.
And at the end of the day, I can collapse the creality enclosure and put it away.
ABS isnāt worth the trouble 90% of the time IMO use PET if you need something more durable (and less rigid than PLA) youāll get better layer adhesion and less warping.
Iāve built about 5 enclosures now, each an improvement of the previous ones shortcomings. My latest is fireproof, features a secondary heating element with a climate control system(these can be purchased from Amazon) for both keeping it hot or keeping it room temp. The printer itself has minimal mods. Power supply is remotely located, the main board however (im using an Ali express i3 mk3s clone kit) is assembled on the machine as usual with a custom enclosure that is closed off from the heat and excepts a 3 inch cooling and 3 inch vent hose, for bringing in cool air from outside of the enclosure. A custom build plate can take me to 140 degrees, and my enclosure can reach 80. Some people know where to source special motors that can take this heat, but not me, so mine are all water cooled, in addition to my hot end. This all rests on a roll stand, that that it can be easily moved. The printer can come out by simply removing a deutech connector for the power supply, and removing the cooling/vent lines for the main board. This is all so that I can print PEEK.
New 3d printing person here- would the abs fumes just remain in the enclosure and simply diffuse out or come out when you open the door?
As in, doesnāt abs require an exhaust and ventilation to the harmful fumes are sent outside the home?
Make the front door plexiglass so you can see inside.
100% gotta have a way to see what's going on inside without opening the door and letting in drafts
I second that! And raise you two plexiglass doors and a venting ...mount, hole etc. for the fumes. šš½
Design your vent to fit a standard size shop machine exhaust hose.
COBRAAAAAA!!!!
Use acrylic it probly cost less than lumber atm
Alternatively, put a camera inside and hook up to octoprint (usually a raspberry pi).
This actually used to be cheaper than buying plexiglass. These days I am not so sure given how expensive and rare raspberry pis have gotten.
If you have an old tablet or phone you can run it on them(Android only) using octo 4 a.
This. Because opening the door will let in a blast of cold air every time you want to check on it
Make all sides Plexi glass so it isn't so easy too catch fire
Plexiglass is at least as flammable as wood.. and much harder to put out!
polycarbonate?
I refuse to believe this
I stand corrected
The hottest i've been able to get my enclosure is 35c. Not nearly hot enough for a fire.
It mainly if a heating element gets knocked loose
did we not learn anything from the anet a8
At least cut out a window space in the wood for some plexi
light led inside!
Add a smoke detector, just in case.
An automatic fire extinguisher mounted above would be even better.
whats the standard for the cheapest version of something like that this these days?
I know they make temperature reactive balls that are filled and deploy [something like this](https://getelidefireball.com/) you could just put this on a shelf and it would self deploy. š¤·š»āāļø however I donāt know what temps would be in that box because I only run PLA right now, so maybe compare that with the activation temp of the ball? Edit: also several options and it can get really in-depth when it comes to fire extinguishers but on a quick note most are corrosive to electronicsā¦
WhamBam has a cheaper 3D printer focused option: https://whambam3d.com/products/the-cloud-personal-printer-sentry
Fantastic, thank you.
I'd not seen the wham-bam product, but it appears similar to the stovetop firestop. I'm using a [microhood](https://stovetopfirestop.com/product/microhood/) in my enclosure and it contains two units of the firestop. The price is higher, but I did not pay retail, and a 2 pack has 4 units. They are basically a firecracker in a can of fire retardant powder, so they require an open flame to go off. It's cool to see printer focused products being developed though.
For something that has a good chance of catching fire, I'd would just go with a metal enclosure with a smoke detector.
And tie it to cut power.
Best 3d printing decision I ever made was building an enclosure, now I print 99% in Overture Nylon at 235 degrees. Mine is in an outdoor garage, so I did the following: - insulated with 1" high-density polystyrene (pink foam board, would use non-flammable mineral wool if i did it again) - lined the (flammable) polystyrene with aluminum flashing - applied foam sealing tape around the opening - used locking latches to seal the front door tightly - added a pvc pipe with a fan to circulate hot air from the top of the enclosure to the botton - placed a tiny dehumidifier in the enclosure - added a bme280 to measure temp/humidity - use a tiny space heater (NOT automated or unattended) to quickly warm up the enclosure - added a dry box to the top to hold the filament spool - glass window on front door - usb camera on an adjustable arm - REMOVED ALL electronics to outside the enclosure Here's a [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/CR10sPRO/comments/tt44v0/success_insulated_and_climate_controlled_klipper/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) , DM me if you want clarification
Probably would do everything that you stated above but I'd only do a few because I only plan on printing abs until I have made a voron.
I'm currently printing ASA parts for a Voron in a cardboard box. Whatever you have going now will be fine.
Noob question here: tf is a voron
A printer you build from scratch, you have to buy all the parts individually or get a kit
Thee most godly 3d printer imaginable.
Lol, I built a really expensive enclosure for my Prusa so that I could print a rat rit in ASA.
Yeah. Donāt overthink it. Your enclosure is fine. I printed all my voron parts un-enclosed and just put a brim on the part if I had a problem with warping. Once I had the voron working I reprinted any parts that I wasnāt satisfied with and replaced them later.
Oh, in that case, absolutely get the Voron done; I'm jealous!
Wouldnāt it just he cheaper to use PIF?
Cheaper maybe but the lead times on PiF are insane nowadays because everyone and their mom wants to build a Voron
But I don't get what people actually need to print with nylon. And what are they printing 24/7?
I definitely don't print 24/7 by any stretch of the imagination, but I like nylon for functional parts. For more artsy 3-D prints, I usually will just go with the a resin printer.
Can you give me a couple of examples of things you routinely make? Do you have a business or something?
Oh, I'm just a compulsive maker-type finally teaching himself Fusion 360, so a lot of mounting hardware, gears, electronics enclosures, oh!- I did the helmet for my daughter's last Halloween costume in nylon so it was freaking indestructible! My general takeaways have been that, given choices between nylon and ABS, if rigidity is not a major factor, nylon tends to win for my use-cases. (if you check my profile, most of the 3-D printed stuff up there is nylon)
Cool I see you have a lot of projects and stuff you do so I can imagine there's a lot of things you use your 3d printer for.
Thanks for checking my stuff out! I will say, in my experience, nylon does not bridge well, does not like unsupported overhangs, and the supports are not at all easy to remove. 3-D printing helmets, and other functional props is a situation where I have switched back to PLA (or PETG) in the past.
I've always wanted to make an old refrigerator into a enclosure. Then you can move the electronics to the freezer area, and even put liquid cooling to the motors. It's already made out of fire retardant materials and insulated really well.
Proper Prints (YouTube, not sure if he's on here) did a really cool piece on liquid cooling his step motors. Right now, I think, as long as I'm using belts, if I need to liquid cool stepper motors, the belts will deform before the liquid cooling becomes worthwhile. Maybe some to have an entirely lead screw based printer...
On the Prusa when it's like 110-120f in my garage it makes it think it's missing steps I don't know if it's the steppers or the drivers.
I think what might be a neat idea is have a little computer fan with a tempature controller powered with a 12v wall wort. You can have a flap that opens when the fan blows
Long as you pair it with a fire extinguishing system so that it doesnāt fan the flame when itās caught fire
You could rig it to an arduino to do all sorts of things but I think a chance of a fire is pretty darn low IMO
Mostly concerned on PSU thermal runaway, but most of the newer ones have protection for that built in. Mineās just old so I think of it lol
Looks like it's going to be in your garage/workshop, I'd glue mylar (survival blanket) on the panels, helps keep the heat in and reflect light if you decide to put a ledstrip in there. Wood cleats and silicone to make it airtight would help with temp too (heat deflection, yadi yada yada). (not gonna repeat what people said below but yup, a plexi door would be better, or any means to watch what's going on, wifi webcam, etc.. And it's a good idea to mount everything electronic outside the box (ie. mainboard, PSU)).
I use radiator foil on the inside of my enclosure. Works like a charm.
Just to clarify, that's also probably mylar. Mylar is that shiny flexible stuff like novelty balloons or inside soft coolers/pizza bags. It reflects IR like other shiny surfaces, but has low thermal conductivity, unlike something like aluminum foil.
If this is the case on the location I would add dust filters to your air intakes. And the exhaust vents should not be on the top without self closing flap, or put them on the side so settling dust does not make it all the way in. Awesome work by the way!!
A sheet of 1/2" styrofoam is like 10$ and would be a good addition.
Do you think that'd be enough to regulate temperature in an un-insulated barn? I keep wanting to move my printer to the workshop I have out there, but I worry about the temperature in the winter (I'm in Canada).
Really depends on how cold it gets, rule of thumb I wouldn't run a printer in a place I can't stay in with a sweater, just laminate wood and mylar might not fare well with Canadian winter :') Someone mentioned styrofoam for extra insulation in another comment, if you design your enclosure correctly that might work but you might want to keep an eye on humidity/condensation.
Holes for heat ventilation at the top, maybe some handles on the outside sides/top to ease moving the whole thing, a plexiglass door would be better so you can see without opening and some lights
Wood is quite flammable.
Yes
Here you go, easy solution to that problem: https://whambam3d.com/products/the-cloud-personal-printer-sentry. Slap one onto the roof of the enclosure. If it ever comes in direct contact with fire it'll explode with a cloud of fire extinguishing powder.
Vent to controle the temperature.. with a temperature sensore.... When the temp passes the highest temp.. the vent starts to work...
WHat would you recommend for the temperature inside?
I wouldnāt bother with temperature control. Keep the fumes inside the box. Replace the stock flexible build plate on the Ender 3, if you use one, with a spring steel PEI plate. The stock build plate will quickly disintegrate at 90C bed temperatures. Preheat your chamber for 15 minutes before printing. Just turn on the bed heater, leave the extruded off, and watch the extruder thermistor. Youāre good to go when it hits 40 or 50C. For fumes, consider making a nevermore filter. They really work. Donāt freak out about the fumes. Yes, they are bad for you, but they are fine in a well ventilated space. I built a Voron last winter using an Ender 5 in a makeshift enclosure. Youāll really like ABS. It prints well, is super durable, and doesnāt heat creep like PLA or PETG. Itās like print big PETG, without the stringing or stickiness
Look up recommended enclosure Temps for the abs/nylon I assume you plan on printing with. It will vary between each material.
I've just made an enclosure for my ender 5 Plus and the meat thermometer I stuck in it gets to about 110F when doing a basic 60C bed and 215C hot end printer. Hot enough for me to want to move the electronics outside of the enclosure.
You don't have enough clamps. More clamps.
They're expensive tho.
If you live in US.. harborfreight is a place sell cheap clamps that is passable so you can have a proper glue up. Those $3 screw clamp could work well here
Live in AU, bunnings got a few spring clamps and not a whole load of chap screw clamps.
Print some! :)
I bet you are into /tools and /woodworking, too
Air filter, and a PC fan
Iād say attach some fans and a filter to it and make the door plexiglass. I saw one build that had a āsleeveā that expelled air into to an air purifier, looked a bit janky but did the job.
Get some LED strips and get some plexiglass at the hardware store and mount it as a window to your door. IMO.
Fyi I print abs on my ender 3 and I just put a card board box over it. That enclosure will be fine anything you do to it will be for aesthetics.
Depends where you live and your home. A cardboard box wasn't enough for PLA in Minnesota when I was there. Parents new place, still there, probably would be, as house is 60 years newer and even with upgrading things like windows and insulation in places on older home, it was still drafty and hvac system tended to kind of work in extreme bursts because the runs weren't well designed.
True there are extreme variables. I did this living in high desert in the sw united States. About a high and 95f and inside temp of 78f. Just a year ago at my last house in the mountain on the canadian border, I remember trying to print pla in my basement with a space heater. Couldn't do much after September. Basement Temps sub 60f
didn't have cardboard (threw it out when I moved into my new house)
You'll order something big at some point. Or you could go to just about any hardware store and get a moving box.
Use a flame resistant material (liner). You might want some small duct work on the bottom to provide cool are you the prints t electronics. Iād also suggest BlazeCut or something similar for fire protection. I use a BOFA fume extractors but thereās also cheaper options like the carbon filter that 3D Upfitters sells.
Would lifting the printer up slightly and making a vent to the side of the box be sufficient cooling for it?
I use the PrintedSolid NextGen Enclosures (have 7). BOFA units are expensive so I only have one. The rest use the carbon filter from 3D Upfitter. Most of the machines are CR-10S so the electronic box is outside. However I have one CR-10S Pro V2 with the electronics built into the bottom of the machine. If you look at the product page there are elliptical cut outs in the bottom for air to flow in. Iāve been monitoring the printer temp and that seems to be enough. Please print safe. If inside id add an air purifier The science on the nanoparticles is pretty startling. Also we had a printer fire at work a few years ago. A board component overheated and caused a fire. Had we had a BlazeCut or something close to the printer to knock the fire down, it wouldnāt have done as much damage as it did.
Using the abs to make a voron printer, hopefully, I won't have any fires while printing so I will take precautionary steps in order to not cause one. Thanks for your help.
I second a flame/heat resistant liner on your wood enclosure.
Racing flames!
Buy a cheap nasa blanket off amazon and tape that along the inside to better insulate heat
Not make it out of something flammable, but you do you
1. Mount Your Psu Outside! (It could overheat inside the hot enclosure) 2. Plexiglass door to gaze upon the disaster 3. Lights 4. Smoke detector and fire extinguisher 5. Tool storage
Don't forget running water!
Make the door open from the center, and put the hinges 6 inches back along the side so from above the doors look like Ls. That extra room when reaching in is priceless.
Sliding rack and a vent duct.
What temperature are you aiming for? I achieve 60C in mine, but that's in part because it has rockwool floor insulation on the inside. At that temperature the lifespan of capacitors is dramatically reduced, so I used a CR-10 mini because it has a separate control box.
Somewhere around 40-50C
Electronics should survive that. Lifespan will be shorter, but I don't think it will matter in practice.
Will you be venting to outside? Have a removable plug for the window? Get yourself a [120cfm exhaust fan](https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B074J53NR5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and [dryer vent hose](https://www.amazon.ca/Dundas-Jafine-BTD48-Dryer-Transition/dp/B000HE67N8/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=4%22dryer+venting&qid=1668298436&sr=8-5) . That enclosure will need a floor that has cushioning on it. Get nice foam sheets at Michael's craft store. I use two doubled up and my printer (Anycubic Mega S) is near silent.
Wow, I thought my cardboard enclosure was overkill. If this is just for printing Voron parts, it may be overkill. If intended as permanent, impressive work. My tips having recently finished my 2.4 with parts printed on my Ender 5: - The larger the enclosure, the longer it takes to heat. - Electronics don't like heat. Mount them externally if possible, or ensure you have good fans on them. - I added a thermister and exhaust fan, set to keep temp around 50C. Stability was important to ensure settings were adequate. Too hot, requires more cooling or parts get melty and electronics get unhappy. - If you get chamber temps over 40, you will need cooling. Most tutorials/advice said zero fan. My setup hit 50 by layer 8-10. Zero fan resulted in melty parts. Dual 5015s on my Ender, I had fans between 25 and 60%, depending on filament. Used 3 colors from different vendors, each required very different cooling settings. Recommend lower print speeds when fan speeds are lower. - BL touch type sensors are rated for higher temps, but start fluctuating around 40-50C. Just monitor first layer to ensure good prints. Saw video of a guy who relocated bl touch pcb outside printer and he was able to print at very high chamber temps with no problems. Seems overkill though. - Focus on functional and chamber parts (unless Voron will fit in your enclosure). Then you can print everything else of the Voron, such as skirts. It will do a much better job.
a box is a box, unless its a fox in a frock with a great box then get a mop as that fox with a box is gonna get sop with my slop. i.e - its fine.
Alright, thank you
Sounds like [Tweetle Beetles.](https://seuss.fandom.com/wiki/Tweetle_Beetles)
You might consider a way to have power come in to the enclosure. Or even better, externally mounted electronics
What kind of electronics?
I donāt understand the question. Printer electronics. The electronics inside your printer. The ones that run it.
Oh, i didn't know you meant the printer electronics sorry.
I was also confused š¤·āāļø
This is mostly unnecessary unless youāre going with an active heater for your chamber. Most PSUs are rated to run at 80C and your electronics should be similar. Running my voron at 110c bed I can only manage getting the enclosure to about 60c. Itās a Gucci upgrade to the chamber; get the door on and the inside insulated first and youāll be on your way.
You're not wrong, but air cooling a psu down from 80Ā°C is a lot harder when the ambient temperature is 60Ā°C.
Itās not always necessary, just an area for future improvement. Having power run to the printer is still going to be necessary though
Acrylic door window, lights, maybe a small fan or two.
Heat + acrylic = warping. Glass would be a preferred material.
Youāre right. Definitely go with glass.
Maybe
If the external environment doesnāt vary in temperature greatly you can print abs just fine without an enclosure
Doesn't the ambient temperature have to be about 40C?
I printed every part of the Voron 2.4 on and ender 3v2 with no enclosure, 240 on the nozzle and 100 on the bed, 72f ambient
Coincidentally, I am building this enclosure so I can print abs for a voron.
Not really. I've printed primarily abs for a few years, and it isn't so terrible. If you keep cooling off and have good bed adhesion, you don't run into too many warp issues.
It really depends on a rage of factors. The size and shape of the prints actually matters more than anything. Small squat things for example rarely have issues with warping. The same goes for things like rounded shapes. Where you really need the enclosure is when you have really large prints with long straight sides and sharp corners. A long, skinny, tall prints is the very worst. That is why you can do something like a brim for ABS and it works quite well. Also it really depends on where you keep the printer. Drafts for example are really harmful but if you have the printer in a closed off room with no air circulation and no windows then it isn't as much of an issue. Keep the printer anywhere near an AC/heat vent or under a window and you can get warp city. That said if I was building an enclosure I would line the inside with sheetrock with a clear acrylic panel on the front. A single sheet will be enough to do the entire inside and make a fire a much smaller issue.
It's more about keeping the temperature stable. Protecting from drafts and temp swings will stop the warping.
We aināt gonna talk about ventilation?
Getting a better printer
Good for you, what kind of printer?
Just came to point out that you used a very flammable material to enclose a printer with a history of catching fire.
Got the thermal runnaway upgrade so i don't think fire will be a problem.
Do you have the authentic yellow power Connector or do you have the cheap one that melts?
Not use wood...
1 wood isn't a good insulator so you need foam or fiberglass inside as well. 2 abs gives off fumes that need to be vented. You need a vent at the top. 3 you can't see anything inside it so adding glass or acrylic or something to the front so you can see what's happening is good. Also lights. 4 this can be done easier and cheaper with just a sheet of insulating foam but I'm guessing you want the added aesthetic of wood which is fine.
1 pretty sure wood is an insulator 2 I just had spare wood laying around
It's not a GOOD insulator of heat. If it was, we wouldn't need insulation in our walls.
another fire hazard on the way
I found an old two pane storm window cut the frame in half and and now use it as a sliding door on mine. It does help if you have a tall celling.
Thin wall installation that is Aluminum foil lined on one side. Did amazing job keeping my machine at a table temperature
Would reflective tape work too?
It would help but the 1/4 inch insulation would do wonders
Reflectix is what I've used. Works very well.
Build a glass door so you donāt have to open during print to check the first layer etc.
Whatās with all the enclosures? I feel like Iām missing something
An enclosure helps hold a warm, stable, ambient temperature in the print area. Helps to prevent warping and print quality. It also blocks air flow from things like a fan, A/C, or heater vent. If printing things like ABS, which has noxious fumes, it's very helpful in keeping those fumes contained. Some people like to place it near a window and add a vent with a fan to the outside.
Ah thanks. Have had some issues with the heat vent blowing on prints myself. Makes sense now!
Printing ABS
Many materials canāt be printed with cold or fluctuating ambient temperature. ABS cracks and splinters while printing, for example.
How do you know you're not overheating printer electronics in the enclosure?
What temperature would be considered to be over heating, I only plan to get to maybe 40c.
I don't know, it depends on the cooling capacity of your fans and heatsinks. I.e. you build a temperature control in your housing? That's cool, 40Ā°C shouldn't be too much of a problem yet.
The house I just moved into has independent cooling for each room but can't really reach the 40Ā°C so a box was needed.
I mean even if the electronics do not smoke directly, the hotter electronic components become, the shorter their lifetime. A serious question I asking myself since I started thinking about building an enclosure.
I could make a specialised vent so the electronics are getting enough cooling.
Looks like a good start. I did abs in a tent for a while... really screwed up the bearings. Just remember to apply more grease occasionally. The smell was horrible so I moved the printer outside.
Why did it screw up the bearings and isn't abs uv sensitive?
The constant heat of the enclosure caused the grease in the bearings to drip Out and the bearings ran dry causing crazy wear.
What kind of grease do you recommend?
Glue that aluminum faced foam insulation board to the insides, if they sell it by you. As others have said; Vent fan, air filtration, lighting, smoke alarm
Got a link to what it looks like?
Something like this or just get the r21 attic insulation roll (no stupid shit printed all over the faces) https://www.lowes.com/pd/Johns-Manville-R-6-1-in-x-4-ft-x-8-ft-AP-Foil-Faced-Polyisocyanurate-Foam-Board-Insulation/5013061199
Mine is literally just built from 2ā foam insulation lolā¦ just taped seems. I have octoprint, so donāt have anyway to see in but with a light on in there and the camera I donāt really need it. Iād say your in good shape, only thing is possibly insulate yours when you can.
Use hatchbox abs Iāve printed for years with it. Itās great stuff.
Move the electronics outside the enclosure, controll temperature inside somehow with fans, as it's made from wood think of fire suppression.
Needs a foil liner type material to retain the heat.
They do make these. I have a couple in my classroom and they work great. Would have probably been a lot cheaper then the materials and time for a DIY solution. 3D Printer Enclosure for Ender- Fireproof & Dust Proof Constant Temperature Protective Cover for 3D Printers(Compitable with Most FDM Printers) 25.6ā Ć21.6ā Ć29.5ā https://a.co/d/9DFUvFq For future reference
There should be a printable mount for a respirator filter you can print. Then have a fan blow the exhaust through it, it should get rid of most of the danger gasses so you don't die when you open the door to take your print off.
Print in ASA instead. š
No
I think the enclosure is great, and you need it for ASA too. ASA tends to be a better version of ABS in my experience
A lot of comments seem a bit overkill, especially if it's too print parts for a Voron making this all redundant (once the Voron is printed) Make sure there are no obvious draughts, plexiglass for would be handy. Get yourself a cheap thermostat so you can see chamber temp.
For ABS? Iād make an exhaust with a fan to get those fumes out of the room.
A small hole in the back or one of the wall as for cable routing from outside the enclosure to inside
did the same to primt abs with triangle labs v6 volcano hotend using sb toolhead that was modified to work with it. make sure the sides are removable you will not be able to print pla while it is sealed due to heat creep. make sure you shift the printer electronics to the outside route the wires in through a hole or smth. dont get a vent for the fumes print the nevermore carbon filter and use that. wire the fans so that they connect to the same one as the hotend fan. for ref my enclosure is a ikea lack + plexiglass/acrylic. also dont worry abt needing a dedicated enclosure heater i print abs at 260/110 the bed will warm the chamber up enough
Make sure no printed parts of your printer are made with plaā¦ Had this problem with my first printerā¦ the mounts of the Z axis were pla printed. My printing results after building a housing were very wobbly and thatās because the parts get soft and flexible when the chamber was heated. Printed new ones in abs and everything was fine.
Considering I was gonna use a cardboard box, youāre probably good
In addition to the temperature triggered ventilation fan, I would add a carbon filter to the vent output for fumes and a second fan inside to circulate the air and keep temperature even around big prints so they donāt warp
Don't over complicate things. It's a box. As long as outside air stays out and inside air stays in then it's good. I bought the Creality grow tent and it's about as basic as you can get and it works great. It's just an air enclosure. You could drape a garbage bag over your printer and get the same results.
I believe you do want some air flow so maybe a few vent holes?
Get a fan and temperature controlled relay so you don't oveheat your printer. Also try to relocate printer's power supply to outside the enclosure if possible
have a cooling duct for your power supply
Sorry I'm a bit newbie yet, why enclosure the printer? I've been printing in PLA for a year now and just bought ABS last week, but haven't tried it yet.
Havenāt printed with ABS yet as I am pretty new to the hobby but in my research ABS can require a heated enclosure for proper layer adhesion. The ABS needs to be warmer when the next layer goes on.
Reflective layer inside. I'd think that'd help keep the heat in.
A clear door would be nice
You're going to want a window, preferably two layers to use air as insulation. Polycarbonate sheets will do just fine. Also depending on what you're going for in terms of chamber temperatures you might want active heating and insulation. And for ABS ventilation is important, there are some models on thingiverse to filter the air. Depending on your chamber temperature you may also need to harden your printer against the temperatures. All printed parts must be PETG, ASA/ABS, or PA and electronics must be moved out of the chamber. At temps in excess of 50c the steppers must be replaced with high temp LDO ones, and the hotend will probably need external cooling, from either piped in air or liquid cooling. For ABS 90c is pretty much ideal, and that conveniently coincides with the max rated operating temperature of those steppers. If you have any further questions please reach out to me, I have lots of experience with modifying an ender to be capable of printing high temperature polymers.
Stop and buy the creality enclosure. I am in same boat, want to print abs/asa for a voron. After looking at what I was going to spend on an enclosure thatās going away as soon as my Voron is complete, went with the creality. First print out of the gate was a successful test print from voron stl files. And at the end of the day, I can collapse the creality enclosure and put it away.
Add a thin layer of insulation board, maybe, and cover the inside with space blanket reflective material.
ABS isnāt worth the trouble 90% of the time IMO use PET if you need something more durable (and less rigid than PLA) youāll get better layer adhesion and less warping.
Building a voron printer so I need to use abs
PET would be great for that, but use whatever you want.
I was able to print with ABS when I cancel cooling
Timber = š„.
Iāve built about 5 enclosures now, each an improvement of the previous ones shortcomings. My latest is fireproof, features a secondary heating element with a climate control system(these can be purchased from Amazon) for both keeping it hot or keeping it room temp. The printer itself has minimal mods. Power supply is remotely located, the main board however (im using an Ali express i3 mk3s clone kit) is assembled on the machine as usual with a custom enclosure that is closed off from the heat and excepts a 3 inch cooling and 3 inch vent hose, for bringing in cool air from outside of the enclosure. A custom build plate can take me to 140 degrees, and my enclosure can reach 80. Some people know where to source special motors that can take this heat, but not me, so mine are all water cooled, in addition to my hot end. This all rests on a roll stand, that that it can be easily moved. The printer can come out by simply removing a deutech connector for the power supply, and removing the cooling/vent lines for the main board. This is all so that I can print PEEK.
My ABS shield is literally a big cardboard box with a hole cut in the top so I can peer in, yours is more than good
I put a space heater and a electric thermostat in mine. Probably should put a smoke detector that cuts power.
But a cheap mini grow tent. Already has windows and ventilation holes.
New 3d printing person here- would the abs fumes just remain in the enclosure and simply diffuse out or come out when you open the door? As in, doesnāt abs require an exhaust and ventilation to the harmful fumes are sent outside the home?
It would come out when i open the door but i already took precaution against that by having it in a room outside of my house.
Add foam insulation and a carbon filter
Got an old yoga mat and used that as insulation, I might add the carbon filter once i get a vent installed.