UK too cold to print?

[nalfy 0]

Hey there, Im based in manchester and have had a terrible winter of printing, is it possible its just too cold here at the moment to print with ABS? even with a heat box that my printer lives in during ABS prints?

 

[IRobertI 521]

If your printer is sitting outside, yeah, absolutely What temperature is it where you're actually trying to print though?

 

[DidierKlein 729]

I tried printing ABS in a room that is not heated (must be around 10°c) it warps like hell, if the room where you print is not heated it will be harder indeed especially with ABS. A heated chamber will probably help a lot, do you know what's the ambient temp inside the box?

 

[gr5 2,228]

What bed temp are you using? I print ABS at 110C bed temp and very little fan. Usually no fan but you need a little fan for overhangs and bridging. Whatever the minimum fan is (30% perhaps).

 

[yellowshark 153]

Hi Nalfy I guess you are printing in the garage or something similar. My print room is in the room above the garage, similarly with no heating. I use a small oil filled electric radiator.They are pretty cheap to buy and run. I cannot speak for the printer but I would not want to be sitting there in the current temperatures and I suspect the printer will agree!

 

[yellowshark 153]

Just checked my printer specs and the required ambient temp is 16.32C.No idea what would happen if I ran it in a room at 16.31C !

 

[izzy 33]

I'm lucky with a tolerant wife as my UM2 is on the table in the living room so stays at about 19 degrees. With it being very quite when printing is not a problem, and although I lost my sence of smell two years ago I keep asking her if there is any smell but she has not said there is anything unwanted.

I mainly print with PLA but am just trying ColorFabb XT and have yet to purchase some ABS or nylon.

[pm_dude 27]

Nalty,

I just finished a 60 pieces print job here in Canada with a temp varying from 0C to -25C (outside obviously) in the last week and can tell you it doesn't change much as long as room temp doesn't change too much. It's definitely more dry compared to summer but its not changing much really.

I print mostly PLA or XT. No ABS.

dryness COULD affect layer bonding on ABS maybe?

 

[gixxer 1]

Hi Nalfy,

Are you having issues with bed adhesion or warped parts. I was just about to start a new post for a bed adhesive called CubeX magic stick. I'm in the UK to and recently started to print ABS on the um2. Been having some bed adhesion issues myself using glue stick at 110c bed temp with large brim. Works somewhat Ok with some lift but that's on 20+ hour prints. I also have an enclosure.

Any how this CubeX stuff sticks like crazy! The problem is getting the Dam thing off. Apparently you have to soak the glass bed and part in some warm water for couple on min and it dissolves the glue. I've not done this as I don't have easy access in my office at work to a sink.

I've decided to back to the pritstick for the moment and save the CubeX for really problem prints. You may want to give it a go thought if you can put up with getting your print off the plate. Create3d sell it in the UK at least that's where I got it from (£15 for 2).

Edit*** forgot to mention room temp is about 20c.

[pm_dude 27]

Did you try using 3dlac (www.3dlac.com)? I don't know if it works with ABS but for PLA, XT, PLA-HT it's wonderful.

 

[nick-s 0]

Hi Nalfy.

I remember some school lessons' saying that one of the reasons for all the old cotton mills around here (Manchester) was due to the damp / humid climate. I think this may be as big a factor as the room temp.

It's important to keep the filament warm and store it in plastic bag, preferably with some of that absorbent silicon jell stuff.

For those not familiar with Manchester, if it's not raining it looks as though it's about to....

Or you could just move further south!

 

[gixxer 1]

I'll give that 3dlac a go. What's the bed release like?

[pm_dude 27]

3dlac works with the heated bed. If the glass is cold it wont stick. for PLA same as usual, for XT I use 80C. Let it cool down to room temp (30 or so) for easy removal.

 

[danilius 118]

I'm printing on a UM2 in Manchester, and I keep the printer in the same room I work in so it's at ambient room temperature most of the time. Overnight the room temperature drops to 10C - 15C but overnight prints are fine as well. Mind you, all of this is with PLA.

You might want to try using UHU glue stick on heated glass, I find that the prints stick really well but are tricky to get off after the print! The fridge trick seems to work most times though.

 

[gixxer 1]

I'll give UHU a try as 3dlac seems hard to get hold of in the UK.

I did rob the wife's hair spray to take to work this morning though. Didn't get the time to try it out though. I read somewhere it's supposed to work well for ABS prints.

[pm_dude 27]

haha stealth style!