jona027 wrote:Hello all, first time poster and hopefully soon to be owner of a Solidoodle.
I've been wanting to buy a 3d printer for quite some time now, but the amount of choices out there is staggering.
Eventually I saw the Solidoodle, and it seems that it fit's most of the things I want in a 3d printer. Price & Size mainly.
The problem is that I live in a small apartment and have a toddler running around.
So I was thinking of the enclosed Solidoodle expert ( build ). But how much sound does this thing really make ? Can you sit in the same room and "not notice it" ? Since it's going to run for hours while i'm at work, I don't want my wife to go crazy and trow it out 
And the second question is, how will it run stock on PLA, without modifications ?
I don't want to use ABS because of the toxic fumes, and the toddler running around. ( how toxic is PLA anyway, will the entire place smell of this thing ? )
I don't know about a sound proof enclosure, or an enclosure of any kind, but the open frame printer is not really quiet.
Not loud, but you will certainly notice it in a small room. I can leave it running at overnight and I can't really hear it in the other room, but when it's sitting only 5-6 feet away, and you're trying to listen to your TV which is only about 8-10 feet away on low volume, I have to put up the volume sometimes during softly spoken passage.
Edit:
I just did a little test using my phone and a sound Meter App. The phone was set in a cradle, approximately half way between me and the printer (about 3 feet in either direction).
The room ambient noise level measured between 32-35db. When printing, noise varies depending on the printer movements. For large, smooth moves, it measures between 53-56db. Short jerky moves like small perimeters and small zig-zag infill can get the level up to about 59-60db.
Adding the TV to mix did not seem to increase the noise level over the noise of the printer, it was still between 53-55db. My wife walked into the room and while we were talking in a normal tone of voice the meter registered about 64-66db.
To print or, 3D print, that is the question...
SD3 printer w/too many mods, Printrbot Simple Maker Ed., FormLabs Form 1+
AnyCubic Photon, Shining 3D EinScan-S & Atlas 3D scanners...
...and too much time on my hands.
