Printing in the Cold: Tips to Survive

[@bigcheesedog2645]

As a Canadian, I always get a bit of a laugh when Australians talk about cold. Mind you an Australian summer would melt me :)

[@Habes]

It's all relative XD I'm glad it's starting to warm up now though.

[@toastermctoastin4641]

Tasmanian here. I feel ya. 😂

[@antongunther3977]

For an enclosure try a grow tent. Its designed for growing plants indoors so it actually keeps heat in fairly well. You can add a small space heater inside and it will heat up very nicely. The benefit to this is that you can easily add ventilation

[@Habes]

That's a good idea too!

[@Gr8dane85]

You could simply strap a 50w fermentation belt around the resin vat, mine is coming next week.

[@lewiskearney3797]

Increase your lift distance and light-off delay to combat resin viscosity 👍

[@Habes]

Thanks Lewis! Those are great solutions that I overlooked.

[@heleneholz5300]

I'm so glad for your videos, you present topics that not a lot of other hobbyists talk about, things such as dealing with cold temperature and also that little bit of info you mentioned regarding printing dead zone, and you present these videos in a manner that's so easy to absorb understand and also fun to follow. I used to follow the big names like Uncle Jessy and 3DPrintingPro, although they sure know what they're talking about, you however present the "real talk", this is really what it's like for the average person dealing with the common problems and I appreciate that. I can see you're so intelligent and you like to think outside the box and push the envelope everyday, thank you so much for being this way, it really helps more than you know. I live in Melbourne and most youtube printers are in the US or Europe and they don't necessarily have the same challenges we specifically face here in our country, dealing with fluctuating exchange rate, rising living costs, inflation, etc stuff that are specific to our region and so it's so nice to just see someone "local" sharing their hobby with the rest of us. Thank you, you got yourself a nice niche content and i will be recommending you around. I'm not much on youtube I only post here if i have a work on sale, but i'm very active on instagram as dkeats888.03. Specifically on dealing with the cold and lack of space, i ended up getting myself a grow tent and i stick this in our garage and i have my little resin lab in there and i got a little foot heater that i run on timer in the tent as my prints tend to take 9-10 hours, im still looking for better solutions because i really only need to warm up a small bit of space, although that said last weekend i printed at 1 degrees haha and holycrap i was sure it was gonna fail spectacularly but nope it was ok, the foot heater i think really helps but it's so expensive to run this way so maybe i will look into an oil heater, they're more efficient in cost someone in bunnings said to me. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me asking, i used to buy my resin on ebay australia, as i don't need fancy resins, i found the anycubic standard white/skin is more than ok for my needs, but gaaww i looked again today and prices have gone up. In the past I was able to get 1kg white for $29.80 AUD but same store now wants $35.96 AUD. I trawled around and everyone on Ebay have increased their prices by about this much. Where do you buy your resins from? I wonder if there's a better place or something I'm missing :( I looked at amazon and they're even more expensive, about the only place I can still find resin of this kind at under $30 a kilo is on Aliexpress (Anycubic Online Store Store No.900246095). Okay sorry it's an essay, thank you again for beign so awesome!

[@Habes]

Really appreciate your kind words. I'm really just trying to share my 3d printing journey/hobbying in a way that helps others. I've been buying in bulk on Ebay when I need resin, but it's still $30-35 for ABS like (my prefered resin). However with global supply shortages it's making it harder to find, particularly for us in Australia.

[@paullancaster297]

I also preheat the build plate in warm water - approx 27 to 30 C, by the time its dried off and fitted its still about 25C, then home the build plate into the resin a couple of times, all tends to equalise then start the print.

[@Habes]

That’s a great idea. Thanks Paul for sharing!

[@pacificcoastminiatures]

Buy yourself a remote sensing thermometer. The sensor goes under your printer cover and the temp readout where you can keep an eye on it. Otherwise you’re just guessing at the temp of your printer.

[@Sicarius089]

Fellow Aussie here, yeah I've just found out printing in winter sucks. Where I am it's like 0°c or lower, during the day it's around 8-12°c glad it's something like the weather that's the reason for failed prints today, unfortunately I don't like the idea of a 12+ print going in winter even with a heater going.

[@Habes]

That’s fair enough. It’s unfortunate about the weather, but maybe it gives us time to paint all the things we’ve printed 😅

[@danielmaguire3010]

My Halot arrives tomorrow dude glad I found your channel cheers dude

[@Habes]

Awesome Daniel! Happy printing :)

[@imp8140]

terrarium heater /reptiles works great and can be regulated 25-40 C

[@Habes]

Nice that’s a good tip

[@amaurythewarrior]

that's sort of reassuring. i want to get one, but i'm concerned about the toxicity, i have a room in the basement with a window, i could even seal the door. i'm in the west of france where the temperatures are not extreme, i could probably print a good part of the year.

[@Habes]

Yeah basement would be good. You could even look up some venting hoses people have used to link it from the printer to your window.

[@amaurythewarrior]

@@Habes it's a separate room in the basement, i don't think it would be necessary since there'd be enough ventilation. but i was afraid it would be too cold to print anything except maybe in the summer

[@Habes]

@@amaurythewarrior Ahhk no worries. All the best with it!

[@AndreiPek]

I'm printing in my garage near the door ... it's 9*C in there and it's printing ok :))) I also use a 2 year expired resin. My elegoo mars pro1 is a warrior :)))

[@Habes]

It's not impossible to print in the cold, but colder temperatures increase the risk of failures. Glad your Mars Pro is a beast 💪

[@ellyncho735]

Awesome vid, just the video I needed! Just got into resin printing (also in Sydney) and failed my first print due to the cold weather.

[@Habes]

Glad it helped! All the best with printing :)

[@viper29ca]

I wonder if using one of those USB coffee cup warmer would be already to use. Just plug it in, set your bottle of resin on the warmer. The warm water trick would likely work faster for sure. I am in Eastern Canada, where it gets significantly colder than you (I laugh at the +11C over night, lol...that is a warm spring night here), and my office is in the basement, so going to have to maybe try a trick or 2 once my printer arrives (Saturn 2)

[@Habes]

Yeah it's starting to get colder, like 6-7C but even then we're not going to go below 0 so nothing like your temperatures. The Saturn 2 is a nice printer. Got a large build plate. Hope it goes well, happy printing!

[@GuymanShion]

So maybe this is why my sla printer is making a cracking noise everytime im trying to start a print, i never had this problem until the winter came 🤔 leveled correctly and resin clean and still making that sound im gonna try to warm the resin first now thank you!

[@Habes]

I'm not sure if the cracking noise is from the cold but hopefully it works. Let me know how you go!

[@GuymanShion]

@@Habes Yes, it was the cold weather, here in mexico where like 90% in hot weather, but this week it went down to 15°c , and the cracking noise problem appear, i didn't know anything about that cuz it was the first time trying to print in that temp, Thanks for everything mate!

[@Habes]

@@GuymanShion Glad I could help :)

[@B4MBI72]

I have been printing thru the winter in my attic in the UK 3-6 degrees C. I have a seriously high tech cardboard box solution, lined with silver bubble wrap used for loft insulation and a 40w bar heater as shown in your vid. As you have said, pre-heat the resin and the build plate, the printer keeps the temp nice and warm once the job is running. Inside the box 20-25 degrees, outside 6 degrees. I give the inside of the box a kickstart with a hair dryer to warm it up quickly before the print starts, but once the job is off and running the temps stay nice and cosy. P.S only found your channel this evening, nice sensible beginner tips videos.

[@Habes]

Thank you for those additional tips! Really appreciate your kind words.

[@dainjah]

I just use terrarium heating mat with thermostat, works great

[@windchaserchasingthedream4253]

Is there too hot of a temperature to print in and what would be too cold of a temperature would a normal 75° F in the room be too cool

[@Habes]

Resin datasheets will have their operating temperature but it's usually 20-30C (68-86F). There would be a temperature too hot, but not sure what that is or what happens when you get there.

[@windchaserchasingthedream4253]

@@Habes thanks for the reply I'll find out i guess lol

[@imperatormegatron2014]

Winter and 'cold' means -20 degrees, okay?

[@fpvstation7503]

what about a minus 20 climate xD ?

[@Habes]

I think some of these things can help. But the best thing would be some sort of heated enclosure to maintain a good temperature.

[@mindflayer]

11C? Oh my sweet summer child. -32C last winter; to be fair, the average is -5C in the winter. I'll have to figure out keeping my printer warm.

[@Habes]

Yeah...cold for me but it's all relative. I hope you're able to work out something for printing in winter.

[@mindflayer]

@@Habes Thinking grow tent or enclosure and space heater.

[@MrBizteck]

Lol I looked at the date of this video and thought ....6 momths old ..who gives a Shi..t about cold im Summer. Then I noticed your accent and realised Im an idiot ! 😂 Nice job mate. Subbed

[@Habes]

Haha thanks!

[@kymcarter589]

Esky?