Enclosure temps

[Stevolution]

Hi all
I have built a cabinet for the Max V2. Going to add some heating to the print area.
What kind of temps do people run the chambers up to? What do they use as heating elements?

I thought of using one of those 400w halogen lamps on a thermostat, but that might be a bit 'urgent'. Especially if the temp doesn't need to go too high.

[teoman]

The people who know the materials used to make our printers have come up with the number 50degs C.

The wheels of the carriages do not go soft and get a flat spot etc.


I have stuffed mine in to an ikea cupboard with no heating, and that did help curling a lot.

Go slowly and add heating if necessary. The printer does heat up the enclosure pretty well, mine was at 36 C while outside temp was 26 C. (Measured with a 5 dollar temp and humidity sensor).

[teoman]

The problem with the lamp is that it radiates heat, i.e it heats up the places where ot shines a lot more than where it doesnt shine directly. If you add a controller then if you put its temp sensor under the light it will get hot really quickly and shut the lamp off, if not then you risk cooking important parts under the light. (Some have made it work without any problems).


I have a thread on my ikea chamber somewhere on this forum.

[Stevolution]

When I built the RGB hotend led ring, I fitted a spare temp sensor.
I also have added 3x temps sensors in the enclosure (top, middle and bottom).

I have written some code on an Arduino with a 2.2" TFT screen to control the heating etc.
So I can pick a thermostat, or an average of all of them.

I am thinking several low wattage ceramic Reptile enclosure heater lamps instead of one big heat lamp.

[Xenocrates]

When I built the RGB hotend led ring, I fitted a spare temp sensor.
I also have added 3x temps sensors in the enclosure (top, middle and bottom).

I have written some code on an Arduino with a 2.2" TFT screen to control the heating etc.
So I can pick a thermostat, or an average of all of them.

I am thinking several low wattage ceramic Reptile enclosure heater lamps instead of one big heat lamp.

I'm using a pair of 150W ceramic reptile bulbs. They seem to work well for a polycarbonate enclosure directly around the printer. They don't heat it up fast, but also don't seem to overheat the chamber if left running near continuously.

[Tincho85]

Did you measure the temperature inside your enclosure?
When the bed is set to 110ºc and after 20 min, mine is around 40ºc (if I remember correctly).

[Stevolution]

Yes, I wondered about the ambient heat from the print bed itself.
I think I may even just go with a single heat lamp and go from there. I have made the setup pretty flexible

I originally planned to use glass side panels, but that is going to make this thing pretty damn heavy.
So I may go down the polycarbonate route as well. I think you would have to go pretty high on the temps before it started to greatly affect it.

[Tincho85]

Polycarbonate is going to work damn well. For the side panels I'm using PMMA and they still haven't bend.
But if polyc was cheaper here I would definitely use it.

[khpeter]

I do not know if anyone else has used these methods but I have been for about 1 year. The enclosure for my Rostock Max v2 is a clear shower curtain mounted around the top with magnets. The enclosure has helped prevent warping of ABS a quite a bit. To speed up the bed and extruder heat-up time I have a 150 watt infrared lamp in a metal cage that I place right on the center of the bed. I watch the temperature readings as they climb and take the lamp off the bed when it reaches target. Usually the bed gets to the target temp before the extruder which is opposite of the normal sequence. After the bed is hot I then manually hold the lamp directly below the extruder and wait for it to reach target. Of course you have to remain alert and get the lamp out of the way quickly before the head lowers to the bed and starts printing. It has saved a lot of frustration while anxious to get printing. The lamp and mount was found at a pet store reptile section.