Ender 3 Insulated Bed Upgrade & Cost Savings

[@D9ID9I]

The main concern people should rise is the material insulation is made from. Because melt point of polyethylene insulation (you seems to be using one) is not that much higher than 100C. And other insulation materials extruded polystyrene can emit harmful gases even at lower temperatures. Glue can emit chemicals as well. Need to be careful with all that stuff.

[@Fanzindel]

This is much more relevant for folks trying to print on solar+battery storage. I think for my mobile setup this is a great addition to increase runtime. Might add a strip of insulation around the perimeter where the aluminum is exposed as well. Every little thing helps.

[@Jakefrc]

Thanks for the video. I live off the grid and frequently run prints over night so saving a little bit of power is always a good thing especially when you have weeks of overcast weather and power generation is minimal. I went straight to purchase one after seeing the data 😎

[@DesktopInventions]

Nice story! Glad to hear it 😃

[@Missterpaja]

What about starting a fire?

[@Jim_One-wl4ke]

Yeah I just bought, it did heat a little faster not much 2mins down to about 1.5mins, but retain heat longer when power down.👍. I think may save energy on the long run cos the heater on/off times is cut down. Thanks for making this video & sharing ❤

[@billallen275]

Wow that's good work! I was expecting a little more than that, but that means you're losing at least 10% of the heat elsewhere. Been planning to put insulation sheets under it next time the bed is opened up. My goal is to improve temperature regulation on the topside and reduce heating time.

[@DesktopInventions]

yea unfortunately the heating time didn't reduce much which makes sense. I suppose if you really wanted it to heat faster you'd need a bed heater with more power.

[@Nifty-Stuff]

Great job with this! Thanks for testing multiple insulation products. I'm less worried about cost, but more worried about time to heat a large bed (CR-10) in a colder environment... and keeping that bed warm seems to be an issue. Hopefully insulation will help!

[@DesktopInventions]

You can definitely save some heating time with this insulation and especially if you’re printing with ABS or anything with a higher bed temperature

[@stevendebruin2222]

Good to see that I will save the energy it cost watching this vid when I would run the printer for a month with insulation! 😊

[@DesktopInventions]

Yea almost free efficiency improvement 👍

[@necrokittie2291]

yeah... if i do something like this I'll use rockwool.... it's made of molten rocks and i wouldn't have to worry about off gassing of the foam or it melting when doing an extra hot filament type. i'd just kapton tape it to the bottom of the bed.

[@joshbracken5450]

Excellent video man

[@DesktopInventions]

Thanks I appreciate it!

[@Vette0804]

Is there a link to the temperature logger that you made?

[@eskanderx1027]

It also heats up faster.

[@DesktopInventions]

Yea have a nice graph of that at 8:55 !

[@Valuiskihh]

​@@DesktopInventionswow, i have 350w power supply on my ender 3 and it heats up to 100c in about 5 minutes maybe. Not 30sec

[@worshaw]

Would this add a fire risk?

[@DesktopInventions]

It's recommended to test the foam before installing it. You can light a corner of it with a lighter (in a safe place) and see if the flame spreads across the foam or it self-extinguishes. Not all foam materials are made equal, the free foam from my 3D printer box passed this test.

[@Missterpaja]

Yes

[@hopelessdecoy]

Ok now a printing tent as another data point with the insulation for vpower savings

[@DesktopInventions]

yes that should be on my future to-do list along with an enclosure video!

[@SianaGearz]

I have tried exactly this when i bought my printer, i used a piece of foam that came with the printer in order to attempt to reach higher temperatures and print ABS. It was 2017. This was not good. When the probe was reading 100°C, a lot of the foam was gone, just gone after 10-20-ish minutes. There was just a little bit of distortion visible in the air no visible smoke or anything, and a faint smell. It was like it was sublimating. I was quite scared, i don't know the fumes could be flammable, i was afraid of them exploding. OK it being likely PE i wasn't terribly concerned i had poisoned myself but still it was scary. It did trigger my light dispersion type fire alarm though!

[@DesktopInventions]

Yikes, that sounds like some cheap foam! Probably best to purchase some stuff rated for the higher temperatures.

[@SianaGearz]

@@DesktopInventions Well yes you don't have much expectation on packaging foam. Low grade material is perfectly fine to protect things in transit, if it's recycled degraded polymer etc even better. Back then i instead installed a piece of cork that i got from a 1€-store. It's been on there all this time and hasn't given me trouble. However cork can be trouble as well as it's capable of smouldering. It's not the worst since i have an excellent Irish-made fire alarm right above which should catch it and fire extinguisher right underneath and would have all the time in the world to put it out, if it were to ever do that. The warning was issued by DIY3DTECH from his experience working with cork. Also for the time being my concern was limited since the 12V bed simply doesn't have a lot of power, so self ignition temperature could never be reached, and i'm also not printing so much that the cork can thoroughly lose embedded moisture. Soon i'm rebuilding the printer to 24V. New PSU, new bed which has more power, probably proper insulation material :D

[@mrnlce7939]

I know they used to use card board. I wonder how that would stack up against the pro sheet.

[@DesktopInventions]

It's probably more effective than nothing, but less than the foam would be my guess. It would be a little concerning, since cardboard is flammable

[@mrnlce7939]

@@DesktopInventions Just googled "at what temperature does cardboard ignite" and it says that it ignites at 258°C. I know were the concerns come from but it should be quite safe. If you print bed is reaching 258°C you might have bigger problems.

[@DesktopInventions]

yea mainly just the risk if there ever was an electrical short somewhere on the bed. Definitely outside the category of what should be normal operations.

[@timokaiser]

@@mrnlce7939 Correct data. However, try to put a sheet of cardboard/paper in your oven (at baking temperature around 200°C)! It will soon smell terribly and turn dark, long before igniting...

[@mrnlce7939]

@@timokaiser Still if your bed is reaching 200 you have larger concerns. Also it could act as an early warning system that something is going wrong.

[@timokaiser]

Nice...! I have just received my "pro" style adhesive foam and will install it, as I was hoping to save a bit more than that... Anyway, let's go save the planet! :-))

[@DesktopInventions]

yea, pretty good savings I thought for a simple piece of foam! I'm surprised manufactures don't supply this from the beginning. I suppose it's cost that most people don't value in the low end printer market.

[@timokaiser]

@@DesktopInventions Absolutely... Since over here in Germany, we are at about 40ct/kWh (for private use), the cost for 3D printing is not just about printer and filament prices! - Thanks again for addressing this aspect!

[@Prillanator]

Thanks I’ve been wondering if this upgrade is actually worthy of doing. Did you notice any difference in initial layer quality?

[@DesktopInventions]

personally no, I did not notice a difference in quality. If you have a larger print bed that doesn't have a uniform surface temperature it might make a difference.

[@felipenavas]

WARNING: That foam will melt slowly overtime and will become a black goo stucked under your bed. Ask how I know that 😅

[@joecool4656]

Uh oh lol

[@nirajahmed7398]

What was the thickness of the insulation foam?

[@DesktopInventions]

The free foam was 14mm, cut down to 9.5mm at the rear. and the purchased foam sheet was 8.5mm.

[@nirajahmed7398]

@@DesktopInventions Thanks for the reply. This helps a lot.

[@TheNewBloodDan]

I literally call it the bed diaper. 😂

[@kimzor1989]

Daaang 14c/kw. Here in Australia I'm paying 44c/kw :(

[@DesktopInventions]

I just took the average value of the US. Wow that's expensive! I thought with all the solar power it would be cheaper there.

[@kimzor1989]

@@DesktopInventions My house has solar panels on the roof, so that helps immensely but yes, it is expensive here...I need to find some foam and insulate my bed!! Stupid me, threw away all the packaging