MakerGear M2 Enclosures

[johnr]

Hey guys, so I just saw this site http://gizmodo.com/3d-printing-indoors- ... -894193776 where is says that 3d printing indoors is as bad for you as smoking. So, I started looking into 3d printer enclosures. Just need a little advice on some things. Do you need fans on your motors since it would probably be pretty hot in there or something? And, lastly, would it be better to use plexiglass or acrylic? Thanks, in advance.

[rsilvers]

I made one from Ikea parts. It is a pain to load and stuff, so I only use it for ABS and PC where they benefit from high temps. For PLA and PETG, I remove it.

As for fans - you want it warm for ABS and cool for PLA. But if you ventilate it, then the particles will come out anyway unless you use a carbon scrubber.

[ednisley]

3d printing indoors is as bad for you as smoking

It's important to keep the actual numbers in mind. From the paper:

For comparison, our estimate of the total UFP emission rate for a single PLA-based 3D printer (1.9–2.0 × 10^10 # min−1) was similar to that reported during cooking with an electric frying pan (1.1–2.7 × 10^10 # min−1). The same 3D printer utilizing a higher temperature ABS feedstock had an emission rate estimate (1.8–2.0 × 10^11 # min−1) similar to that reported during grilling food on gas or electric stoves at low power (1.2–2.9 × 10^11 # min−1), but approximately an order of magnitude lower than gas or electric stoves operating at high power (1.2–3.4 × 10^12 # min−1).

So the PLA results are 1% of what comes from grilling on a stove and ABS is about 10%.

Given the variety of organic stuff sizzling out of the pan during my stir fry sessions, I'm not too worried about 3D printing. You folks printing all day, every day, might want to up your ventilation a bit.

Unless you're a smoker, in which case it absolutely doesn't matter... [grin]

[Jules]

Whoops! Heads-up gang....this trips one of my triggers! Brief rant follows......do not read if you are easily offended by common sense.

I call Bull****! Ever read the list of chemicals in your shampoo? In your toothpaste? In a package of Mac-n-Cheese? It ain't gonna be the particulates from 3D printers that get ya!

That article reminds me of the whole EMP scare about living under power lines. Bunk! Hogwash! and Hooey! Ten years after scaring everyone with a power line going to their home into thinking that they were going to all get leukemia, it's "Whoops! Turns out they're not dangerous after all! So sorry about the billions of dollars spent and all the stress-induced high blood pressure we caused." The article is suspiciously short on verifiable facts. They don't name the units they supposedly tested, or discuss the quality controls that they used. And then there's this: "Similar processes are known to emit harmful emissions in industrial environments."

Huh? So they haven't proven anything actually harmful about this process? Using these specific materials? Just that particles go into the air? A lot of processes create nanoparticles, including, among other things, peeing, pooping and sex. (Kind of makes you want to hold your breath when you go, doesn't it? ROFL!)

And this:
"PLA is actually known for its biocompatibility in humans. PLA nanoparticles are even widely used in drug delivery."

This is nothing more than fear mongering.....and reporters these days seem to make their living off of it. Reference an obscure article that 99.9% of the people won't even bother to read, make vague nebulous warnings about how something might be dangerous, (got to cover themselves from a legal standpoint), and sit back and watch the fun, and rake in the views and advertising revenue.
Absolutely infuriates me.

The air around here has quintillions of "UFPs" in it already...especially during the pollen season. Unless you live on a farm, you're already breathing in billions and billions of carbon monoxide and cyanide and other chemical UFPs on a daily basis from vehicle emissions. If you ever spray paint anything, you're inhaling worse. And yet as a species we are living longer than the previous generations that were not cursed by technology.

Build an enclosure if you want one, or because it looks cool, or because you need it for temperature purposes for specific plastics. Not because someone (who likely has an agenda) tries to scare you into it. I'm gonna take my chances until I see something verifiable.

Okay...done now....We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming (brainwashing.)

[lem]

Go get 'em Jules.

I do live on a farm and it ain't the plastic that's goin' to get me.

Larry

[Jules]

Fertilizers, Larry......I'm afraid you're doomed too!

[lem]

Set and Point.

[Dale Reed]

I do live on a farm and it ain't the plastic that's goin' to get me.

I don't think it's the fertilizer, necessarily, either, Jules! Hey, Larry --- exactly how many ways ARE there to lose a limb on a thresher or a hay baler?

BTW, johnr, you'll find several folks here (not me, unfortunately) who have designed and built various enclosures, with various venting systems for ABS, various temperature control setups, and so on. Consensus, it seemed to me, was that you don't need the enclosure to be crazy-hot -- controlling the drafts was a bit more of an issue. The machine with the hot bed, the hot extruder and the motors will generate a pretty good temperature rise in any reasonable enclosure, so the temperature controller often ends up controlling a cooling fan (rather than a heater). Also, I think a main concern of many was to get the electronics out of the enclosure and away from the heat (and well ventilated) to keep the power MOSFETs cool; more so of a concern that the stepper motors. On some early M2s, the Z stepper motor would get pretty darned hot and would survive pretty well despite. So mounting the electronics board, power supply, etc., outside the box, and not worrying too hard about the steppers etc., is probably the way to go.

I think if you search the board here (perhaps, best, in the "Modifications" sub-board) for "enclosure" you'll find all you need to know. After you review the ones that others have built (including the excellent choice of "throw a cardboard box over it"!), come back with questions.

Dale

[jdacal]

My printer didn't affect me when I had it indoors, but it definitely affected my wife who has allergies and asthma. Didn't take long for me to get it out of the house. ABS was worse than PLA, but also the Lithium grease is real bad for people with allergies too. At the very least they generate irritants for people with sensitive bronchial tubes.

[rsilvers]

My thought on my enclosure is that it is very important for ABS and PC, but fine or even best outside of the enclosure for PLA and PETG.

I think PLA and PETG are all one needs to print (unless you need some of the colors that you can get in ABS), so I would suggest to just not buy ABS and don't bother with an enclosure.