3D printing underwater actually WORKS

[@rctestflight]

Wow! I can't believe the layer adhesion worked as well as it did. Amazing

[@CPSdrone]

That was maybe the biggest surprise. I love that you told us it wouldn't work at OpenSauce

[@helavion8331]

@@CPSdrone lol love to see some polish stuff on english yt. i was geniuenly suprised when i saw allegro XD

[@PauIieWalnuts]

​@@CPSdronedude is rubbing it in lol

[@charleslambert3368]

tow one of these setups behind your kayak in case any parts break while you're in the middle of the lake

[@byeluvby]

When global warming covers the earth in water, it Will no longer be funny lol

[@KrazyKaiser]

I love how you said "This change should improve your layer adhesion" as if anyone else in the world is underwater 3D printing right now.

[@Fennec_animates]

I am ):

[@isabelnine9548]

You'll never know who may need it 🙄 -Mermaid that owns a 3D printer

[@ChandlerM-c2r]

they are testing underwater printing in labs, so just maybe.

[@Funnyboy38162]

But now it’s weak

[@JustNice980]

Instead of water, you could use mineral oil just like when PC enthusiasts build submerged PC's. It should help with the corrosion problem and even add lubriaction the motors and bearings. You would also not have to epoxy anything as mineral oil is non-conductive.

[@meettrout419]

So much mineral oil!

[@autonoob]

Especially for the swimmingpool :)

[@jonathanschladetzky4754]

I actually looked into this a few years ago. The prevailing issue that arises is that the mineral oil typically used for submerging PC actually burns at a lower temperature than most print nozzles.

[@Xyzair]

@@jonathanschladetzky4754 Mineral Fire sounds cool as well.

[@JustNice980]

@@jonathanschladetzky4754 that would only happen once the entire volume of the reservoir crosses that temperature threshold. Much in the same way you can hold a blowtorch to a water balloon without popping the balloon. It won't have a chance to burn before the heat gets wicked away.

[@StrangeParts]

You all are completely nuts. It was good meeting you at Noisebridge this summer!

[@CPSdrone]

Haha thanks I guess. Really enjoyed that conversation :)

[@StrangeParts]

@@CPSdrone in case it was ambiguous, that’s definitely intended as a compliment. Awesome idea and video.

[@PauIieWalnuts]

​@@StrangePartswas gonna "random internet stranger chime-in" until I saw your follow-up. Language is a fickle beast lol

[@darklegionnaire8304]

@@CPSdrone guys you may have solved water issues around the world. try designing a bottle with a lid. boom water solutions for remote places

[@AlexParkerEmcee]

@@PauIieWalnutsand yet you still managed to chime...

[@CNCKitchen]

Amazing work!

[@CPSdrone]

Your approval mean a lot :) And thanks for putting us in your OpenSauce video!

[@sensationsmoke9152]

he just looking for attention@@CPSdrone

[@Boostedfpv]

@CPSdrone have you considered using "Corrosion X HD in all the stepper motors and connectors. Also, pour the silicone in smaller/thinner layers and it will dry better. Also maybe consider your layer smash/ thickness. With the print happening under water maybe you want the tip of the nozzle to "dig in" to the previous layer to get better layer adhesions. Maybe. At this point everything is trial and error.

[@bridgerbrad6899]

Hi I am a big fan

[@jophielmarin]

The most important thing is that you actually made a fully functional underwater 3d printer. That's the first step, and with more improvements, this could be a new way to print things without supports or in different materials that need such a particular cooling. Congratulations.

[@oktkas]

Do this with a core xy machine which moves the bed down as it's printing. That way, you'll keep most of the sensitive stuff out of the water while still getting the full cooling benefit.

[@kyleo1236]

you'd have to use a large aquarium because if you print something large it would displace the water causing the water level to rise.

[@SirSpence99]

@@kyleo1236 Actually it would only displace by the volume of the filament, not the print. That would mean that if you were to print an entire roll of filament, it is equivalent to sticking the filament in the bath. Nowhere near as much displacement as you might think. Likely could be mitigated by just having a float to check the fluid level and drain some out whenever it gets above a specific point.

[@knuschi7070]

@@SirSpence99 Or solve it by placing the filament roll into the water. Adds other trouble too.

[@TaylorJenkins]

This would also allow you to print hollow parts that don't fill with water, by keeping the water level just below the top layer. That would also improve adhesion.

[@bubblesnot]

That's exactly what crossed my mind! There's already collapsible silicone wash bins if you get one that's base is slightly larger than the build plate you could even use magnetic build plate to secure it down then modify it so that the rim of the tub stays static. The only thing that would be the problem is as the plate goes down making sure the water stays level. I'm sure that could be figured out though... gravity, siphoning, something.

[@grzesiogejmer]

2:20 For Person who is from Poland thats really great that you used Allegro ❤

[@cg_jezosaw6824]

They are livin in poland bro

[@frequent_freak]

@@cg_jezosaw6824 XD

[@dapz]

I wonder if instead of submerging the entire printer completely you could have a small secondary nozzle that shoots a stream of water at the recently cooled part. You wouldn’t have to deal with as much insulation or waterproofing, nor the heatbed losing a lot of heat to the water. You could have the jet of water be cooled by an ice bath or water chiller, allowing potentially more water cooling ability and stiffness for overhangs, and then switch to hot/no water for the parts that need better layer adhesion. Kinda like the equivalent of flood cooling on cnc mills but for printers

[@josiahong5177]

What about mineral oil?

[@kevintheyellowthing]

yeah

[@sierraecho884]

Good idea but the print bead would cool down way too fast and spotty. Maybe chilled air would be better suited instead.

[@MTurtle]

i didnt know you were into 3d printers

[@MTurtle]

Leave cereal into really hot milk for 1 hour then eat it

[@I.no.ah.guy57]

You guys are amazing and pushing the boundaries of 3D printing. I cant wait to see you improve this project and for whatever else you guys come up with!

[@G.S.W.]

Now strap it to the underwater drone.

[@thatcatthatalwayseatsyourchees]

YES

[@lolzdatguy4987]

Why?

[@CPSdrone]

Yes, that's a perfectly logical evolution of our projects

[@tinkerduck1373]

Oh no! What if it breaks free and creates offspring 😁

[@jacobbarton9701]

SELF REPLICATING DRONE!!! And that's how we ended up living in the matrix kids😂

[@marsgizmo]

pretty interesting tests! 👏

[@chris_0725]

This generally has an interesting application for semi-cristalline materials. Given their crystallisation rate is basically -x² with both points being y=0 (y being the cristallisation rate, x the temp) the tg and the melting point. Given cooling down to tg isnt possible for some filaments (POM having one of -80°C) you could keep the liquid temp just below the melting point of the filament. For this application a non-oil based liquid with a boiling point of over 200°C would be needed. But if you can get that liquid, the rest would be pretty easy given the Hotend basically needs no insulation Basically by keeping the material just below its melting point and easing gravity with a liquid you could keep the crystallisation rate at almost 0 making warping bc of crystallisation insignificant

[@conorstewart2214]

That would maybe reduce warping but it would also make it pretty much impossible to print, if the whole print volume is just under the melting point the plastic won’t cool fast enough and will deform, on top of that most 3D printing materials go soft well before their printing temperature so would deform because of that too. With heated chambers and beds you want to have the temperature below the heat deflection temperature or glass transition temperature to reduce warping but also to stop the print melting or deforming.

[@chris_0725]

@@conorstewart2214 thats why a fluid might help to stabilize the filament. Im well aware that the filament gets soft, but in my case i wanna print POM, which is basically impossible to print as soon as it starts crystallizing

[@lukamorita1691]

Ive done a lot of printing with recycled materials like HDPE and PP and this would be such a cool solution to their warping tendencies

[@conorstewart2214]

@@chris_0725 how do you think a fluid might help to stabilise it? Air is a fluid anyway. Your fluid would have to be the same density as the filament so the parts dont sink or float and be thick enough to not be pushed around and deform your part. Anyway the same issues exist, having the part heated to much higher than its glass transistion temperature would make it very easy to deform, with a fluid even the currents caused by the hot end moving might cause it to deform and gravity definitely still will. A solid solution could be better, similar to how SLS printers work, you could maybe do that but add a filler material around the part rather than just plastic powder. What issues are you having printing POM?

[@chris_0725]

@@conorstewart2214 To answer you last question first: what issues dont i have while printing Pom xD It sticks on almost nothing (something ive learned to overcome), and it shrinks about 4% due to crystallinity

[@Dr_Ende]

Co jak co ale chłopaki macie talent 🎉

[@mrnlce7939]

Maybe a delta style printer would be better with only the end effector going in the water. Not that any of this is a good idea. But it is entertaining. Great video. Keep up the good work.

[@chris_0725]

In that case CoreXY would be optimal, because only the bed would need to be submerged in water and the rest stays dry. Also the very little contact of the nozzle with the water keeps it from needing insulation if you do it right

[@floridafoilers]

Excellent engineering process by iterating on solutions after breaking down the problem into manageable parts. I wouldn’t have believed this was possible until seeing the video. Even though a simple underwater 3D printer may not be practical, your experiment can be used as a springboard for various innovations in the 3D printing space as illustrated on the comments. Well done 👏

[@Leclaron]

For mechanical longevity you can replace all the linear bearings with igus polymer bushings. The axial bearings could be replaced with ceramic versions or polymer bushings. You could potentially replace the rods with aluminum or carbon fiber to ensure that they don’t oxidize in the water.

[@ChrisWijtmans]

Aluminium oxidizes bro

[@Rognivald]

@@ChrisWijtmans Ceramic berings is the way to go.

[@--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_]

I hope you consider my idea for next version,, the best way in my opinion to do this is to only submerge the layers that are printed. The extruder should stay mostly above water and only move sideways. And the plateforme should be capable of going up and down, this way the printing happens centimeters from the surface but the motors and all electronics stay above water, only the base will be submerged and move downward as you print

[@johns_craft8582]

This guy really said:"everyone is telling me to keep my fliment dry, if the whole printer is wet my wet fliment will be fine."

[@Fr223Laboratories]

It would be very interesting to see this tried again in a fluid with a density similar to or greater than that of PLA, I'd Imagine the bridging performance could be significantly improved. Great work!

[@Lampe2020]

I think the motors are a pretty easy fix, just make them water tight and add mineral oil to their inside to make it even harder for water to get in through possible tiny gaps.

[@jenspetersen5865]

You can buy them IP68

[@shApYT]

I feel like a delta printer would be perfect for this experiment. Instead of submerging the whole printer you can just submerge the printhead and lose only a little bit of the build volume.

[@disstream]

Świetna robota Panowie! Super materiał :D Btw dobrze że po wsadzeniu drukarki do basenu, ludzie w tle nie zaczęli nagle pływać na plecach xD

[@Spowa_]

ale z cb kalendarz

[@NUGGETS2137]

jd

[@tomaszkarwik6357]

Jprdl diss

[@pmcmalec]

Zauważyłeś polski silikon?😂

[@sad_pepepl7300]

@@pmcmalec allegro

[@Fejszi]

This MK2 is a trooper for sure, this is stress testing beyond limits. If you excuse me, I'll go and hug my MK2.5s

[@CPSdrone]

It has been through a lot

[@dmdeemer]

Ok, mind blown by the concept, but you really nailed it at the very end. I didn't realize it would be possible to 3d-print a glass full of water to drink.

[@H3nryum]

"water is the ultimate solution" is a great double meaning

[@robertheinrich2994]

I see massive advantages regarding cooling when printing under water. for example that water has a similar specific density to PETG, meaning that you need almost no support to support. PLA has a higher density, but not bad. you will need some sort holes as an opening to the infill to drain the water. and since you will probably not be able to change the nozzle, I'd suggest the diamond nozzle, it is practically not degenerating when using it, it might outlast your printer.

[@braken9315]

pla absorbs water

[@robertheinrich2994]

@@braken9315 it takes PLA quite some time to absorb water, and after it is used for printing, the water absorption does not massively alter the print quality (or in other words: keep some holes in the perimeter so the water trapped in the infill can escape).

[@braken9315]

@@robertheinrich2994 you did forget that 3d printing causes tiny holes which you cant see where watter will get trapped in and thats gonna be worse when you are directly printing it in water

[@robertheinrich2994]

@@braken9315 that might be a problem too. honestly, I love space travel and I am very interested in it. the test to print under water is just one step. we need to test if printing in vacuum is possible. cooling fans shouldn't work in vacuum. if we get that working, 3d-printing space stations could become a thing.

[@georgeghabious4623]

I can't even get my layers to adhere normally and you're out here doing it underwater.

[@FlapD]

What if you'd attempt to build a printer that would use a belt system to move the gantry underwater but keep the steppers in the air. (Something like an inverted Ultimaker S3, where you don't see any stepper motors at all) You'd still have problems with isolating the nozzle, one way that maybe would do this, if you'd have an unlimited budget would be aerogel, sadly that's not a realistic option currently. I didn't see if you have pulled a vacuum on your red nozzle bath, if you would suck all the air out before letting it cure you won't have gas bubbles that will form later on. One way to stop the plastic from collecting moisture would be to attempt to enclose the whole filament system so that no water gets inside. But then you could encounter problems with the water trying to get into the nozzle from the bottom which could create weird things. Ale jako pierwszy prototyp drukowania pod wodą to wygląda naprawdę fajnie!

[@chocolit349]

Thats actually a really neat idea

[@Micharlus]

What actually is a problem with gas bubbles in this situation? Wouldn't they mostly act as extra insulation?

[@FlapD]

​@@Micharlusat 11:00 you can see what gas bubbles do. You want the silicone to be evenly distributed everywhere without any bubbles where the material could possibly start degrading

[@Micharlus]

Oh, that's the result of air bubbles? Now I see, cheers.

[@sireveman]

With a pump you could have just regulated the water level automatically to the print height. This way you could use a stock extruder setup. This way you could even mount all your steppers and electronics on top!

[@emoneydev8684]

now try printing with an unmodified printer in mineral oil

[@QuibizOwl]

Try heating the water to the glas transition temperature of pla. I think that could fix a lot of problems

[@pyalot]

Awesome experiment 😀. A few suggestions: - Use high temperature two component silicone. It is usually sold as a form building material for tin/lead casting. - Keep the moisture out of the print head (should be possible with the ptfe tube), that would help with layer adhesion. - There is a steam bubble at the tip of the nozzle, not sure if this is useful, I would try both forming the underside to retain the bubble and come up with some way to disperse it and see what happens.

[@martindinner3621]

The steam bubble may actually be the reason we are seeing good bed and layer adhesion. It's pushing the water out of the contact area.

[@pyalot]

@@martindinner3621 yeah might be, that is why I would suggest testing two setups, one that retains the bubble well, and one that disperses it.

[@ScytheNoire]

This is the type of madness I didn't know I wanted to so. I was completely enthralled by the entire process.

[@byronedwards]

Emily the engineer, already did a video where she submerged and ender 3 and printed underwater with mineral oil and it worked fine for her. I dunno how you and rctestflight missed that video, but to see it done in actual water is cool too!

[@RomanNamorr]

Interesting topic! I think the stepper motors should be located outside the water, connect them with timing belts. But I think you will then need to use a bowden extruder. (if the bowden is good sealed, the filament won't touch the water before being extruded) Also you can try different water temperatures to see if there are any differences.

[@aaamott]

Very nice! Have you considered filling the stepper motors with oil? Something important to note about stepper motors is that they lose part of their magnetism once you open them. I know it makes no sense at first. I've heard of 40% torque loss after opening an expensive one. It depends on the stepper, so hopefully not a major contributor here. Nice work!

[@leszekzajac7772]

quick tip, stainless bearings for steppers, bigger probelem is the stepper body...also pla floats in water so overhagns will come out perfect thanks to that.

[@killerminnie3796]

Hejkaaa na jaki basen można wejść z drukarką 3D? Edit: a dobra już widzę że basen Politechniki Gdańskiej :DD Świetna robota, pozdrawiam z Rzeszowa :))

[@CPSdrone]

Właśnie z jakiegoś powodu nic do drukarki nie mieli

[@JernD]

Newcomer to the channel, and I was 95% sure this was clickbait. Pleasantly surprised to discover this is very real!

[@cristalliglike4134]

Imponujące, być może potrzebny będzie specjalny filament do takiej drukarki. Chłopaki po prostu WoW!

[@shoty_z_druku]

mam pruse mini (czy da sie to preprowadzic na mojej drukarce)

[@alearnedlife]

Incredible video. Innovation is all about “could we” rather than “should we”.

[@CobaltQuasar]

Why didn't you use mineral oil instead of water?

[@Iisakki3000]

Because then it wouldn't be under water

[@beargrizzly6897]

Althought submerging it was originally for the cooling, with more r&d that technology might enable them using 3D printers for underwater missions(maybe building or repairing deep sea structures?)

[@MarioIArguello]

There is a lot of MAGIC that happens in thermoforming but also in many processes when you induce a proper pressure differential environment upon such a process. In fact, we live within a pressure differential bubble with feedback for equilibrium. I am sure. I don't think people have considered this yet, but the exercise in printing inside water, especially in a pool, a larger sort of container, can yield interesting data if you can take into account pressure measurements. What I am talking about is a much more in depth analysis but these experiments under water are a very good start. It is through experimentation that many new findings find themselves progressively in practical applications.

[@CanBeGold]

Who came from the short?!

[@Maysterr]

Me

[@w.1ld]

yeah

[@G.comenterr]

Yup

[@user-wq3dx5dp9m]

Me

[@nuclearpoodlee]

Hi

[@jannsander]

Amazing!!! I thought of this exact idea some time ago and even told a friend about it, but we never attempted a prototype. Additional ideas: Heated liquid (mentioned in the last second) for perfect build volume heating without warping (abs, pet...), Oil as liquid (no corrosion problems, perfekt lubrication and even lower density difference>> higher buoyancy, flooding after the first layer, sealed Filament path (tube to the surface), core XY to prevent problems with high drag when moving a bigger part. I don't know if I got everything, but sooo cool to see someone having the same idea. Basically I concluded, that it would make even more sense to use a solid instead of a liquid and how cool would it be if the solid was the Printmaterial - which brought me to SLS printers.

[@ilivetoflyxD]

Tbh I like the idea, a lot of printed stuff can be a pain in terms of floating, just doing it underwater in the first place and making the part waterproof would be a good way to print something you want to be filled with water but not leak when removed from the water

For not soaking the filament, you can use aquarium tubes and design a waterproof filament housing. Tubes are available in any aquarium store by the meter.

[@yeroca]

Very bold plan and experiments! I love the lack of fear of failure!

[@snooker216]

Hey guys! This idea is completely sick but I LOVE it! I really enjoyed! 👍

[@olivegardenofficial]

For the stepper problem, back in the day I made a crude underwater vehicle for a school project. We had the motors in a plastic container that was filled with wax from a toilet wax ring (new ofc) the shaft was unimpeded and the wax kept everything sealed up tight. Could also look into how pump motors seal the motor from the shaft.

[@Ingeimaks]

WOWW BEAUTIFUL PROJECT, The only limit is our imagination 😍😍

[@OMEN1p1]

You need to provide two things. cooling speed and you can use instead of water oil with a density similar to that of PET-G, i.e. approx. 1.3g/cm3, then the print will not sink to the bottom. you will get a perfect bridge without rust :)

[@privatemale27]

Pretty much exactly what I was thinking.

[@ItzMeImAlive]

Being insane, and being creative, have a very very thin overlap, you are one of the only people to ever be in this overlap,

[@pauldowie1399]

Why has no-one thought of this before? brilliant.

[@Rychlas]

Panowie, próbowaliście może schładzać wydruk sprężonym przez sprężarkę powietrzem (np. do aerografu)? Przy odpowiedniej konfiguracji chłodzenia powietrza po przewężeniu (np. spirala z rurki zanurzona w wodzie) i odpowiednim zamocowaniu dyszy rozprężone przy wylocie powietrze powinno działać o wiele lepiej niż konwencjonalne chłodzenie wentylatorem. Minus taki, że ustrojstwo to będzie tragicznie głośne :D No i trzeba odpowiednio dostosować kształt i odległość dyszy, aby nie zdmuchnąć druku :D

[@kkkk-ud9ll]

Ok ale po co?

[@tobuslieven]

If you use salt water instead of water, the pla would be fully supported by bouyancy, for even better bridging.

[@all4seasons]

Other 3D-Printers: Doing all for getting their Filament dry CPSdrone: Lets put it under Water Great work :D

[@MarkkuS]

It's not only cooling that helps. There's buoyancy too 😊

[@MarkkuS]

So add some salt to the water to make it denser 🎉

[@ut3115]

I think you are the first ever human on earth to print a fully fonctionnal glass of water.

[@EL_GOOFY_MAN]

Shouldn't it also help if you found an extra sticky filament? Added onto the other fixes you mentioned at the end of the video, this should make it better than regular printing. Genius!

[@KrazyKaiser]

Dark souls text and sound effects are a nice touch!

[@1000hanjad]

one of the the main (and in my opinion biggest) problem preventing 3d printers from going fast is the speed at which the material cools but since your almost instantly cooling the material you can print extremely fast

[@1000hanjad]

its far better to not make it soft but more consistent to a thick-semi thick liquid, also if you believe its because of buoyancy you should try printing in stuff like oils, also you should try a special cooling liquid made for pc cooling and see if thats better

[@mosta5]

Here's some other ideas for improving underwater printing: Use a delta printer so you can keep the motor above the water. Fill the water gradually just under the nozzle so you don't have to worry about covering the heating block with silicone since it will be above water and if your goal is just better cooling for the plastic coming out of the nozzle just use a sprayer or something to spray the extruded filament with water or coolant to cool it quickly.

[@ElytraflightsGarage]

Amazing video! You mentioned that printing underwater fills the print with water that makes it heavy; I can imagine some interesting use cases where you print things in some sort of lightweight gas (helium?), or even better, a vacuum!

[@nategast]

Awesome video guys, way to live the spirit of the makers

[@SomeGuyWithAHalo]

Imagine that when ever you print something, as soon as it is done, it floats to the top of what every body of water the printer is in.

[@ItanMark]

This is awful and beautiful at the same time! Great work guys!

[@TypewritR]

definition of " Just because you can, doesnt mean you should. "

[@ethan5285]

Could've added a reverse bowden to an external watertight box to keep the filament in to prevent it from getting wet

[@zemielasma8986]

These guys applying waterproofing like it's nothing. Goes to show that they are really experienced on this domain because of their underwater drone project.

[@mmarkusgaming]

Here I am trying to keep my filament dry and these guys put the whole thing underwater :D

[@bigdawghoss9871]

The plugging the psu underwater joke made me cackle loudly in a silent office.

[@MrCeall]

we need to mill a print head for this application and/or use a reactive resin most likely for this. if you are just going for the cooling you could have( nvm that mineral oil idea is so spot on you should really try that )

[@DanielLCarrier]

It also might help if you either pick a plastic or dissolve stuff in the water to make the plastic neutrally buoyant. That should improve the already impressive bridging.

[@umake3dprinting]

This might the first boat ever to be made underwater.

[@casperinmd]

This is a great video and commentary. Some of the best for sure.

[@CriticalcritiC432]

Should try it by putting the filament through a hose to keep water off it while it’s fed into it

[@nobodynoone2500]

Dig it. Wonder what advantages other liquids may have. Also now we need a slicer setting that will (or wont) let water drain out. Might be a good way to balance prints.

[@LloydSummers]

You really only need the nozzle and bed under water. You could probably even build a small water cage on the bed itself. Which would save all the electronics and sensitive parts. Interesting process

[@dominicknikifor2251]

You could try using a sous vide to heat the water to a very exact temperature, it would also help with the buoyancy at certain temperatures too 😊

[@Theis2003]

Make a small cup around the nozzle - when submerged the water around the nozzle will boil and make a small air pocket so it doesn't cool down when moving

[@tinkerduck1373]

Very interesting! However, also consider using a pump coupled with a filter to reduce (micro-) plastic pollution.

[@FyaaahS]

Doing this must make the pladtic solidify super fast! Try to speed it up and make the parts more aqua-dynamic

[@tiltmaniac]

You should do something with a z-moving platform, so you can keep the hotend/nozzle barely in the water at all! You could have the steppers out of the water that way too-- only the plastic that needed cooling and the bed would need to be in the water! The other fun thing would be to do this upside down, with the bed on top-- that would drain the water out of the print, assuming the bed was moving away from the nozzle.

[@llejk]

The cooling block is designed to radiate heat. Instead of insulating , try making it just a little less efficient, so it achieves a similar heat transfer rate under water. Maybe partially fill up the fins. Or cut it smaller.

[@KillaAhmadilla]

I had this idea the first time I had peel off supports. I can't believe someone's actually trying it.

[@DrChiYT]

These dudes getting good prints underwater, whereas I can barely get my 3d printer to print anything between jobs without tinkering and re-setup.

[@samheasmanwhite]

Having the water hot is the best idea here, would give better adhesion but still have the ridiculous cooling speed. Would be amazing for speed printing, you would only need a little more power on the motors to overcome the water drag.

[@tinker0000]

Maybe a ceramic block insulator with silicone sealant on the outside to keep the water from seeping in?

[@Titan-8190]

You could fill the tank slowly to keep water level exactly at nozzle level, then only the bed motors are submerged and everything else remains dry

[@YehiaAbdelghafar]

Next time we need to to test under the lava

[@AwestrikeFearofGods]

Awesome! If we assume a PLA density of 1.24 g/cm3, buoyancy accounts for an 81% weight reduction while submerged in water. HIPS, ABS, and ASA have specific gravities even closer to 1.0, but they require higher nozzle and bed temperatures. If you try submerged FDM again, please try extreme overhangs with PVB filament. It has a density of 1.1 g/cm3, and doesn't require the high temperatures of HIPS, ABS, or ASA. The only difficulty I can anticipate is that PVB is more hygroscopic than PLA.

[@merijn1086]

I have experience with the MG chemical high temperature epoxy. Great stuff but don't go too large in volume. Make a sleeve around the heater with an 4-5 mm offset. This way you prevent cracking. It's quite insulating up to 280 degrees (not sure). I used it in 200+ degree air, you might need to increase the wall thickness. Also it's quite viscous so pulling a vacuum will help with bubbles. Love the work!

[@gilliansheppard5383]

this is amazing! i love the idea and the chaotic realisation! LOL But actually underwater printing is amazing, didn't know it was posible.

[@00X-w3j]

Now I'm wondering what the overhangs would be like with a more viscous liquid than water.

[@Corsairtux]

It is so awesome to watch you having so much fun. this kind of video makes my day. Thanks for your creativity and humor

[@amaltunga]

Awesome guys a great start for 10

[@SwervingLemon]

You might want to do what we used to do to protect locking hub assemblies from moisture intrusion in our off-road vehicles: Add a fitting and pump air into the stepper. The air exiting through the small gaps tends to keep water from coming in, and will also push water out.

[@cyphre]

Pretty fascinating experiment! Based on the conclusions at the end, might be interesting to do this with something like ABS, or other filament which likes a heated chamber. Only issue with heating the water will be keeping it heated over time. Like maybe a sous vide recirculator.