How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
Hi,
I ordered a Prusa Core One L. I want to print large ASA objects. I therefore those the Core One L.
I need to place the printer in the basement. This space is not very good ventilated. There is one 120 mm opening to the outside world.
I want to print safe and take care of the toxic fumes. So I ordered the Core One L with the extra filter and fan.
But I do not think that is enough.
So I was thinking: what about connecting the output of that filter with a hose to this opening to the outside world so that all fumes are blown outside the basement?
Problem with that is that I will blow hot air to the outside world. Somewhere cold air will be sucked in. So the basement will cool down and I think the printer chamber temperature will drop too.
How to prevent this? I have a heat exchanger laying around. Could that help? Then I would need some input to the printer chamber to be able to blow the preheated air into the printer. But that will still be a relative low temperature. So you will get all kind of cold air flow inside the printer chamber. Not good.
Putting the whole printer inside a second chamber that is connected to the heat exchanger may be an option? But placing the whole printer inside a chamber that is significant warmer than standard environment temperatures may be not good for the printer. The electronics (and especially the power supply) is not designed for that. Resulting an fire danger.
So what should I do? Any ideas?
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
I hate the smell of ASA and some other filaments, I have an IKEA starkvind air cleaner in the garage above the printer which i sometimes run when i do smelly filaments, which seems to work pretty well.
You still need to ventilate the basement so a heat exchanger is sensible.
Perhaps a separate, small heated air blower might be useful to give a slight boost or even pass the incoming air over the sort of heater mat sold to warm houseplants.
But the printer as a whole is generating heat so simply putting a collar around it so that air entering it is prewarmed might be enough. Experiment with a large cardboard box...
Cheerio,
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
The air flow rate through the filter will be negligible compared to the whole room's air volume -- hence I would be very surprised if you see any impact on the room temperature. The printer will most likely contribute more heat to the room than cool it down.
The maximum chamber temperature will be reduced a bit compared to a scenario without any airflow (because you are sucking a small constant flow of cooler room air into the chamber). But that is always the case when one uses the filtration option, so it is "by design".
Before you overthink this: I understand you have not received the printer yet. How about trying a few prints first to see how effective the filter is? If you find the smell problematic, you can still connect a hose to the outside vent.
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
T...
The maximum chamber temperature will be reduced a bit compared to a scenario without any airflow (because you are sucking a small constant flow of cooler room air into the chamber). But that is always the case when one uses the filtration option, so it is "by design".
...
I ordered this printer because it can reach about 55 to 60 degrees chamber temp. What will be left of this when using the filter unit and the basement temp is about 17 degrees?
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
..
Before you overthink this: I understand you have not received the printer yet. How about trying a few prints first to see how effective the filter is? If you find the smell problematic, you can still connect a hose to the outside vent.
I can cancel it now if I know the chamber temperature will not be high enough for the prints I want to do (like ASA).
And it is not about smell. But health. So I do not want toxic particles or fumes in the basement at all.
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
I purchased this cheap Ikea Air Purifier...... https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/uppatvind-air-purifier-50498224/
I only print PLA and PETG most of the time, but if I were to move to more toxic filaments I would be adding this to the air purifier: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1410515-uppatvind-carbon-air-filter-conversion?from=search#profileId-1464193
I'd then place it around the exhaust area of the printer (not covering it, just close by).
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
I ordered this printer because it can reach about 55 to 60 degrees chamber temp. What will be left of this when using the filter unit and the basement temp is about 17 degrees?
Most reports seem to be that there is no significant temperature difference whether the filtration fan is running or not. The heat losses via the enclosure panels (radiated heat) are probably dominant.
It's not a high air flow rate -- the goal is not to keep the air inside the chamber clean at all times during the print, but just to stop air from diffusing out through the various slits in the enclosure. You can then run the fan for a bit longer after the print is complete, to clean the air in the chamber before you open the door.
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
Another mode; here that can be filled with carbon.....
https://www.printables.com/model/1007047-activated-carbon-mod-for-ikea-uppatvind-filter
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
T...
The maximum chamber temperature will be reduced a bit compared to a scenario without any airflow (because you are sucking a small constant flow of cooler room air into the chamber). But that is always the case when one uses the filtration option, so it is "by design".
...
I ordered this printer because it can reach about 55 to 60 degrees chamber temp. What will be left of this when using the filter unit and the basement temp is about 17 degrees?
I print in a garage that is around 8 degrees in the winter, also with ASA and PC, PPA, to get the maximum heat i recommend sealing the top cornerns on the inside with printed plugs and cover the top of the printer with something, most of the heat escapes through the roof of the printer.
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
Agree with the above. Although it looks it, the printer is not a sealed unit. The metal fabrications for each panel - whether its the corners, or the sides - have gaps where the metal has been folded and doesn't quite meet with the next piece. Put the printer in a bright area and look from the inside - you'll see numerous gaps. While this is OK for the majority of users, if you really want the highest chamber temps and want to vent out all the harmful smells/toxins completely, you need to seal the unit yourself. Even duct tape sealing all the gaps would be adequate (as long as you don't mind the appearance!). Then some ducting from the rear exhaust leading out to vent the smell/toxins......
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
..., you need to seal the unit yourself. Even duct tape sealing all the gaps would be adequate (as long as you don't mind the appearance!). Then some ducting from the rear exhaust leading out to vent the smell/toxins......
But when closing all gaps, the filter unit will do nothing. To be able to blow some air through the filters, you will need some air going into the chamber.
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
..., you need to seal the unit yourself. Even duct tape sealing all the gaps would be adequate (as long as you don't mind the appearance!). Then some ducting from the rear exhaust leading out to vent the smell/toxins......
But when closing all gaps, the filter unit will do nothing. To be able to blow some air through the filters, you will need some air going into the chamber.
The chamber is not airtight. Air will still get in around the door. Plugging all of the gaps is necessary to maintain a decent chamber temp
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
If you're worried about the chamber cooling down and your goal is to just get rid of fumes, it should be enough to just have a low powered fan that only pulls a little air. As long as there's negative pressure in the enclosure, fumes aren't going to escape into the room. And acheiving negative pressure in the enclosure shouldn't require much air flow since the enclosure is (in theory) a sealed box.
RE:
The advanced filtration is grossly insufficient for VOCs. The little bit of carbon they have in their, you will still have fumes passing right through. I ran a half spool of ABS CF Core, the carbon is shot. The 600hrs of runtime is a joke, the HEPA filter yes, VOC no, maybe 6 hrs and then maybe 70% effective when it was new. Vent outside if you can. I'm tossing the rest of my ABS, I can't vent outside. Working on improving VOC filtering too.
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
Not sure how good these ideas work but sound interesting:
https://www.printables.com/model/1560730-hive-core-one-internal-carbon-hepa-filter
RE: How to print ASA safe in a not so good ventilated basement?
Not sure how good these ideas work but sound interesting:
https://www.printables.com/model/1560730-hive-core-one-internal-carbon-hepa-filter
I've got the Prusa Enclosure with the air filter, and apart from the noise I have a good experience with the air filtration unit. I've got an air quality monitor next to the printer at all times, and according to the monitor the air filtration very much works. I don't know if a DIY solution would be as effective as a commercial solution, but perhaps why not.