Enclosure doors open or closed?
I'm well aware that for materials such as nylon, ABA, etc. that it is a big advantage having a stable, warm environment for the printing process. What about materials like PLA or PETG? Do you leave the doors on your enclosure open when printing with these materials? Are there any dangers/problems keeping the doors closed for all prints?
RE: Enclosure doors open or closed?
You will definitely want some ventilation (doors or top open, and/or an exhaust fan) for PLA. Otherwise, on a long print the enclosure can get warm enough to cause heat creep and nozzle clogging. There are some models on Printables designed to keep the doors in a partially open position.
Probably won't have heat creep with PETG but print quality can still be affected since layers won't cool quickly enough at higher ambient temperatures. So again, best to have some ventilation (doors/top open, or an exhaust fan). I try to keep the enclosure below 35C for PETG.
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I try to keep the enclosure below 35C for PETG.
Do you have any general guidelines you would like to share for enclosure temperatures when printing PLA?
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Probably best to keep the enclosure temp below 30C if you can. Probably okay a little above that, like 35C, but if it gets too warm you may end up with a nasty jam. Prusa recommends leaving the doors open if the ambient temperature is higher than 28C (see blog post HERE).
RE: Enclosure doors open or closed?
My experience - I kept doors closed with PETG and get clean print (I get warped when I left doors open). I kept doors open for PLA because whenever I left doors closed while printing PLA and it always failed.