Creating an Enclosure question

[Jules]

Hey guys,

When you are building your enclosure for the higher temp filaments, is there any danger of overheating the extruder motor, or is the main concern keeping the electronics box cool?

[Bluesoulx12]

Define higher temp filaments?
Coming from a person who has probably overheated his extruder motor more times than probably recommended by playing around with enclosure ventilation I would say that a huge priority. I have the ikea box everyone uses and modified it to stay open probably 12 degrees. I've printed for over 30 hours using this with no problems and no warpage issues.

[Jules]

Chuckle! Well, for me, anything over PETG. I know ABS needs to be kept warm. Are there other filaments that prefer it?

[Bluesoulx12]

Carbonfiber ABS, ABS, i think Ninjaflex, as well as a slew of the exotic material.

[Jules]

Okee-Dokee! Thanks!

[msmollin]

I drilled a 120mm hole in mine and installed one of those inexpensive AC fans you can get on Amazon, along with a temperature controller, and keep the box around 80 degrees F. That way I can "seal" the box and have it exhaust the nasty ABS fumes out my window. It can have trouble keeping it cool enough in the Philadelphia summers, even in my basement, but that's probably because I have a low speed fan model. I just set the temp controller to kick on 75 F and it holds it around 80 for the most part. Any hotter and all the motors get uncomfortably warm to touch I find.

[Jules]

Hmmm, okay, might have to rethink this if 80F is the target temp.....it'll probably hit that in here without any enclosure during summer months. (Definitely gonna have to work out some kind of heat vent.)

[jimc]

i think i remember rsilvers say he runs his enclosure at 140deg if i remember correctly and his electronics are all inside. that is a bit too warm for me to expose my electronics to. its always best to keep them outside the enclosure if possible. the steppers are much more tolerant of heat. put some heat sinks on them and i wouldnt worry about it unless you were running a full blown heated enclosure at 70-80c like the stratasys machines.

[Jules]

I've got an idea for an enclosure that slips over the machine and leaves the electronics outside of the heated area. (No idea if it will work yet.)
But the extruder motor will be enclosed, so i wanted to make sure it could withstand the heat buildup inside. (No odor control or noise abatement, it will just maintain the inside temp, and that's all.) And i need to make sure that the heat from the bed and extruder is not going to be too much for the motor.

'Cause toasting my machine would be a major buzz-kill.

[insta]

Why not duct a gentle stream of air from outside to the electronics? Don't use negative pressure to pull hot air out, use positive pressure to blow cool air in. It should keep the low-mounted electronics relatively cool.