Active enclosure cooling
Hello everyone, I'm getting my first printer (MK4) this week and would like to build the protective cover for it as my first project. Due to the installation location, I'm wondering whether active cooling is necessary for the printer compartment. I live directly under the roof and in summer it can get very warm during the day. I've heard of a heating system for the hood, but I've hardly heard of a cooling system. Why not? Do you use a cooling system and if so, which one? A simple fan or a small air conditioning system? Many thanks for your advice!
Best Regards
RE: Active enclosure cooling
Usually the embedded filters built into the enclosure also control internal temperature by opening the slide and allow air to be pushed out.
So yeah, people already do that, but not that they actively use chillers 🙂
Just a temperature sensor + automatic fan control to keep the temperature stable should be enough. See https://www.printables.com/model/561491-automated-heating-system-for-original-enclosure
See my GitHub and printables.com for some 3d stuff that you may like.
RE: Active enclosure cooling
So the answer is, it depends. As you probably know, many people use enclosures and sometimes active heaters to bring UP the temperature for some materials. I live in Arizona and several printers in my garage where it can get 110F or higher (43C) but have never had any problems. At least with higher temp materials. If you print PLA, it could be a different story. PLA melts at a low temperature, so if the surrounding air is too hot, the filament will melt in the hotend too fast and you could get a nozzle clog. So if you are NOT printing PLA, I wouldn't worry much, otherwise you don't want the air around the hotend to get too hot. If the room air is hot, then a fan won't do much, just blow around the hot air. You would need water cooling or an AC, but maybe the best idea is just not to print PLA when its too hot.