Budget considerations for first-timers (VOCs, noise, fire)
Hey, this post is for first timers like me. I want to help you to manage your budget and set expectations straight.
I have my first printer (mk4 + enclosure + stuff) in my home office. I print a lot (who knew). Yes printing is still slow, and sometimes I reprint. I like it and I want it to be safe. So unless your are that Reddit boi who prints ABS 24/7 under the bed, read next.
If you are not planning to get neurodegenerative disease, get cancer, or become deaf (hello ototoxicity)( https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023005895), you need enclosure with both recirculation and exhaust. Even if you plan venting outside, I'd suggest you to filter anyway. Airpockets exist. That open window in the children room can just grab your exhaust, etc, etc.
Do not rely on hacks from thingsverse or printables. You don't see UFP or VOCs, you trust the science. Random nickname who won't present you any reproducible tests whatsoever is not science. Be consistent. That of course means money. Oh those pesky VOCs, your PLA doesn't smell right? Soon you'll start printing ABS and won't smell it too. You know how it is for guitar players? With years you play better and turn volume up ;-). You will need mask because after first prints enclosure going to be contaminated. Plus if you remember that _concentrations_ are harmful, imagine all this styrene going on in the enclosure and you need to clean the nozzle or something _right now_. You don't want to open doors without either waiting for filters or without mask. For this reason I'd suggest to have spools outside with the open tube end. Control display too. You want to change filament without exposing yourself to this insane concentrations in small enclosure. (Note in the linked paper the concentrations are for IIRC 20+ m3 not 0.6 like the Prusa Enclosure).
Then fire safety. I mean I don't want you to burn Anon. Don't cheap out.
The noise. The higher the background noise the dumber we are. Google the papers. I don't want to be dumber near FreeCAD. It knows I'm already too stupid.You want isolate printer from the enclosure. Concrete slabs and with speaker feet.
Napkin math: 700 for Prusa enclose, 15 for tape to cover holes, 5 for 40x40x3 granite slab from Hornbach, 16 for anti-vibration feet, 80-120 for exhaust filter. 60 for 3m mask. 150 for Rasppberry, Hyperpixel and Camera. I also bought assembled kit because I'm dumb.
Above, plus small things here and there gives me around 2k euro in total. That's Bamboo X1C AMS money right? Except it has no airtight enclosure and it's so small compared to Prusa you will have hard time fitting recirculation system that actually does something. Oh and funny people thinking its Carbon filter working. Yeah yeah, compare it to BOFA's or even Prusa's by Alveo3d. Don't fool yourself.
I'm looking for second printer now. In my price range they all will give me acceptable quality so the main factors are above - noise, fire hazard, air quality. I'm just not going to use printer that kills and dumbs me even if it has 100% perfect prints. Prusa so far wins here for me. I'm deliberately leaving DIY enclosures without mention of course.
All above is of course a boring rant. I see it contributing to community via google search by reinforcing health concerns and solutions. PLA is harmful. Doesn't matter if it smells or not. Half of these VOCs are odorless. Yes I have filter for my gas stove too.
I wonder though why Prusa did so many holes, to keep DIY spirit alive?
RE:
Most people don't take these issue seriously enough. I get the feeling that you are a bit over the top in your risk analysis though. Common particle filters do actually work for UFPs. The cut-off size is not what matters here. If you have an enclosure, an exhaust filter venting outside, plus the window tilted the whole time, things should be fairly ok. While smell is a poor indicator in general, it is a good indicator for concentrations of substances that do smell, like styrene.
The studies I know of look at printer, often without enclosure, smometimes with rarely with any VOC handling utilities and no simulation of air venting in rooms. In such cases you can end up with very problematic concentrations. But if you are exposed only for a short time (like when taking out a print), this is very different from chronic exposure.
Sure, you can get a proper fume extraction equipment like for a laser cutter. It definitely helps regarding fumes, but it will be terrible for print performance with eg ABS which hates cold drafts.
In the study you quoted (which is the most in depth study on the matter I am aware so far) it is shown that even with that worst case setup of a closed test chamber and a possibly open 3d printer inside (isn't really specified so I assume they tested both), many material types were not beyond the reference value or around it. ASA, ABS and Nylon were the most problematic but again, without any meaningful measures taking against them.
Air purification solutions like the Nevermore are probably more effective than many solutions from 3d printing companies. They offer a much larger active carbon capacity, longer exposure time of the active carbon to the VOCs and enable much more frequent easy exchange of filter material.
PS: I hope you are non-smoker, do not live close to major roads or inside a city and ventilate after each time you use either the oven or cook anything and don't eat fried stuff.
Mk3s MMU2s, Voron 0.1, Voron 2.4
RE: Budget considerations for first-timers (VOCs, noise, fire)
Thanks for reply!
Yeah, I don't smoke, don't live near road and vent after cooking. Deliberate choice for the place by the way.
The problem here is of course that while in isolation emissions from road, cooking and printing can be within limits, _combined_ they could quickly go over the top.
As for short-time vs chronic. There is a thing called STEL - single time exposure limit. With enclosures we have heated air and high concentrations. As soon as door is open it escapes in the face of the user. Simply because it is hot. The only graphs I saw related to this are for UFPs on Alveo blog. Trust or not trust is of course question.
So distilled here are my points
- There are cheap more trusted/tested filters than DIY
- Single time exposure when doors opened (I'm not even taking about air pockets here).
- Fire hazard
- Noise
So pretty standard manufacturing things.
And then I say they must be part of budget for each printer (or shared for farm). So printers are not 750 because for this money the points above are not addressed.
So if somebody with concerns struggle to make decisions after reading that PLA is safe because it is made from corn, please know your concerns are valid and normal. Filters/ventilation exist and it is normal to spend money on safety features.
RE:
- There are cheap more trusted/tested filters than DIY
- Single time exposure when doors opened (I'm not even taking about air pockets here).
And then I say they must be part of budget for each printer (or shared for farm). So printers are not 750 because for this money the points above are not addressed.
So if somebody with concerns struggle to make decisions after reading that PLA is safe because it is made from corn, please know your concerns are valid and normal. Filters/ventilation exist and it is normal to spend money on safety features.
What filter specifically for VOCs would that be specifically? Can link some offers?
Most stock air purifies I know from various 3d hobby printers look quite clearly inferior to eg a Nevermore. The filter certificate for the Prusa enclosure filter only concerns particle retainment, not VOCs.
I am totally with you that one should invest in filters/ventilation and keep rooms well ventilated which host printers.
Generally speaking I would not open a still warm enclosure, especially not when printing ABS/ASA. So the temperature difference is almost zero when I do open it and at that point both internal cycling air filtration and slow exchange exhaust ventilation has run for at least 2 hours without new emissions. Sure, the inside is still contaminated but no where near the level it is during printing.
Mk3s MMU2s, Voron 0.1, Voron 2.4