3D Printing in a 100°C Heated Chamber - Lessons Learned

An updated version of this project: • Heated Chambers - The ...
Printing high performance plastics on your 3D printer requires some special hardware such as a thermocouple and all metal hotend, but the most important thing is a heated chamber. Up to now all the DIY solutions have been made for aesthetics with transparent sides. To actually make a functional chamber for printing high temperature and high performance plastics you need to insulate, seal, and actively heat the chamber. Single wall acrylic sides won't do the job.
Electronics Isolation Tower Video:
• Fixing The Fan Noise o...
The CoreXY Printer I showed in this video:
• Two Trees Sapphire

[@bret44]

I know you already made a disclaimer about a fire hazard but I when I saw you get the heat gun out.... I can't help but tell you how dangerous that is. It is illegal for example to use the cavity in a kitchen cabinet as a heat run (it needs to be contained in duct work), the chance of fire goes up significantly when you raise the temperature of wood. One little spark in there and you will come back to lump of coal. I hope that your finished design is made of metal or some other suitable material. Otherwise, nice design!!

[@boxsterpontus]

I love how this channel posts early prototypes and proof of concept builds with long discussions of the thought process.Just like this one. Those early builds are often unsafe, unreliable and should only be cloned to further the development.

[@mennovanlavieren3885]

Good point about the preheating of the wood increasing the fire hazard. Also this thing is a perfect oven. Poly-carbonate is not better from a safety perspective, both materials can emit hydrogen gas when they get charred because the heater heats it up somewhere above 300 C locally. The heater needs to be placed in its own steel enclosure with vents, so it cannot burn something if one of its holding screws fails. Would some sort of cheap woven fiberglass material be a good basis material to construct the inside of the box from? It is heat resistant and hat a low thermal conductivity.

[@bret44]

Menno van Lavieren, Potus Borg I agree with both you guys, I think he should have made a bigger disclaimer. Someone might build this and skip the safety warning in the video.

[@Mrcaffinebean]

Eh the ignition point of wood is around 300C so at 100C you still a ways away. Sure metal would but I don’t think the wood is hazard as is.

[@bret44]

@@Mrcaffinebean it doesn't work like that.

[@ToninFightsEntropy]

I really don't know why you've got so many votes down.. I'm usually the first to hit the down button if I don't like something, but you published this so we could learn from your mistakes, and I really appreciate it! I now have a way better understanding of what will and won't work with enclosures, compared to having previously watched videos of people saying what to do without any kind of measure of usefulness and/or reasons for the methods involved in building it. I usually agree with video ratings on KZbin, but, apparently, people don't know what good information is lately.. I think, based on your results, for now I'm going to wall off the sides of the shelves with my printers, and maybe put a roof over them, just to easily block the main airflow issues, and consider adding some kind of heating to it, too.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Thank man! I know right!

[@TonyRueb]

No they cannot sue you for making a enclosure. They also cannot sue you for showing people how to make an enclosure. They can sue you for selling a printer with an enclosure.

[@jonjon3829]

Who can sue for what? So no one can sell a printer with an enclosure?

[@TheEricSchubert]

Anyone can sue you for any reason. A judge may throw it out as a frivolous lawsuit, but that won't stop you from spending money on lawyers. Just because they won't win doesn't mean it won't be a huge hassle.

[@GrubbyZebra]

@@jonjon3829 Heated enclosures on FDM printers are still patent-protected

[@norro21]

@@GrubbyZebra the trademark is invalid because it is obvious

[@rickb06]

@@norro21 Yeah it would be like me patenting the process of taking a shit and then trying to sue people when they go to take a shit.

[@TimesWatcher]

So... a note from a Carpenter... a wider gap between the glazing will increase the amount of air "insulation" you get... but only to a point. 1/2" (aprox. 12 mm) is pretty much the max you can go between the glasing panes before convection currents start to form and any larger gap than that begins to become more of a cooling mechanism than insulating mechanism.

[@ctrlaltdebug]

What about using a vacuum pump to pull a vacuum in the gap?

[@bendoon12]

Use halogen bulbs rather than the heat gun. Place them over the build table, offset from the Y axis that the print head runs on. This will direct heat to the printing part. This will offer a heated chamber effect between the heated table and bulbs without overheating every other part of your printer. Still have the walls of the chamber to stop draft but leave the top open so that the printer doesn’t overheat. If you have all motors, wiring, bearings etc in the chamber they will malfunction very quickly. This is why commercial printers with heated chambers have nothing but the build table inside the chamber, everything else is outside the chamber in a fan cooled environment, very important.

[@RadPuppies]

Biden’s EPA made the sale of halogen bulbs illegal in the US a couple of months ago

[@davidweng1290]

Very nice idea with the double sided windows, but it’s hard to implement. I’ll try to keep the electrics outside the chamber since most of them should run in

[@CraftedChannel]

McMaster lists ridged fiberglass insulation panels that are foil faced. This material as the internal surface would add quite a bit. Also, you can heat with lamps and it's quite effective. The added bonus of the intense red light escaping through the window will keep you on your toes wondering with each glance if this is the time it really is on fire.

[@brendonmatheson7286]

Cool to see someone pushing the envelope on material types. Thanks for sharing the challenges in the build process - that was super interesting,. The learning about buildability is gold. Also good reminder that 2x2 should be kept in mind as an alternative structural element to aluminum extrusion. Please don't burn your house down.

[@Tensquaremetreworkshop]

If you have a printer where the electronics are in the base, it makes sense to seal your box to the top of this, the cooling fans will then keep the inside of the base cool, while letting the chamber be hotter.

[@MarkusFotofieber]

A sealed chamber (cheap build) is enough to print ABS with my Prusa i3 mk3s without problems. One of my current projects is making a heated chamber for my Tronxy X5SA Pro CoreXY printer. I use the 2020/2040 profiles of the printer to attach isolation material. The X/Y motors can be left outside the chamber and keep cool. Marlin on the SKR 1.4 board supports heating chambers so I don't need a Duet. :)

[@nodashipl]

actually what i been looking for no one on youtube is doing this. I would love to see if you could print PEEK or most likely PEKK . ill be following this series closely

[@Thee_Gamefanatic]

I agree. There aren't very many youtubers that are putting PEEK videos. Probably even more helpful that other considering how expensive the stuff is. Knowing how to get successful prints would be helpful.

[@nhozdien5058]

The thing is your printer should almost all metal, because at 100C most plastic starts deforming under load. No mechanical switch endstop should be used because of thermal expansion.

[@Thee_Gamefanatic]

I agree. Heated chambers require thought to plan. Otherwise you will be fixing as you go. Bearings need higher temp lubrication, rods/screws/rail may as well need higher temp lube. I believe typical GT2 belts may have problems as well.

[@nhozdien5058]

TheeGamefanatic there is GT2 with kevlar as well. Offering better performance than steel core belt and they won’t get fatigued overtime like steel.

[@larryhawes9322]

I built 2 chambers out of simple 1" foam insulation boards from Home Depot. Cost almost nothing and took an hour max. Works great and simply retains the heat from the hot end and bed temps. PC and Nylon do not warp or crack.

[@TheJacklwilliams]

This, is what I was thinking watching. The chamber, in and of itself if built properly, prevents drafts and crazy temp fluctuations. How necessary is it to heat the chamber to 100c? Also, how does all the printer components hold up to this long term? I'd think that would shorten the life of many components significantly considering most rep/rap printers are not built with this as part of the original design?

[@AndersJackson]

@@TheJacklwilliams should probably design the printer so electronica and stepper motors are cooled or put outside of the Chamber, maybe by longer rods.

[@rileyneufeld7001]

@@AndersJackson Yea up to about 80C the magnets in the stepper motors are going to lose strength. That's temp of the stepper motor not the air around it. At 100C the motors must be getting above that by a good 30-35C and will shorten their lifespan by ALOT.

[@utah20gflyer76]

You’re going to shoot your eye out kid!

[@princepersona]

The "Frozen Line" he keeps referring to is scientifically called "The Glass Transition Temperature" for all of you curios out there.

[@bardenegri21]

"Why doesn't anyone use double windows in their enclosure?" question answered: cause it's a pain in the ass :))

[@qumefox]

Not to mention the real reason no one has mass produced 'budget' 3d printers with heated enclosures. Stratasys had a patent on it. Which thankfully expired at the end of last year. So now expect to start seeing them at some point.

[@mechanicallydev4536]

@@PRiMETECHAU you can print ABS on a not heaten enclosure (or even without enclosure, as long as you dont move air near the bed), but it will have better accuracy on a heated enclosure since the piece will shrink more evenly after the print if the entirety of the piece is at the same temperature, not only the bottom.

[@Xtracoolnerd]

Not to mention if you are going to all the effort for double pains for improved insulating value(heat retention), then you want it sealed with an inert gas in between to reduce the heat transfer through the glass because glass has jack for any R value. Enclosure good idea, method of execution was piss poor and lacks knowledge or understanding of things actually work and the effort. And a heat gun? Seriously? Safer to use a 500watt baseboard heater or a million other better methods. And you're aiming for way over 50C? Are you hoping to boil water?

[@markthompson5983]

I'm running a triple window, it wasn't hard at all, although the gap is only air, there's no vacuum.

[@theelmonk]

Use an old server / network cabinet. Nice and solid, can even put the printer on pullout rails

[@tomgrant6563]

I've been really enojoying your vids since I became obcessed with 3d printing over the last few moths. Your passion and enthusiasm for the engineering/science side of things comes across clearly in your presentation. Thanks for the inspiring content!

[@rodiculous9464]

Man i am so glad we can just buy them with the heated chamber nowadays after watching this video

[@crossthreadaeroindustries8554]

Well done, great share - I did not know about the stratasys patents. It was apparent the printers have to be enclosed. I ran into so many problems with a Makerbot Replicator + warping. When I passively enclosed the printer, the Makerbot extruders botched up - they couldn't handle even 45'ish degrees. Drafts and temp are my mantra about the Makerbot printers.

[@ttype231]

In the homebrewing/beermaking community, we repurpose minifridges into temperature controlled fermentation chambers. The temperature controllers are really cheap. Plug temperature controller into the wall, attach temp probe somewhere important, plug fridge/light bulb/ect in to relevant outlet, configure controller...

[@ttype231]

popular brand is Inkbird. Last one I got was 20-something dollars.

[@ttype231]

TLDR, if you were into beer brewing, you would have a simple solution. ...and you should learn to brew, it's fun.

[@andrewurban9369]

The blades are for a slitting saw on a mill (or drill press in your video) - definitely not for a hand tool. So good you used them the right way.

[@brownsamurai3070]

Here's a handy tip I learned from a truffle chocolatier when I had a cottage industry business. Use a blow dryer to speed up the heating processing and it cuts down on time. If it takes 10 minutes for this contraption to get to 100, you can cut that down to 1 minute or less if you had a small round hatch where you could insert the blow dryer (or even a heat gun) and blow the hot air in there first - get this chamber up the the recommended 220 degrees and then start the printing.

[@dane1293]

I couldn't help visualising the curtain going up in flames. But good one for giving it a red hot go.

[@jeremygalloway1348]

That polyurethane foam with foil backing...little chunks of foam are easily broken off. Pretty sure this would inevitably get tiny pieces in your prints or printer. Unless sealing the ends maybe...during construction. The pink panther stuff is alot easier to cut although it doesnt have the foil backing. Ive worked with the pink panther stuff extensively. At least for my application...thw foil backed stuff was a no go due to the pieces that come off. The environment ive used it for was extremely windy...think 3000 250mm fans as well as a few dozen 4ft diameter 240v fans...moving a lot of heat(it was 110f inside the other day) and not wanting it to circle back into the intake. Pink panther stuff is a dream compared to foil backed...the downside being no foil backing. Could also make a cnc hot wire foam board cutter but that wouldn't make sense unless multiple use scenario

[@Fischertek]

Many years ago I used a scrapped kitchen oven as a heater for my fibreglass curing oven (requiring 60 deg.). I bend the circulating fan in the oven to push more air, removed the door of the oven, and build an extra chamber outside of rockwoll bats. This actually worked pretty good, even though temperature control wasn't that accurate. I added some extra thermo sensors in the outer chamber to see the variances in temperature, and I could live with them. Adding more air recirculation with some heat resistant ventilators would optimize the setup.

[@joefitzy]

"can of worms" - nice vid!

[@EngineeringSpareTime]

There are people doing it! I built an enclosure for my 3d printer as well. It’s based on aluminium extrusions, flame retardant noise reducing foam, hpl plates as side panels, control panel drawer, chamber temperature control... it works great and really improves the overall print quality (not with every material..) - and it’s finally quiet. You might like it To avoid a fire is really the focus! Don’t use wood for the final design - for technical and esthetic reasons.

[@southbendkid]

Never place your body between the table saw's blade and fence. Stand to the left. Kickback's a bitch.

[@tablatronix]

Or pass your entire arm across and over the blade while also leaning forward., 10:00 gave me a heart attack.lol

[@D3nn1s]

Both correct, but hes got the blade pretty high, so chance of kickback is pretty slim

[@fivepointeightnate]

I have a buddy that luckily got to keep his finger because I set the blade to the correct height of the material. He wasn't paying attention and had his thumb on the material and butterflied his thumb open. If the blade was higher he would be a digit short.

[@lennartweber1502]

Havent watched the full video yet, but where is the vertical and hprizontal reinforcements on the "legs" of that thing? If the printer moves, the momentum of that movement needs to be countered by something, otherwhose your print will get layer shift due to the whole thing swinging back and forth. The design you initially proposed stands on 4 legs that will without a doubt starts wobbling and swinging as soon as the örint starts. Luckily this is relatively easy to resolve by putting some tension cables in between the leggs.maybe add a few stone plates to increase the mass of the whole steucture so it doesnt move so easily overall.

[@shadowcard6923]

Those are slitting saw blades intended to be used just as you did, but in a milling machine

[@rsilvers129]

The Qidi iFast has a heated chamber. I added one to my X-Max with a 250 watt PTC heater and temp controller. I heat to 60C and use the bed at the same temp.

[@iczer01]

we should see quite a few heated enclosed 3d printers here at the end of February thats when stratasys patents run out

[@spamspasm8183]

It's March now and I'm still waiting. Or maybe I'm just bad at googling.Maybe I should just start printing in my shed. Easily gets 40C-45C there on most days. I'm from the tropics obviously.

[@pintail120]

thats a proper tinder box just waiting to ignite !! PMSL might as well have the fire department camp outside his house for when the fire breaks out

[@jensschroder8214]

You discovered the Courier effect with the touch sensor. Ms. Courier discovered it in Paris 100 years ago. The famous Magnastat soldering irons used this.

[@gtxviper]

The velcro on the panel is a cracking idea

[@davidblomdahl5518]

Congratulations! You've made a convection oven! It's cheaper to buy a used one then to build this dangerous fire contraption unless you don't value your personal time (you stated otherwise). At the end of the day it's still better then mine (I don't have one) and the video is also better then mine, (considering.) Very interesting, I like your creativity. I wish I had the boldness to put myself up on the chopping block for everyone to comment and abuse my efforts. It will never happen.

[@kevinmalec4977]

"There isn't a slurry for polycarbonate" - ABS alloys strongly with polycarbonate and you can use ABS slurry for polycarbonate prints. I've personally used this for printing pc with a mostly-open printer. A chamber does really help and makes that less necessary though.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Thank you for the correction! I was unaware of this.

[@V8in240sx]

Heated chambers do help quite a bit on PC. With my Liquid cooled Ender 3 in its heated enclosure PC, Nylon, ABS, all print on plain glass with no warping issues regardless of complexity or size of the part with no raft or brim.

[@kazolar]

The other patent that you can violate ;) is feed in outside air from outside -- that is exactly what stratasys does, the funnel cool outside air directly at the part -- super directed, and they compensate with the chamber heater able to keep up.

[@johmu5466]

Lots of lessons learned here regarding enclosure design / needs - Thanks for sharing !

[@HoffmanTactical]

Very cool! My one question. How does the extruder hold up? With a chamber that hot, would the plastic back up and jam?

[@Shep01]

Heat creep til the filament backs up and jams is probably not much of a issue for The higher grade materials like the nylons this was intended for would be fine. It would need to be much cooler then 100c for plas etc. But if the filament did jam. I would dial the nozzle temp down some and if still double check the retraction settings. If the print is retracting too often too much it'll pull the hot filament up too high and cause creep and jam.

[@philchia4764]

Printing PEEK, PC and ZYTEL for advanced ventilator project. We have an enclosure for an ender 5+, we have multiple halogen bulbs and modified hair driers to get to 90-100c. Hotend and motors are water cooled, belts changed to high temp. Walls are made of metal laminated compressed glass wool. Base surround is Hebel. That's what you're going to need to have unattended prints without burning down your building.

[@gordslater]

those blades are actually intended to be used as "slotting saw" or "slitting saw" but somehow are marketed as freehand Dremel circular saws - you're usign them as the original designer intended

[@81XS11]

For the part cooling issue, why not use a high speed stream of air in a venturi which drops the temperature through the PV=nRT effect? Start with ambient temp, drop pressure to drop temp, and return to ambient, thereby keeping the whole thing adiabatic.

[@simonf.e.1387]

Another semi rigid panel material to consider (that is slightly less likely to ignite than thin wood and foam) - Suspended ceiling acoustical tile. Lightweight, easy to cut, fire resistant, sound suppressing, some insulation, and free at most renovation sites. Seal the edge if you cut (use a blade not a saw) as the dust is not healthy. Thanks for the 'vid and all the commenters below!

[@lennartweber1502]

Semi right indeed :D One wrong movement and you got a hole in your enclosure and dust everywhere :D

[@marksierra3522]

I was gonna make one out of an old oil drum, but I like your cabinet better. It's almost like I forgot wood existed.

[@caveboy9988]

Please make it aware that if you fully enclose one of these printers that most their components aren’t rated to handle high temps and will fail dramatically in 100c.

[@konradhartz8024]

Yes, that's it, but corflute ( not sure of spelling) its a lexan product... 12mm thickness, clear, but not easily see through, and holds 60c to65c. Works with abs and pc for me for years. Heat bed and extruder do the job. Great work keep going

[@enriquereyna8412]

great video

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Thanks!

[@davidellison4750]

Regarding narrow slots for your polycarbonate sheets and difficulty sliding in those sheets: Instead of 2 narrow slots in the 2x2, cut a groove wide enough for both sheets and a wooden spacer. Now place the sheets and slide the spacer between the sheets. You can glue the strips to the exposed wooden center of the groove for a permanent installation. Or if you like, just use a lightly compressed insulating strip as a spacer, then you can later grab it with a hook and pull it out if necessary.

[@thomassutrina7469]

I built a chamber, have not run it to 100C since I have not replaced all the PLA parts yet ~ 70 C. I have plywood walls and put first foam 1" thick and then the bubble wrap metalized on top. To get to all the sided of the printer I attached the sided with hinges to the base so they can be folded down. The top is held in place by a step in the wooden frame and then luggage or hood clamps similar to the type used on coolers. So two neighboring sides will hold up the top. It is on a metal TV cart so I can roll it anywhere. Controls for the Tervo Tornado are under the base like yours. I have a temperature controlled heater control (think the major purchasers are for fish tanks) that I haven't hooked up. For heater and light I used light bulbs. Will us the ceramic bases in the next phase. Right not I am using extension cord models, trouble light. I didn't think I needed to make the chamber air tight but minimize leakage, the bubble wrap does this well. Insulation on all sides also means I do not needed as much heat. Climbs to 50C in about 10 to 15 minutes with one 70 watt bulb. The reason for insulating and not using a fan is to have stagnant air as much as possible. Natural convection will heat up the metal frame of the printer. And the cooling fan for the nozzle is running to mix the air.

[@incubatork]

I used an Ikea cupbourd, 27€ including door and hinges, the cupboard is part of the childrens bedroom furniture, 20€, its the same size as the Ikea table or slightly taller. I got the door for 5€ in the damaged section, no damage just a slight scratch on the inside and 2€ for 2 x 120° hinges so the door opens more than normal. Works great, it heats up in minutes using just the bed heater with the door shut. Be Carefull puting the filament inside, keeps it dry yes but it can go soft and get out of round and cause problems, mine is on top fed through a hole above the extruder and a small cardboard box over the top, it gets some heat from below and the cardboard box absorbs the outside hunidity before it gets to the filament, dry the box out inside when your finished.

[@greenacresfarms]

I love the idea of a heated chamber. What had you settle on 100 degrees Celsius? Why not 50 or 75 or 90? Maybe you could do some test pieces at those temps and stress test them to see which is better.

[@marcovoetberg6618]

I don't know what sensor the BLtouch uses. Maybe a hall sensor and a magnet. But the PINDA probe is something different. It is an inductive sensor. It does not detect the presence of a magnet. It detects metallic objects.

[@bopedersen89]

STRATASYS'S PATENT HAS OFFICIALLY RUN OUT AS OF FEB 27 2020!! YAY!!

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Thanks for the heads up!

[@bopedersen89]

@@DesignPrototypeTest I just wanted to personally mention, that I'm glad I stumbled on your ur chan here first. I'm very sorry about your issues with TT, but rest assured, it's here I've always come for instruction and info, both first, and from the beginning! My next project from your guidance is a FLSUN Q5 Pro(riiiight... pro indeed, lol!) with duet right off the hop. Please, never stop producing and educating us!

[@ChristopherGoggans]

For anyone that deals with expanding foam, I've found wonderful success using a third party expanding foam gun from Amazon with some cans of Great Stuff from my local Home Depot. The third party gun was significantly cheaper than the name brand one, and had a nice thick nonstick coating on the inside and outside to simplify cleanup of dried foam. I don't know for sure if it's cheaper, especially since you have to use the cans of gun cleaner, but you do get a TON more precision on application and dispensing, and it's a fair bit cleaner to work with overall. Hope this helps the next person wanting to work with the stuff lol.

[@Emtbtoday]

Id look into the hydroponics set ups the way they control and maintain a stable temperature

[@95BLUERAY]

8:22 yep happened to me luckily it was just a light touch but it was bloody

[@gavinoliver8074]

I'm actually buying a Stratasys Dimension Elite for £102. Was a £35,000 machine when new. Didn't really realise they had the patent to it.

[@SmokeLegend]

insulation foam board, insulation tape, scissors or knife, make a box that sits over the printer.... pretty simple, but you can upgrade that by adding a DHT-22 temperature sensor and arduino for keeping track of temperature inside chamber box

[@SmokeLegend]

forgot to mention using plexiglass as a door... did this on the first edition Markerbot when it was released, worked great!

[@SmokeLegend]

Think BOM was less then $50(US) bucks....STAY AWAY FROM WOOD

[@AlienRelics]

I think I'd just design an entirely new 3D printer using all metal parts, with the motors and electronics well-separated. You'll need high heat lubrication for extended use at 100C. Plastic will deform, belts will stretch, everything gets weaker at higher temperatures. Metal parts will change size at different rates.

[@LightCarver]

Most of the Voron and some other XY designs do this already.

[@billkaroly]

Stratasys uses water cooling for the motors. I built an enclosure and mounted the PS, motherboard and display underneath.

[@NackDSP]

Since going to a temperature controlled chamber in a humidity controlled room (dehumidifier) my prints are more repeatable. There are some nice inexpensive Digital Temperature Controller available on Amazon and other places. I just use an old incandescent light bulb for heat. A cardboard box with plexi glass windows makes a great enclosure. Foil lining can help, but cardboard works fine for these low temperatures 100C and below. Step motors are rated to work at or below 50C, so keep that in mind.

[@DonBarthel]

You proved that you need a chamber but that you don't need it heated, that you don't need it perfectly sealed. That PC part worked without heat and without the front door attached.

[@straightouttheshed]

what id like to see is the heatbreak and nozzle are fixed at the top and the bed is in the enclosure moving. i think that will prevent jams

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

This is a very interesting idea which I had not considered before. Thank you for sharing. You are a clever human.

[@wayoutthere907]

Interesting concepts!

[@wizrom3046]

Some incandescent light bulbs in a box is much safer as a way to heat the box, and you get lots of light too when you open the door. Also, stepper motors are rated at 85 degrees C max, and will get a 40 degree rise above ambient, so when the machine is running in a "wooden oven" like this the stepper motors will definitely be running way above their safe operating temperature.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

The response time of incandescent bulbs to heat up the chamber would be so slow it would trip an thermal runaway error with the firmware.

[@AS-ug2vq]

I can suggest a few improvements: 1. Use ceramic heaters with cut off at 130*C, it will never go above 130 - so even if your PID controller or thermostat fails, heater will self regulate and never reach dangerously high temperature 3. Connect part cooling fan to a pipe and get the cool air from outside of the chamber, use silicone chaulk to seal the chamber where pipe comes 3. Use a PID controller rex100 is cheap with SSR from china 4. Lay the wood with some fire resistant paint or coating.

[@heffiagametech8094]

Why not make the slot bigger and use silicone caulk?

[@starph0x7]

Thanks for the video, some great ideas in here. I have my printer in an enclosure outside so i don't have to worry as much about fumes and VOCs. Luckily I don't live in a cold country so I'm not fighting nature much to keep the enclosure warm.

[@ThePosticeage]

I learned that my Creality fire proof enclosure is cool outside except for the front transparent window. Maybe due to its reflective skin inside the black fabric. You may try to attach a layer of aluminium foil that reflects back the radiated heat. I am normally not trying to allow more than 40 Celsius with my DIY temperature controller as I have ender 3 electronics inside. I took the display part out of the enclosure and the next plan is to take out the board too with longer cables to have increased ambient temperature. Regarding your comment on baking filaments in the enclosure, it is in fact a good idea. I am doing it with a paper box cover on the print bed with a filament spool inside based on the fact that the ender 3 bed temperature control is quite good. BTW, 100 deg seems too high for that, doesn't it?

[@frankdearr2772]

great topic, thanks 👍

[@MCChubbyUnicorn]

Weird that you would question why people didn't think of double paining. I thought about doing that with wood and foam

[@henricoderre]

I consider myself a tinkerer-hobbyist. I understand how a heated enclosure can improve layer bonding and print quality, but I have my doubts with electronic components running in a 100-degree C enclosure, especially since some of the components may already be running at or near their spec's maximum temperature ratings. Let's not forget that the printer will also generate some heat: the bed, and heating block. Exposing a printer's circuits to elevated temperatures might be risky. It's good that you moved the electronics outside the box. What follows is for your readers. At 100 degrees C, the temperature is well above what most component manufacturer's specs would allow for their components. They say computers work better at normal to lower temperatures. I don't know what the lower temperature range might be, but I think temperatures above 50 degrees C might be pushing the envelope. As for the heater, I suppose it could be mounted safely in a wooden enclosure, as long as its metal support bracket doubled as a heat sink to dissipate some of that heat near the wood. It's good that you have an extinguisher on hand, but it's better if you never have to use it.

[@JoseRamos-su3ep]

Hey I know this video is 10 months old, but I’m just getting to it. The part cooling. What if you used some CPAP hose, and connected one end to the cooling fan intake and had the other end out side the insulated chamber? This way you can get part cooling at a much faster rate. Granted you would be introducing a stream of cooling air into your chamber, making your secondary chamber heater have to work that much more....blah blah....ok never mind! 😉👍

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

:)

[@fragdude]

Legit video - subscribed. Solid & fairly original + practical advice. I'm doing the same right now (except with a RailCore, basically the same as your core xy) and have some suggestions I figured on my own & from other RailCore users: 1. 70 C seems to be the 'magic'/ideal enclosure temp, at least for the most common plastics that require a heated chamber 2. I've gotten some of those PTC heaters as well & probably how I am going to go about heating the enclosure (which, btw, are both AC & DC compatible - they are like ceramic resistors that can be designed to heat only to a specified temp. Easily available temps that I've seen are something like 70C, 110/120C, an 200 - 230C max which I believe is the max for this heater design. The way it functions is like those Metcal curie point soldering irons, but using a different process, where the resistance slowly changes as temp changes and once the pre-set temp is reached it stops heating up relatively abruptly. Good b/c all of the element gets up to temp and cool spots get more 'juice'). I've gotten some from DigiKey that have a max of 100-110C, but are a fairly low wattage & will be fixing them directly to the frame itself with some thermal compound (the cheap ones are usually not electrically insulated so if they would be used for this youd want to make sure that the thermal compound handles that aspect).... Not sure if I will end up controlling them as a separate trigger or as part of the air heater though. May just use them during heat up via a trigger. 3. Haven't fully test this out yet, but I've attached all my heating elements to larger heat sinks (as previously mentioned they heat up faster the further they are away from their max temp) so hoping that speeds things up & I can use natural convection as much as possible to distribute the heat. 4. If you want to get quality PTC heaters, but want to have more control over their temp max, wattage & voltage while also keeping costs very low I have seen a line of TDK PTC heating elements (just the ceramic bit, nothing else) on digikey or mouser for I believe less than $10 per. Definitely something I will look into for a second iteration when I know the exact capacities I need. 5. The insulation materials you mentioned at the end are all very legit (as is the 'double walled' aspect, I have seen a few people use different panel materials for the inside vs outside, but not often). Another one Id like to throw out there is what I purchased: a type of household insulation that is a sandwhich between two thin sheets of aluminum with some of the foam (don't remember which type it is specifically) in the middle that also has 'closed cell' air bubbles in it. Can be purchased in thicknesses of something like 3mm 5mm and 10mm I believe. Also not too expensive at all & with the reflective aluminum exterior does a very good job keeping heat in. For $30 I have enough left over to cover the upper portion of my ceiling with it as well 6. Last bit: I've been using stuff like neoprene as well for making seals & while building the air filter device (basically a bofa just made out of MDF) I realized that I could buy 10-20 lever latches for like $15. Allows me to either have doors on a hinge or that completely come off while also providing a great, and adjustable, seal against the neoprene foam. Cheers

[@brownsamurai3070]

Here's another idea - ever been in a sauna? You know how you pour water on the stones (granite)? If you live near a river, get 4 large hand size granite stones put them in your oven and heat them up, then put these rocks in this printer dehydrator of yours.

[@kal9001]

I heard that the issue with heated build areas is that they were patented by someone (Stratasis maybe??) so it's not possible to incorporate one into a commercial design. An enclosure can be, but one for the purposes of containing a heated volume is a no. Ofc you can DIY one, but can't sell them.

[@beanMosheen]

Stratasis has a patent on the bellows style enclosure.

[@vitoru1000]

The only thing to concern is the lifetime of this ender. I've been planning on doing this with a modified version of the voron project, but no time and no money....

[@patrickmcphee8113]

There is a process you can use in the duet firmware to calibrate the heater so that it knows how fast it should expect the chamber to heat. I forget the commands but I believe it's documented in their wiki.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

Yeah, I need to calibrate that. Thank you.

[@jasonspink1981]

Put the temperature sensor at the top of the enclosure. The duet will cycle the gun on and off more as the fan draws the warm air down but the duet will be satisfied with the heat cycle coming from the gun better this way.

[@garylarson6386]

abs layers were separating and warping , bought a heat champer, the abs parts were wonderful, then after 15 hours the main board failed , and the the x stepper motor and I realized all the electronics are in the heat, either buy a already enclosed with great reviews or plan on moving the electronics outside , &10,000 comercial 3d printers have cooled servo motors

[@patrickugorcak]

Those mini saw blades looked wicked! Using a router with a slot bit mounted in a router table and fence might have been a safer solution. Using thicker plastic also in the process.

[@lukegainey2459]

Can of worms is the saying you were looking for lol

[@microponics2695]

BUY a $75 3x3 Hydroponic Grow Tent.. You can even use heat controllers on fans to ventilate and keep the enclosure the right temperature. Just use a basic temp controller for hydroponic grow tents or heat mats.. You can also just use a chepo temperature controller module.

[@davidellison4750]

Regarding adding a second heater unit: The hot air gun will pretty much draw maximal 120V current, 13-15 amps or so, adding a second unit on the same circuit will probably trip your breaker. You'll want each to be powered from a different circuit if you go that way. Just a thought but you already have a low fire risk heated box in your kitchen, so will your 3d printer fit in your oven?

[@jungleb]

Thank you so much!

[@Grandafmor]

Found your video after I made my own enclosure, from double-walled polycarbonate, which is often used here in winter glasshouses ;) Might add a heater to it though

[@jonatanboy]

Very cool. Not sure why the heater is needed. Haven’t watched all of the video yet, kinda skipped to you discussing the result, But did you try to run it simply enclosed and measure the temperature between the bed and roof? I just got a creality ender 3 neo, running in a small dehumidified room. And i’m usually greeted with temperatures 10-15 Celsius above ambient room temp on the other side of the door

[@0Logan05]

Thanks for documenting..Always interesting🤙🏻 Quite sure People Thought of Double Wall, I sure have… But between The Cost and extra work(pain) involved… The Pay-off just didn’t seem worth the time and hassle…(It could take Months to make vs. An Afternoon..) Just used Foam board until I bought my Enclosed printer.. Rad🤙🏻

[@corymcleod934]

I made a chamber with insulation and found out that in order to print the lower temp materials like pla I have to leave the door open and that's without using the chamber heater, just the bed and hotend.

[@AnMuiren]

I just started researching this and had no idea people were building single pane. I automatically assumed that thermal stability being the point everyone's design would be insulated.

[@AS-ug2vq]

You give me Trumph like vibe lol

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

I like Triumph motorcycles. But I'm more partial to BMW or Honda motorcycles.

[@AlienRelics]

You don't need shottky diodes. The point of shottky diodes is they are half the voltage drop of silicon diodes, and they switch much faster. Both great for the low voltage side of a switch mode power supply. 1N4009 diodes work fine for 120V @ 60Hz and are MUCH less expensive.

[@emilevezinacoulombe5296]

A a to z for the duet connection and installation with all the electronic to do would be awesome. Following the heated chamber series!!

[@jaroslawzmuda8963]

Between two glass or inside the window there's gas insulation not air. When gas goes out it is way less resistance to temperature.

[@bkm72]

The quick fix to keep the original design would be to widen the poly mount slots and fill them with clear silicone sealer to make it air tight.

[@DesignPrototypeTest]

A good call. Why didn't I think of that? :) Would require thicker plastic though. One problem I've noticed is the thinner sheets in the window that I do have tend to warp with the heat. Not to the point of melting, but bad enough.

[@bkm72]

@@DesignPrototypeTest Yeah. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the overall design we miss some simple solutions. I do it all the time.

[@faxxzc]

I really think nobody reads patents. the patent is not about the heated chamber, but about having the motion components external to it. So that they last longer. The way you built the heated chamber is not covered by the patent. READ THE PATENT CLAIMS!!!

[@mennovanlavieren3885]

Thanks for the info. I was maybe sometime to build something like this myself. For home use it would not be a practical problem, but what if I want to use the printer in some commercial use case? But I'll just place the steppers inside the chamber, way easier and they are cheap to replace.

[@snax_4820]

I first build a - relatively expensive and wobbly - fancy acrylic Lack enclosure. Then I replaced acrylic with chipboard and the results began getting much better. A common error is that most enclosures are much too big to be efficient.

[@gary-sx1sb]

Would a glass front fridge like a beer fridge work? Easy to find a broken one. Heat cable on a reptile thermostat wound around the inside should be good enough for heat.

[@aaronleiter9009]

I did this years ago using lack table tops for all sides of the cube with foil backed foam insulation as well. Worked well. Cost like $50 ish.

[@ehsanra7214]

i covered my printer with plastic and light iron frame...also used Circular Saw Blade (80 cm diameter)instead of glass of the bed ...they are flat like glass.. heat faster and transfer heat well to the part...And I never had a problem layering on ABS after use that