S5 Air Manager opinions

[Link 34]

Hi All,

 

I am considering an Air Manager for my S5 for the potential health benefits whilst being in the same room as the printer etc, but also the more stable build area temperatures.

 

However i am keen to hear how people find it performs for basic tasks such as printing very find detail in PLA, with other printers which are fully enclosed often it is advised to leave the doors open when printing PLA. How well can the system lower the build volume temps when the doors are closed ?, how noisy is the fan when printing PLA or PETG for example ?. Is printer overall quieter or louder than with the air manager removed (assuming the print head fans are not heard with the air manager in place but the main extractor fan is heard instead).

 

Do you find you can access everything you need through the doors or do you need to keep lifting the hood ?, from what i can tell the hood is hinged at the back, which for me is a pain as it would hit the wall when opening.

 

Thanks

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi Link, thank you for your post! I think it is good if other users would share their opinions and experiences from using an Air Manager, but some questions I think I can also answer based on how it performs. 

 

Besides UFPs it also removes (excessive) hot air from the build volume, so printing fine details shouldn't be negatively impacted. A running Air Manager is probably louder than the sound your fans generate on your print head if it runs on full capacity. It is hinged on the back so you do need some free space behind your machine. The hinges are not too lose, I have like 10cm behind my Pro Bundle, and even though it doesn't open entirely, it stays open when I lift the Air Manager up. 

 

Hope this helps! 

[Smithy 1,146]

The Air Manager is great for that purpose. When I print ABS for example which smells normally not very good during printing, I can now smell nothing in the room with the Air Manager. So the filter is doing a great job.

 

When you print PLA you don't want to have too much heat inside the printer. Therefore the fan is working at 100% and you can keep the doors closed. I haven't had any problems with it yet and I print a lot of PLA too.

 

But the Air Manager is not silent and when running at full speed it is loud. Not a disturbing sound, so I can still sit in the same room, but it is louder than without an Air Manager. So when you want to reduce the sound during printing, forget it, that's not the case and it's generally not possible in my opinion. You cannot just enclose the printer you need a powerful fan to move the warm air out of the enclosure.

 

I have my Air Manager now for some time and haven't opened it once in that time. So there is basically no need to open it to reach the important parts inside. But if you really need to come from the top, then you can just open it, there are hinges on the back, so this is no problem.

 

A big advantage is also that it reduces warping or bad layer adhesion nearly to zero, because with a covered top and front there is no chance for a cold airflow which could destroy your print. Not needed for PLA, but if you print something else it is important.

[Link 34]

thanks Both, good to hear your experiences. I tend not to do long prints if i will be in the room all day anyway, so need to weigh up the pros and cons of getting it. Also i don't tend to have any warping issues, a bit of 3Dlac on the bed and its good to go, however i do not print ABS, maybe with the air manager i could give that a try !

[Link 34]

wow, i just checked the pricing here in the UK and its selling for £822 ($1084) !!,

 

i am a huge UM fan but that seems a large amount for just the air manager !, has it gone up in price ?, i thought it was around £400 ?. I can't quite get my head around how it can be that price ?.