Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
Why hasn't anyone thought of putting a controlled chamber heater in the left side pocket of the Core One?
That would significantly reduce the heating time.
There's certainly enough space.
It could be controlled by a hackerboard, for example.
I don't have the skills, but surely there are plenty of people here who could build something like that, right?
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
Actually I use the LH side pocket for tools but I've got the RH side pocket available as I feed filament directly from a de-humidifier and there's already a hole in the RH panel to secure the - in my case unnecessary spool spindle. There's also an oval hole at the back on the RHS - don't know what that's for 🤔.
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
I would like this as well. The chamber heat up times of printers with dedicated heaters is much shorter. I've not had the opportunity to test the passive heating in a 'wintery' cold garage yet, but may have that chance this year. The last couple ASA prints I've done I simply used a heat gun through the open front door to kickstart the chamber heat. This is not ideal though, and care must be taken not overheat the floor of the printer in the process. It does speed things up though. The AL bed in the core one L might help, but even that may take a while to heat up and I don't yet know how quickly the bed convection fans can heat the chamber. It also poses the challenge of maxing out the chamber temp for certain filaments that may benefit from a slightly cooler build plate. I've mentioned this before, but having chamber heat individually controllable from bed temp is very nice. Core One L does not seem to have this ability because one is downstream from the other. Someone will have to report if it's possible to maximize the chamber heat on a bed that's only brought to 60-70c. My suspicion is that it will be difficult to do, but I'm happy to concede if it proves easy.
-J
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
I have a 2 kilowatt "Rowenta" chamber heater as of recently. Integrated, not really. Controlled, not really. Heater, yes - "fast".
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
is this something that could be implemented using the hackerboard, even if it would need to be sort maintained by an external controller of sorts?
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
The "hackerboard" can control IO pins via G-code commands - simple automated heater control should be fairly easy e.g. an opto-isolated solid-state relay.
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
This project might be what you're looking for? It's in early stages, but worth watching.
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
Im putting a Creality standalone chamber heater in mine atm, incredible how fast the chamber heats up, wish it was a factory option.
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Im putting a Creality standalone chamber heater in mine atm, incredible how fast the chamber heats up, wish it was a factory option.
I was thinking about doing exactly that. Is there space enough to avoid the bed? At the moment, I've been using a hairdryer. Really would like an actively heated chamber that can go above 60C. Assuming the love board and acrylic door can handle it...
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
I agree, it looks interesting. This could provide the space.
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Crossing my fingers that Prusa announces a Core One enhancement kit that includes an active heater. That and the BondTech INDX turns out to be real and not vaporware. I'm starting to out-grow my Core One.
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
I started to design an active chamber heating for the Core One recently. I don't have results yet, but the technology part is quite simple. An arduino nano, a GPIO board, an SSR relay, a fan and a PTC heating element can easily be fitted even under the printer. For now I designed that the PTC heater and a 90 degree turbo fan can be fitted on the left panel and all the electronics can go into the back. The arduino through the hackerboard can access the chamber temp thermistor and can run an TPC algorithm (as a simplified PID alternative) and control the SSR relay, switching on the fan and the heating element at the same time. The hot air can come from the angled recess from under the left "bulge". A high temp filament can be used to print a basic vent, directing the airflow, but maybe it is not needed.
I have a few parts coming in, first of all I will start it with a smaller 150W PTC element, I think it can be enough for the targeted 65C ambient temp without risking to melt anything nearby, but we will see.
Also one key element besides this is a bit of insulation to the chassis. I think it is a much more important aspect than the heating itself. The top part of the printer is basically like cheese and the side plexiglass is bent with a huge hole on their bottom. This should be solved and the efficiency of the heating can be improved drastically.
Once I get it done, I will report back, but I think it can be done quite neatly and hidden.
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Attaching a heater is not particularly difficult (in theory). The issues I see with heating the chamber above 55C: internal parts printed in PETG (which could probably be replaced with Nylon), the LoveBoard electronics and the acrylic door (which I expect will warp). The motors inside the chamber might prove a challenge as well.
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Im putting a Creality standalone chamber heater in mine atm, incredible how fast the chamber heats up, wish it was a factory option.
I was thinking about doing exactly that. Is there space enough to avoid the bed? At the moment, I've been using a hairdryer. Really would like an actively heated chamber that can go above 60C. Assuming the love board and acrylic door can handle it...
At my first shot i will replace one of the top side acrylic panels and put it there. In my case its more about heating it to the regular levels in cold weather, and heat up significantly faster than reaching some new high levels of heating, so far at least. Its quite some metal to heat up for sure.. If it doesnt work i will put in on the left metal panel side instead.
For example now, i want to print out a first test piece for my chamber heater. The printer was 7 degrees(idle temp for my workshop at winter) when i started the heating process by only the bed(120degrees), 10 minutes later its only at 14 degrees, and that is with the bed all the way to the top, if its lower down its much slower.
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
Im putting a Creality standalone chamber heater in mine atm, incredible how fast the chamber heats up, wish it was a factory option.
I was thinking about doing exactly that. Is there space enough to avoid the bed?
The Creality heater is 51 mm thick, and the left side pocket 68 mm deep. So you could either cut a hole for the hot air into the original side pocket and mount the heater in the pocket, accessible from the outside -- or, probably preferred, make a flat replacement side panel and mount the heater on the inside. In either case nothing would protrude beyond the original footprint.
Does the heater need to keep going throughout the print to maintain chamber temperature (rather than just heating up the chamber initially)? I am wondering whether blowing hot air directly at a tall print, once the bed has moved down into the airstream, could cause problems. That will probably depend on how smart the heater is: If it modulates its output temperature down to just a tad above the target chamber temperature, it should not cause any issues. But if it alternates between "off" and "full heat", it might cause the print to distort and potentially come loose from the heatbed.
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
As a first step, I ordered the Creality standalone chamber heater to test whether it's suitable and heats the chamber to the desired temperature in a controlled and even manner without initially overheating it at full speed.
I'll mount it on a standard metal plate in place of the left side pocket.
It will also be interesting to see if the external controller can be modified so that it can be controlled by the printer via hackerboard/Arduino or so.
@peter-susan, Do you have any specific ideas for the control system?
@Jürgen, do you have any experience with this heater?
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
Im putting a Creality standalone chamber heater in mine atm, incredible how fast the chamber heats up, wish it was a factory option.
I was thinking about doing exactly that. Is there space enough to avoid the bed?
The Creality heater is 51 mm thick, and the left side pocket 68 mm deep. So you could either cut a hole for the hot air into the original side pocket and mount the heater in the pocket, accessible from the outside -- or, probably preferred, make a flat replacement side panel and mount the heater on the inside. In either case nothing would protrude beyond the original footprint.
Does the heater need to keep going throughout the print to maintain chamber temperature (rather than just heating up the chamber initially)? I am wondering whether blowing hot air directly at a tall print, once the bed has moved down into the airstream, could cause problems. That will probably depend on how smart the heater is: If it modulates its output temperature down to just a tad above the target chamber temperature, it should not cause any issues. But if it alternates between "off" and "full heat", it might cause the print to distort and potentially come loose from the heatbed.
The creality heater seems to adjust continuously to reach the target temperature on the inlet air, not on and off. My only issue is that i thought it would revert to the settings automatically so i could start it by a remote switch, it doesnt work it need manually pressing a button. Have to do for now though. My plan was to shut it off when the print start, i´ll see how the C1 can keep its temps in low ambient temps..
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
@Jürgen, do you have any experience with this heater?
No, sorry -- I just looked at the specs. The dimensions certainly look fine, but I am curious whether it implements smooth proportional control of its air temperature or just on/off. With the cost for triac control being near-zero, I hope it does proportional control and gradually ramps down its air temp as the chamber approaches target temperature, avoiding big temperature gradients and jumps during the print.
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
Will add that the creality heater pushes out air around 95 deg C before ramping down, could be good to know depenging on what you will have in close proximity to the outlet, the unit is covered in a silicone case but gets a bit hot. But it seems quite well built and heavy.
RE: Core One: Who is designing a controlled chamber heater for the left side pocket ?
Heres my first shot, Prusa PCCF holder to the Creality heater, heats up significantly faster, thats for sure. Doing some probing in different parts of the chamber to test it out, Ill make a separate thread for inspiration 🙂
