RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
The next piece of the puzzle is printed. All these parts printed in ASA.
The auxiliary fan will be mounted between this part and the next part being printed now. I will then print the gate. That part has the opening for the gate which will be printed last.
I numbered the parts for further use.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Here is the finished manifold everything installed this morning. The parts all ASA and the fan is a auxiliary fan to slow the air flow from the main 4" exhaust fan in the shop sort of like a baffle. I have been printing ASA part all morning and the temp inside the enclosure with the carbon/hepa filter open has stayed between 43 C and 44C. I also have the air scrubber on. So it has stayed pretty consistent throughout the day. I can open or close a few gates to get the temp stable after everything is heated up. I have the room vent open on one side and the enclosure vent open as well as the filter gate out.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Forgot the installed pic!
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Been lurking on your build since the beginning and admiring the excellent job and attention to detail the entire way. If I enclose the XL, this will be the template used to do it. Thank you for sharing!
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Been lurking on your build since the beginning and admiring the excellent job and attention to detail the entire way. If I enclose the XL, this will be the template used to do it. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! It has been a great project. I have learned a lot about this printer throughout the process. I just hate it has taken this long to get to this point. The main reason is I had to order certain things before I could move on to the design stage of the parts.
I hope everyone has a chance to do something similar to this project.
A few things that I have learned is I love printing ASA. But and this is a big but, you have to have a vented enclosure. Or a vented room. Second thing is that the PLA parts are holding up exceptionally well through all my printing and some higher temps. The removable T2020 aluminum frames for the acrylic act as a heat sink for the PLA frames that hold them. As of now for the temps I need and after over 300 hours of printing I do not see the need to replace the PLA parts with ASA parts. Only time will tell.
If you have the Ability to work in CAD I use Rhino you can make almost every part you need. If you don't I would suggest people get a copy of Rhino and learn it. There are lots of beginner books to get you where you are able to design your own parts for anything. You don't need a engineering degree just a little common sense about how things work.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Now that the exhaust venting is 100% I printed the heater gate. It just came off the printer. I printed it vertical for aesthetics. I am now printing the last part of the heater mount which is the inside part of the mount.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Alrighty then!!! I just finished assembling the heater to the right side panel. I normally don't bring work home with me but wanted to get this done this weekend.
This is the lower right side panel now complete. I will put it back on the printer tomorrow. The heater mount is above the hepa/ charcoal filter. This is a preheat heater. I have a thermostat controller for it at the shop. I have been preheating the enclosure to 40c when I print ASA and this heater makes quick work of that. I can. Close it off while printing or use it during printing if needed.
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Honestly I have a few more things to do with the enclosure but for all practical purposes it is done. I have some ideas I am working on such as a top filament feed system but need to see if it is really worth the effort since I have pretty much got all the filament binding issues worked out.
This has been a long project much longer than I anticipated. I started this on around 8/18/23 designing parts trying to make everything work together cohesively. And of course printing the parts needed is a time consuming process. It was well worth the effort. To date I have printed 127 actual parts that are used on this enclosure. Then quite a few parts that were test parts for measurements and the fitting process . It is a great long project if someone has the time and patience to see it through.
So after the Christmas and New Years holidays I will start to release the STLs and material list for those that might be interested in using this enclosure. Have a great day!
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I want to continue on with some testing I am doing on the heater. I also have a digital thermostat controller for the heater. I have it temporarily hanging on the door to monitor it's progress. You can set the temp and a temp warning alarm. My guess is I have them set to close together right now. As I only have a 2* difference between the two.
You can see the heater/filter panel installed at this point the heater is running up to temp which is 40C. You can also during preheat I lower the bed below the heater. 40C-43C has been a good temp for the ASA parts I have been printing.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Okay so the thermostat will turn on and off at the high an low temp you set. So I have the low at 40C and the high at 42C. It will turn the heater off at 42C and back on at 40 C if needed.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Thanks for sharing this journey with us, the enclosure is amazing! Are your Rhino files available to make our own?
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Thanks for sharing this journey with us, the enclosure is amazing! Are your Rhino files available to make our own?
Thank you for the compliment. I haven't decided yet on the .3dm files. Right now it will just be the STL files.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Thank you for the compliment. I haven't decided yet on the .3dm files. Right now it will just be the STL files.
Ohh non plz not the this stupid file format.
I would prefer not publishing it for free (I would pay for) but as a step file.
STL is completely useless for a project like this, too much things to customize
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The heating system with thermostat controller testing is still ongoing. So far it has been flawless. I have the low set to 40C and the high to 42C. It has been holding there throughout all prints this is a lower wattage heater so there isn't a lot of power draw. The ASA heater mount and the heater housing stay nice and cool.
This morning the enclosure was 23C and it took about 20min to bring it up to 40C. I started the print at that 40C mark. This setup has been giving the enclosure a consistent temp between 40C and 42C throughout the prints.
The testing will continue!! Today I am printing a new 4" to 2" adapter collar for my DLP printer enclosure. About a 7 hour print.
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A little over a hour left on this print. Looking pretty good. The temp has been staying super stable even as the bed lowers. Before as the bed lowered there was a few degrees of temp lost in the enclosure. I always run the enclosure exhaust and air scrubber when printing any filament type especially the ASA.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
This is the print from yesterday. It is a 4" collar with a 2" input for the exhaust from my DLP enclosure. It was printed in two parts. This is it installed. Not a great pic.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
@MME Amazing work! I enjoyed reading through your entire thread, and if I decide to keep my pre-order (for my dual head XL) I'm definitely going to be looking for the STLs.
I'm bummed to hear about your challenges in the 50c+ zone, and I'm watching this thread hoping you solve this latest challenge. Based on the level of skill and thoroughness you've shown with your enclosure, I'm sure you'll come up with a solution.
I'm also very interested in printing large ABS/ASA (as well as PA and PC), and I've really pushed my MK3S+ to it's limit trying to do the same. On the MK3S+ I've built an actively heated enclosure which also works great until you try to push past the mid 40C'S. I've had the extruder idler door warp (this is the first thing to "fail" - like just into the 50C's), and then the PINDLE sensor holder warped so bad the head crashed into the build plate (in the mid to high 50C's). I fixed both problems by printing the all the hot end parts out of PA - as best I could with the enclosure just under 50C. The parts weren't perfect (being PA12 not having a hot enough enclosure), but just good enough to assemble the hot-end with the PA printed parts. I can now get into the low 60C's when printing, but it's hit-or-miss. Sometimes I get a really bad layer shift and I found I have to turn off the crash detection because it becomes very sensitive at higher enclosure temps (I'm not sure why). I've also had to revert back to an older driver to prevent the printer for thinking there is a thermal runaway.
Anyway, the reason I shared all that ^ is I realized that printing above 47-48C is just beyond the design limits of the MK3S+ - and when I saw your challenges with the filament or 50C, I got worried the XL parts may not be able to handle much higher temps. One thing I learned is working outside of the original design parameters makes things exponentially more challenging. Good luck! I'm rooting for you!
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
@MME Amazing work! I enjoyed reading through your entire thread, and if I decide to keep my pre-order (for my dual head XL) I'm definitely going to be looking for the STLs.
I'm bummed to hear about your challenges in the 50c+ zone, and I'm watching this thread hoping you solve this latest challenge. Based on the level of skill and thoroughness you've shown with your enclosure, I'm sure you'll come up with a solution.
I'm also very interested in printing large ABS/ASA (as well as PA and PC), and I've really pushed my MK3S+ to it's limit trying to do the same. On the MK3S+ I've built an actively heated enclosure which also works great until you try to push past the mid 40C'S. I've had the extruder idler door warp (this is the first thing to "fail" - like just into the 50C's), and then the PINDLE sensor holder warped so bad the head crashed into the build plate (in the mid to high 50C's). I fixed both problems by printing the all the hot end parts out of PA - as best I could with the enclosure just under 50C. The parts weren't perfect (being PA12 not having a hot enough enclosure), but just good enough to assemble the hot-end with the PA printed parts. I can now get into the low 60C's when printing, but it's hit-or-miss. Sometimes I get a really bad layer shift and I found I have to turn off the crash detection because it becomes very sensitive at higher enclosure temps (I'm not sure why). I've also had to revert back to an older driver to prevent the printer for thinking there is a thermal runaway.
Anyway, the reason I shared all that ^ is I realized that printing above 47-48C is just beyond the design limits of the MK3S+ - and when I saw your challenges with the filament or 50C, I got worried the XL parts may not be able to handle much higher temps. One thing I learned is working outside of the original design parameters makes things exponentially more challenging. Good luck! I'm rooting for you!
Thanks. I am still doing a bunch of prints with ASA. I really like printing in this filament. I haven't had any serious issues. As with most of these higher temp filaments. Round, oval ,square or rectangle parts print fine with no to very little lifting. Long narrow parts tend to lift more in the ends and corners. I need to reprint some of the Nextruder parts in ASA before I move the temp up much more. The good thing about the XL is that most of the important electronics are on the back outside of the printer
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Since Octoprint is hit and miss I decided to add a Kasa Smart Wi-Fi plug so I can control turning everything on and off via Wi-Fi if I have to. This in concert with my ability to monitor the print with the WYZE camera is a big help in being able to control the power if something happens on long prints. The Kasa Wi-Fi plug will handle up to 15amp max. Even with everything running I am not even close to that benchmark.
These plugs are super easy to set up.
RE: Ideas to make enclosure for XL Multi Tool
Very clean design. I cannot wait for the final product.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog