SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Enclosure heater

Re: Enclosure heater

2013-08-02T13:05:22Z

The specific linking is end of life'd and on runout from stores only at the moment, so is probably not the greatest specific example, but yes, its just an example I know

Yes it will adversely effect the steppers.. yes they could be cool'ed to some degree, but you will have issues and shorten their life and they will be far more prone to skipping steps..

Some people use heat lamps, as its a 'softer' approach to heating the build compartment.. but you still need to be very careful about the overall temps inside... particularly for longer prints.

But.. its probably overconsidering the problem really... Despite some people having repeated issues - generally speaking its pretty much a non-issue for 95% of prints for the vast majority of users and models they are printing. Its really only pretty tall thin walled, or large footprint with a large volume of plastic, models where the issues begin to develop...

Re: Enclosure heater

2013-08-02T04:50:18Z

What about using the guts of one of those 12V Cooler/Heater boxes?

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=GH1374

Something like this, with it's inside scavenged. of course you'd need a nice enclosure, but at about $40 it seems a pretty cheap experiment. Has anyone tried this?

Would it make the environment too hot for the stepper motors? Or could you cool them somehow?

Re: Enclosure heater

2013-03-04T12:25:24Z

Lawsy, I've noticed the same problem -- in addition to running a tube (like the bowden extruders) I was thinking you could also add a small air pump to the tube. It'd be such a small flow it shouldn't make much of a difference to the heated chamber, but would effectively cool the filament as it goes to be extruded!

Re: Enclosure heater

2013-03-03T21:27:59Z

My enclosure stays around 43°c once it gets warm but that is after it has been printing for a while.
The room gets down to 55°F when it gets in the low 40s outside. that is why I was going to install a heater.

Re: Enclosure heater

2013-03-03T19:51:28Z

IanJohnson wrote:

I'm finding that above 50C the filament is a bit prone to jamming on the way to the hot end.

This. Happened twice yesterday, and because it's softer there is more of a chance of a filament strip too.

I'm wondering if running the filament through a sleeve to the top of the extruder would help.

Re: Enclosure heater

2013-03-03T16:44:13Z

Also keep in mind you'll cook the steppers at anything much over 50C.

Re: Enclosure heater

2013-03-03T16:17:47Z

It's more compact than my solution and could probably be made to fit inside the metal case somewhere. If you made your own case, the miniature space heater and flexible duct I use is only about $25. I don't leave it on during printing anymore unless it is cold in the room, maybe under 55F. I'm finding that above 50C the filament is a bit prone to jamming on the way to the hot end. I'm using a tweaked MK 3 however, and the hole leading to the hot end is slightly to the side of where it needs to be, and that much heat is enough to make the filament flex a little bit more when it is pushed. Even preheating the interior before a print helps, and gives the bed a little boost as well.

Also keep in mind that if you blow heated air into the case, you will need to direct it so that the print does not get any direct airflow. For melted ABS even 70C is a cooling breeze.

Enclosure heater

2013-03-03T15:15:04Z

I am thinking of getting one of these to heat the build area
would the difference be worth the price.
and would it get it to hot.

http://www.omega.com/ppt/pptsc.asp?ref= … Nav=heat01