Enclosure Temperature discussion.....
Hey everyone with or thinking about a enclosure. I have been printing and testing with my enclosure for the past few months.
I have been trying different temperatures from 30C up to 48C. It seems that this printer doesn't like temps to exceed in excess of around 42C with higher temp filaments. I don't know if it is just heat creep up into the Nextruder or if the Nextruder just quits feeding filament beyond 42C.
I know the temp range is up to 38C but that seems kind of low for some Filaments. I have tried both Nextruders with the same results. 42C and under fine over that a no go for the print.
Has anyone with enclosure been able to print with temps exceeding 42C? Has anyone found a work around? I can maintain any temp in the enclosure with the use of the thermostatic control and heater plus the exhaust system.
RE: Enclosure Temperature discussion.....
A few possibilities.
For the MK3 there is evidence that the heat break cooling fan is insufficient above 45C which leads to jams on retraction at higher ambient temperatures.
There are also a number of posts across forums (prusa forum, reddit, etc.) that state MK3 and MK4 electronics are rated for 45C.
RE:
Does the Nextruder hotend have a specific temperature limit?
I was hoping with the location of the electronics on the XL (with the electronics being "outside" of a custom enclosure) the XL could handle much higher temperatures.
I've gotten my MK3+ to print fairly long prints in the mid-50's, with the power supply outside of the enclosure. Heat creep wasn't my issue (maybe because I was using a .6 nozzle). The issue with the MK3 with temps above 45c is the hot end assembly starts to warp (first the idler door warps and then the PINDA holder warps - both of which are disastrous). After printing the hot end parts in nylon I was then able to print successfully (PC probably would have been better). I've gone all the way up to 65C, but it's not reliable that high (I started getting false crash detections and sometimes significant layer shifts) - this might be the electronics or stepper motors not happy with the temp - IDK.
I was really hoping the XL would be more "robust" and could handle higher temps. Considering this is a "large" printer, and it's known that larger ABS/ASA parts need a heated enclosure... I'm really hoping we find a way to make this work.
Watching this thread. My XL is on order
RE: Enclosure Temperature discussion.....
There are a few other threads out there where people switched to 3mm id Bowden tubing and it's helped. Seems like the standard 2mm id tubing gets soft and is prone to kinking slightly causing extra drag at high temps. I've been running 3mm id tubing for awhile now because I run my filament directly from a Drybox and the stock 2mm id tubing caused the filament to pull to hard imo. I don't have an active chamber heater so I can't get to 45C, but I'm regularly running around 38C for 10 hour or more prints.
That being said I wouldn't go past 45C personally as there are way too many plastic parts on the printer. Everything starts needing to be made from metal or high temp plastic like PC when your get above those temps. That's my 2¢ anyways.
RE: Enclosure Temperature discussion.....
I have designed and cool air feed system for a single tool XL and it gives a 10 to 12 degrees difference at the airbox and it blows the cooler air onto the love board
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I have designed and cool air feed system for a single tool XL and it gives a 10 to 12 degrees difference at the airbox and it blows the cooler air onto the love board
Nice I have a few ideas myself. Let me know how it works out. What kind of air pump are you using for the cooking feed. There is definitely a issue in the enclosure with the Nextruder over heating to the point it stops extruding. Anything north of 42C I start to have issues.
RE: Enclosure Temperature discussion.....
@nico-gerber - that's pretty cool... no pun intended 🙂 I assume that's a separate air feed tube you'd need to route to the printer head.
I was thinking about trying to force/pump cool air through the same ptfe tube used by the filament. While it wouldn't cool the rest of the head, I'm guessing it puts the cool air right where it's needed to help prevent the filament from dragging and/or suffering heat creep.
Similar question as @MME - what pump are you using?
Thanks!
RE: Enclosure Temperature discussion.....
Good luck, On my MK4's I had to reprint the Idler-Swivel and the Idler-Lever parts in ASA to with stand 35c to 40C in an enclosure they had deformed and would not keep proper pressure against the extruder gear. Mine were printed in PETG, on my XL seem to be printed in the same PETG. If the latching seems to be lite no amount of spring pressure will help. the latching should be hard to overcome.