What shall we do with a 3D printer...early in the morning!

[amberwolf]

We'll just see how it prints on the existing bed first; then I'll try digging out my glass and see if that works, and if not, wait for a good sale on one of those ultrabases.

For now, I built a quick, easy, and almost completely free enclosure (cost me a few feet of clear packing tape that I already had, and an hour or so of time).

I started out doing some of the yard work, got too hot, then ducked into the shade of a shed and poked around, didn't find any of the plastics or other stuff I was considering building the enclosure from, but did spot a stack of styrofoam cooler lids saved from work (several are tossed out each week) to use for insulation in various things, and did a quick test fit, found that one of them is just wide enough to account for the entire width of the machine plus the cable on the side that has to move up and down. From there, with a bit of clear tape to tack it together as I went.

The "crossbars" on the bottom inside are there to space the enclosure away from the moving bits and keep it in place; the front crossbar has a duct carved into it to allow the front fan to draw in outside air to cool the electronics inside the printer base.

Old LED light panel from something (can't remember what) taped to the inside of the top nonhinged half of the lid, in case I need more light inside, but with the enclosure being white and light able to pass thru it some too, it isn't really required.

I am very likely to make an extension cable for the display to put it outside the enclosure, probably mounted on the right side panel; it's several inches too short to do that at present.

I still have to dig out the spare dryer ducting I'm pretty sure I still have and run that from the enclosure to another styrofoam panel that will fit in an opened window nearby that can be held in place by the window itself, with a fan installed in the window end to suck air to the outside from the enclosure to vent the heated plastics smell and fumes.

I'd also like to find the aluminum-framed flexible-plastic signholder I have somewhere and modify it to make the front door, isntead of the cooler lids, to see what's going on during prints in case something is going wrong. Until then, at least it is safe(r) from schmooslobber and fuzz attacks.

 

[Cowardlyduck]

One other 'mod' I would recommend is to setup a cheap webcam you can tap into pointing at the printer. Personally I use Alfrecam with an old android phone and it works fine.
Then I also put the printer on a WiFi controlled powerpoint switch and setup a WiFi smoke alarm right on top of the printer.

I leave my printer going while I'm not home when prints take a long time.
At least that way, if my printer ever starts smoking, it should set off the smoke alarm which should notify my phone. I can then verify via the webcam, and use the WiFi powerpoint to cut power to the printer.
I've never had to use it, but in theory it would work.

Another benefit is being able to monitor prints for problems. If I see it dragging the print all over the bed, or other problems I can remotely cut power to stop it wasting a bunch of filament to make a spaghetti mess.

Cheers

 

[nicobie]

Yeah, a camera would be nice too, especially if you are going to print when not at home, which I do all the time. However my machine is placed on top of a few concrete pavers which shouldn't catch on fire and really help me with vibration/harmonics.

Excellent advice about using a linked fire alarm. I'll be doing this shortly.

 

[nicobie]

AW, the fan will probably be fine with PLA. However I'm not too sure about using one with other more finicky filaments.

Would it work for you to just open a window then close the door. Or would the schmooslobber get insulted?

 

[amberwolf]

The fan doesnt' have to move a lot of air...it just has to provide enough of a negative pressure in the enclosure to prevent any fumes/smells it makes from going into the room/house. Doesn't take much airflow for that, so it shouldn't be any worse than an open-air unenclosed unit (could even be better since I could even set up a temperature-controlled fan speed, such that it will maintain a specific temperature in the outflow air, based on whatever's being printed).



As you might expect I'm a bit paranoid about fire, so I don't leave things running when I am not home (even though my brother is there and could theoretically do something about them...I just don't trust that it would happen).

This printer can theoretically resume a print (guess we'll see), so if it came down to it I'd just stop the print and do that when I got back.

So I don't need a webcam, but if I do need a camera to keep an eye on it while home I have some ancient analog cameras I can pick one of and cable it over to the bedroom and connect to the computer monitor's video in.

If I were to use a smoke alarm for it, I would modify the alarm output so it's output would if triggered turn off and latch off a relay controlling power to it...but this wouldn't stop a fire in progress; I'd have to physically be there for that.

What would be more useful would be a temperature controller power strip or relay, and set it so the upper limit is below the temperature at which a fire could start with the materials present, and put it's sensor at the top of the enclosure or in the airflow outlet tube's inlet at the enclosure wall (or both). Then it would shut off the power once it reached that temperature, which would be more likely to stop a fire from starting. I'd also put the relay's own power supply input on the *output* side of the relay to latch it off, with an SPST button between the input and output sides so I could trigger the relay "on" after it has latched itself off (wiht the printer turned off to reduce the load on the button).

 

[Cowardlyduck]

FWIW, most 3D printer fires start from either a bad/overloaded PSU, or a hotend that keeps heating stuck filament over a long time. The latter cannot easily be detected without filament flow sensors. Some newer printers have that I believe, but many do not.

Cheers

 

[amberwolf]

This has a filament sensor between the reel and the head, but I don't know if it is just a out-of-media sensor or an actual flow sensor. I'll check into it and find out, though.

 

[nicobie]

Good old google...

How to Stop 3D Printer Fires Before They Start – Docking Drawer

Reduce the risk of 3D printer fires with Docking Drawer's Safety Interlock Outlet with Smoke & Heat Sensor.

dockingdrawer.com

 

[harrisonpatm]

Good old google...

View attachment 339851

How to Stop 3D Printer Fires Before They Start – Docking Drawer

Reduce the risk of 3D printer fires with Docking Drawer's Safety Interlock Outlet with Smoke & Heat Sensor.

dockingdrawer.com

I think both things can be true: it's incredibly unlikely for a printer to actually catch or cause a serious fire, and its perfectly reasonable for AW and his experience to exercise extreme caution regarding potential fire hazards, however remote.

I feel like leaving a 3d printer running carries the same fire risk as leaving anything plugged in with a DC converter powering it. Which is a lot of different devices. Computer, 2d printer, TV... We rarely hear of them starting fires. Which isn't to say zero risk. Just that 3d printers are new, so any fire stemming from them gets exaggerated attention.

Just like EV fires!

 

[amberwolf]

Almost all my devices that have an always-running AC supply (no actual disconnect switch) are connected to switched outlets and/or metal-cased powerstrips or powerstations (the kind that use *real* wall outlets in them, not whatever elecromechanical nightmare some "engineer" came up with that beancounters made worse by altering the BOM). Thus i can turn them off when I'm not home.

Saves a tiny bit of power, too. (not enough to make any real difference to the bill, though).



Even though the cause of my fire was a building material from half a century before, not electrical, I prefer to take as few chances as possible. I am one of those people that if a bad thing could happen more than once, it will, given the opportunity, and in the worst possible way to hurt me the most...so for avoidable things, I avoid them. (some, like dogs dying of old age, illness, etc., I can't avoid except by not having dogs, which is not really an option at this point, though I have a project in progress that this printer will help with that I'll post at some point that may help me (and others) with this).

 

[nicobie]

Be sure to show us your first print.

 

[amberwolf]

Oh, I will...especially if it comes out an alien blob instead of whatever it was intended to be. :lol:

But it is likely to be a little while, probably more than a week or maybe two, at least. I'm still working out a list of specific things I actually need this to make, and then have to prioritize that, and then I have to build the models for them (or modify existing ones if I can easily/quickly find something close enough, with amount of time spent looking being proportional to the complexity of creating a new model from scratch--if it takes more time to find than to build there's not much point ).

And I'm not exactly fast at anything anymore; only if I have to do a rush emergency repair job, and those are exhausting.

I also have a bunch of things I have to do around here now that it is cool enough to start doing some of them (only around 100F highs now, so it's MUCH cooler than just a couple of weeks back or more)...and I have at least one critical repair to do to the SB Cruiser trike, as today I found the rim on the right rear wheel has begun to split open at the bead flange (I have rims and other near-identical motors to build a spare wheel from, but not the spokes, so those are on order from ebikes.ca with some other stuff and the wheel build will start when they arrive. Once it's done then I can swap out the whole wheel, so I am not having to hurry on the wheel build by taking apart the existing one which would make the trike unusable until it is done, and if anything went wrong with the build leave me without transportation until it's fixed).

 

[amberwolf]

This project over on ebikes.ca's Project Gallery gave me an idea for 3D printed parts I had not even thought of--guide templates for framebuilding:

Project View

Grin Technologies

ebikes.ca

 

[nicobie]

Having a 3D printer and knowing how to use it opens up a whole new world.

There are tons of free templates all over the www.

 

[Cowardlyduck]

100% agree....this is what I'm currently printing right now...an articulated shark for my kids.

Flexi Tiger Shark (print-in-place) by 3D_FlexSeeds

---2023/09/11--- Upgraded version "Tiger Shark Mark-Ⅱ" released on Cults!!https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/flexi-tiger-shark-mark-print-in-place If purchased, commercial use license, sunken ship-shaped pedestal, and 3mf files are available. This is a Flexi Tiger Shark. It can be assembled...

www.thingiverse.com

Cheers

 

[amberwolf]

Yes...for instance: I just found a $5 Tecware Phantom RGB keyboard (I have to use backlit keyboards to be sure of typing correctly, and some have features I can use for SONAR (music creation) and other programs...but I wear them out in months sometimes), but it is very "barebones", so no wrist rest, which I need.

There are frames and such for them like this

Amazon.com

but they don't have the wrist rest either (and are more than twice the cost of the keyboard, though only a fraction of the cost of a new one).

However, there are some 3d models of cases, and I can modify one of those to just make a rest for it (in a way that I can later adapt to the next keyboard if necessary). Like this

Keyboard Case by TheRektfastClub

A keyboard case designed to look like the popular Fjell case. This model is specifically modeled to fit a 104 key Tecware Phantom.

www.thingiverse.com

(this keyboard might end up being "the one" since it has replaceable switches; even has the tool to pull them out snapped into the back of the case...it uses Outemu Blues, but can take the reds or browns to make it quieter, which are not very expensive, as I wear them out...my other problem is wearing the letters off the keys; painting over them and engraving the letter back thru the paint has been my only solution so far, as I never seem to find compatible keycaps on other keyboards...I suppose I could print new keycaps if I could print both clear and black at the same time, but that would need two printheads and spools, and control software supporting that, etc; probably cheaper to buy new keycap sets but those are not normally available--they *are* for this keyboard, though).