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UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses


aag

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Posted (edited) · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

I have no other option but to place my Ultimaker S5 in an unheated basement room. This was fine until the room temperature dropped to 10°C (or less), and now it is becoming impossible to get good prints. Breakaway and PLA tend to warp horribly, and I presume that this is because of the huge temperature gradient: the newly added layers cool down too quickly and contract, whereas the lower layers are kept warm by the heated bed plate.

 

How can I remedy to this situation? As I said, moving the printer is not an option. Heating the whole room is impractical and too expensive. I was thinking of adding a cover (https://accante.com/en/) but I fear that this is not going to be enough. Are there any add-ons that would allow to keep a well-controlled air temperature within the printing chamber?

Edited by aag
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    Posted · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    Hmm, you need definitely an external heater to bring the printer environment to 20-25°. So the cover you have linked will not work, it will be better but not enough.

     

    Do you have the possibility to build a small print room within this basement and put a small heater inside, just to heat this area? I don't know the word in Englisch, but I mean to use these plaster panels (hope you know what I mean)

     

    Or if not possible to build a bigger box of wood, but not just for the printer, higher that you can put a small table inside and a small heater.

     

    Another idea, but just an idea, not sure if it really works, if you put a radiant heater beside the printer, which should just heat up the area around the printer and only during printing. They are normally quite fast with their ventilation. 

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    Posted · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    I had the same problem with another printer in the past, closing the printer made it impossible to print with pla (no more cooling), so i gues that if you close your printer, you also have to "regulate" the temperature otherwise it will become to warm.

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    Posted (edited) · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    I thought that I might attach something like this to the cover: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Black-NEW-100W-12V-DC-PTC-Fan-Heater-Constant-Temperature-Incubator-Hot-Space-Thermostat/32839650955.html

     

    It would still need some kind of thermostat though. It's going to be a rather involved modification, I fear.

    Edited by aag
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    Posted · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    sorry, now corrected.

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    Posted · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    100W 12 is at least 8amp power supply.

    Once you close the printer, the problem will not be to cold, but to warm i think.

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    Posted · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    If I understand correctly how these thermistors work, the surface temperature is constant, and the heating power will depend on the dissipation (=airflow), which in turn can be controlled by replacing the (probably horrible and loud) included fan with a nice Pabst high-quality voltage-controlled fan.

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    Posted · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    i would turn the fan on, and switch the heater with a thermostat.

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    Posted · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    I think I will use a thermostat like this one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/12V-High-Precision-Thermostat-Digital-Dual-Relay-Alarm-Thermometer-Temperature-Controller-Air-Regulator/32842614345.html

     

    It has two relays, which in principle would allow to control both the fan and the heater.

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    Posted · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    Just one remark, make it safe!!you don't want these things to fail, risks are high. Get at least on the heater circuit a safety thermostat, if this aliexpress thing fails, and you are not around (prints can take a long time), you don't want the thing to overheat.

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    Posted · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    I have a similar problem in a room above the garage with no heating. I bought an oil filled radiator four years ago which does the job for me. it probably runs on no.2 out of 6 or so and keeps a constant temp of 20-22 at that level, at a cost that we do not notice

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    Posted (edited) · UM in cold room -> warping and other unpleasantnesses

    What if you put a piece of plastic or cardboard in the front opening, like a sort of primitive door, but with a few holes in it? So there is some circulation to evacuate the heat, but not too much?

     

    At least, cardboard is cheap, so it could be a good test to see if this really is the cause, and not something else that happened to occur at the same moment (e.g. dirty, oily glass).

     

    Edited by geert_2
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