2+ front enclosure (door)

[2go 6]

Hello,

 

I'm thinking about purchasing advanced 3d printing kit for 2+. Mainly because of the front enclosure (door). To keep drafts away.

 

Ultimaker says: Use of the front enclosure can be detrimental for PLA prints that require a high level of retractions.

Source: https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/22225-how-to-print-with-ultimaker-pla

 

Does anyone have an idea how and why? Thanks!

[rowiac 53]

The enclosure would be more useful for printing ABS and other materials that print at relatively high temperature and tend to warp if cooled too much during printing.  With PLA, which prints at a relatively low temperature, if the build area temperature is too high, you could get heat buildup in the print head beyond the teflon heat break to the point where the filament softens and deforms, resulting in a clog and/or underextrusion.  Many retractions would exacerbate this effect because of the constant pushing and pulling of the softened filament.

 

Maybe someone else can explain it better, but that is basically my understanding of the effect.

[2go 6]

Thank you. That actually makes sense.

 

I think I will try the door anyway since my printer is located between two large windows that sometimes get opened at the same time. Plus it should serve serve as an added protection layer for my child. Once she learns to walk and grows tall enough to see what's on the table.

 

I usually print at 200 degrees with heated bed under 60 degrees which is relatively cool so heat creep should not be an issue, especially with the top of the printer still open. If I decide to install the door and notice deteriorating print quality, I'll make sure to report back in this thread.

[gr5 2,167]

With higher glass temp materials (pretty much EVERYTHING besides PLA) a door is a bonus.  With PLA I would expect overhangs to not look as good.  Especially for small parts with layers that don't take long enough to cool enough before the next layer above is added on.

 

But with small parts you aren't as likely to get "warping" aka lifting corners.  So you can lower the bed temp to 50C.  And for large parts you will need 60C bed to keep them flat on the glass but it will take longer for a layer to finish so maybe the door/cover won't hurt.

 

You can also get doors from printedSolid.com if you are in USA.  They are very nice.  Not sure whose doors are cheaper (printed solid versus Ultimaker).

[bsaygan 1]

GR5 - between a door for the front and those enclosures on the top, do you think that either is better or worse for PLA?  I also wondered during the wintertime when the ambient temperature is a little cool whether or not it's better to have a little more heat trapped inside the printer?  

 

Thanks,

BObby

[2go 6]

Yeah, I don't think a door will hurt in my usage scenario. I never print anything with overhangs. I usually fill whole bed with small/medium sized prints and print really slow (20 mm/s at 0.2 layer height) for the best surface quality. Each layer usually takes 5-10 minutes to finish so PLA has plenty of time to cool. I do not use fan cooling at all.

 

I'm aware of printedsolid's door but since I am in Europe (this new forum does not show location anymore) the cost+shipping+taxes is the same as getting whole advanced printing kit from Ultimaker.

 

I do not experience a lot of warping. I mean you cannot even see it while the print is still on the glass. Just when looking at the bottom of the finished part, some sharper corners are not flat like a mirror but slightly bent upwards. And it really bugs me since all of my prints are for commercial production and I would ideally want it to be absolutely flat. This never happens when printing one small part in the middle of the glass. But when I pack bed full of the same small parts and leave the print overnight, this small warping becomes evident.

 

I used to have Ultimaker 2 Go with heated bed. Made 1500+ prints in 6000+ hours. Mirror like bottom finish every time (bed set to 75, so about 60 actually). I am absolutely confident in my ability to level the bed and perfectly squish first layer. I own Ultimaker 2+ for two weeks now and fail to reproduce this perfect result with the same nozzle, settings and filament. The only obvious difference is size of the printer, larger openings to let cold air in and the fact that I can print more parts at the same time so the plastic sits idle for longer. My print jobs usually last for 8 hours so it is inevitable that someone will open a window a few times and let some cold Northern European wind in. This is my reasoning for wanting to try front door.

 

By the way, in these two weeks I have found the best bed temperature to be 53 for some reason. Still not perfect adhesion but seems best so far. 60 seems too hot. A bit more warping and I can easily remove the part from the glass while it is still at 60. This is using Colorfabb pla/pha which has glass temperature of 55. That is why I asked if it is best to aim for the bed temperature to be lower or higher than the glass temperature of the material in some other thread. Common sense would dictate that slightly higher temp would be better to relieve tension but I am having better results with a temperature slightly below glass point. Of course, I have no way of knowing if the printer reports bed temperature accurately and how even it is all across the surface of printing glass surface.

 

 

Edited January 9, 2018 by 2go

[gr5 2,167]

11 hours ago, bsaygan said:

GR5 - between a door for the front and those enclosures on the top, do you think that either is better or worse for PLA?  I also wondered during the wintertime when the ambient temperature is a little cool whether or not it's better to have a little more heat trapped inside the printer?  

 

Thanks,

BObby

Worse.  Definitely worse.  PLA needs to cool below 50C before the next layer above is put down and having a door or a cover makes this a problem.  Especially on overhangs the quality will be much worse with a front door.

 

However pretty much EVERY other material benefits from a door and further benefits from a top cover.