IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?  

RE: IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?

You have to be careful with Airflow, as that can introduce cold drafts and interfere with printing causing warping and delamination, 

Printing PLA in an enclosure can cause jamming... 

regards Joan

RE: IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?

Posted by: @joantabb

You have to be careful with Airflow, as that can introduce cold drafts and interfere with printing causing warping and delamination, 

Printing PLA in an enclosure can cause jamming... 

regards Joan

There wont be any cold drafts, because if i would install a fan. It would suck out the air of the enclosure. The enclosure will be closed, with a door no open spots. Maybe i would even add a sealing tape on the surfaces that touches the door. Like in a refrigerator. 

Is that so, with PLA? Never heard of it? 

Regards, Chris

RE: IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?

Hi Chris, 
If air can't get in, there is no point putting a fan to the outside, as it won't be able to draw the hot air out...  

You may be better looking for the thingiverse modified einsy case the braces the X axis, turns the einsy through 180 degrees so the connections are towards the outside.  and had an air duct and fan that will allow cool air to come in from outside to cool the einsy, which will warm the incomming air reducing the chances of  distortion and delamination

regards Joan

RE: IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?

Also the question remains why you would want to build an enclosure and then draw the hot air out... I use an enclosure for PET and ABS exactly because I want the ambient temperature to be higher and also constant.

Yes, that will impact the PSU first of all, but you could install the PSU outside the enclosure like I did. That is fairly easy to do in fact.

But for PLA enclosures pose a real problem as Chris has pointed out. Jamming, warping, delamination, all the good stuff. Just be careful, because you might experience problems when you least expect them (like I painfully did).

RE: IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?

First of all it does make sense to have some kind of enclosure even for PLA. Even distributed air gives you better printing result. Depending on you setup you might have an AC unit or window with cold/dirty air which is blowing towards the printer from time to time. This might be visible on the print.

If you only print PLA then I would recommend either the cheap half open solution  (not fully enclosed). Or filtrated fully enclosed with enough air flow.  In both cases you can keep the PSU inside as you should not exceed 35C ambient temp for PLA printing anyway.

RE: IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?

Hi Joan, 
Hi wieman01, 

I talked to someone who made a detailed enclosure project on thingiverse (with aluminium profiles and so on). He uses a Prusa i3 MK3, he has the PSU installed inside the enclosure, he uses a fan to suck out the air and he has 2x small spots where air can passively flow into the enclosure. So, an air flow is established. His temperatures are around 30-35°C and he has no problems with printing PLA, PETG, ABS and so on. Also, the PSU runs like usual and he printed a lot of hours. I received really good input from him during our chat and I will try it myself and see, what kind of results I get. 

Why do we want an enclosure? There is not only just this one reason, there are several reasons. 

One major reason is, we want a "constant temperature level inside the enclosure that is higher than the ambient temperature" and not a brutal hot temperature level. If it is tighlty sealed, it will become very hot with no air ventilation. Do you really want to it be 50+, 60+°C inside the enclosure? I dont think so (not even for ABS, in my opinion), because as Joan and you said, there will be problems printing PLA and also, it is too hot for the PSU. Then what about 30-35°C? This should be no problem for the PSU and I believe, it is warm enough for ABS and cool enough for PLA. 

These temperatures should be possible with a fan and small spots where air can travel into the enclosure. 

@wieman01

What many get wrong in my opinion is the fact, that cooler air isnt that "bad" by default. It depends on how much and where it gets into the enclsoure. If a lot of cool air flows directly towards the printing object, then you probably have some problems. If the cool air avoids the printing object and the amount isnt that much, then there is no problem. As long as the temperature level stays the same. 

By the way, my filament will be in a seperate enclosure, above the printer. 

Of course, if there are any test results which prove that my thinking is wrong, then please send me a link :).

RE: IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?

@wieman01

What many get wrong in my opinion is the fact, that cooler air isnt that "bad" by default. It depends on how much and where it gets into the enclsoure. If a lot of cool air flows directly towards the printing object, then you probably have some problems. If the cool air avoids the printing object and the amount isnt that much, then there is no problem. As long as the temperature level stays the same.

That is right. Airflows cause variation in ambient temperature and for this an enclosure makes sense. Also if you can control the temperature inside to not exceed 30° C or so for PLA, then I am with you. In my case I only have an enclosure and the only option to control the ambient temperature is to actually open the front to let fresh air in. But that is not an ideal solution, and particularly in the summer temperature would on occasion exceed 30° C and lead to frequent jams.

I guess it's all a balance... And each of us have to figure what works best for them.

I like your research. Perhaps you can share more of your insights as you move forward. It's a good learning.

RE: IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?

Posted by: @wieman01

@wieman01

What many get wrong in my opinion is the fact, that cooler air isnt that "bad" by default. It depends on how much and where it gets into the enclsoure. If a lot of cool air flows directly towards the printing object, then you probably have some problems. If the cool air avoids the printing object and the amount isnt that much, then there is no problem. As long as the temperature level stays the same.

That is right. Airflows cause variation in ambient temperature and for this an enclosure makes sense. Also if you can control the temperature inside to not exceed 30° C or so for PLA, then I am with you. In my case I only have an enclosure and the only option to control the ambient temperature is to actually open the front to let fresh air in. But that is not an ideal solution, and particularly in the summer temperature would on occasion exceed 30° C and lead to frequent jams.

I guess it's all a balance... And each of us have to figure what works best for them.

I like your research. Perhaps you can share more of your insights as you move forward. It's a good learning.

You are absolutely right, it is indeed a balance between hot air goes out and cooler air comes in. Opening the front is an option, but not the best as you said. So, we have to look at other options. Like fans and spots where cooler air can come in. 

Thank you! I will defenitely share my results/opinions, after I built the enclosure and see how the temperatures are inside the enclosure with different materials. 

RE: IKEA Stuva Enclosure with fan -> Temperatures inside? -> Necessary to move the psu to the outside?

If you can, exhaust into another room, outside or your attic space.  Gets the smell out of your living area and is especially good if you're printing ABS or the like.

I moved my PSU to mount to a post below the enclosure.