What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?  

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

An enclosure is also great for keeping away draughts drafts which can cause no end of problems!

Remember as well not every one lives in the same temperature range.  For some an enclosure may be needed to keep ANY warmth!

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

@3delight

Very good points. Thank you for the response.

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

@3delight

Also when you say draughts do you mean drafts? I'm not sure what a draught is when related to 3d printing.

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

@cendrizzi

yeah, sorry about that was working on something else at the same time that involved draughts! LOL!

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

Posted by: @3delight

An enclosure is also great for keeping away draughts which can cause no end of problems!

Remember as well not every one lives in the same temperature range.  For some an enclosure may be needed to keep ANY warmth!

You might try the draft shield option in PrusaSlicer (or Cura, under experimental).  I've found it helps with the consistency and quality of ABS prints.  Kind of like a mini-enclosure.

A couple other things I've found are helpful for quality ABS prints are letting the machine preheat and stabilize at ABS temperature for 10-15 minutes or so.  I'm also getting into the habit of doing this for all materials.  Also, when the ABS print is done, I always let it cool close to room temperature before attempting to remove it from the sheet.  ABS that is too warm can easily deform with an attempted removal, or even with the flexing of the sheet removing it from the printer.

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

@jsw

Interesting, I have ASA but haven't tried it yet. I just got the impression that the mini was not good at it due to the bed temperature not being able to get to the ideal temp. Thanks for the heads up on this.

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

@cendrizzi

I've made plenty of things in a an enclosure vented to the outside from ASA with great results. Features are well defined and very accurate. Sometimes I've used a full height skirt to keep it from warping. I think my results with ASA are nicer than PETG, except for some zits on the undersides of overhangs and bridges. I've cut parts in two so there are two flat sides to glue together. I don't think this issue is unique to the Mini.

Regards,

Mark

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

I have printed small ABS parts on my Mini with good results. I don't have an enclosure (yet) but plan to build one. The ambient temp was perhaps a little higher than a normal room 25-28° (my garage in summer with the door closed). I use PrusaSlicer and just selected the defaults for generic ABS filament. The parts had coarse threads, so the accuracy requirement was somewhat high. They moved smoothly.

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

Note that Styrene gas released from ABS and ASA is bad stuff and you shouldn't breathe it. I have enough ventilation to the outside in my enclosure so I don't smell any at all. Too much ventilation isn't good for print quality, so it is a trade-off. I use about a 400 mm fan running at 5V instead of normal 12V, with a slightly smaller duct to the outside.

Regards,

Mark

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

I built my enclosure because I found the PLA fumes were irritating my nose. ABS was a nice bonus!

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

Usually people complain more about ABS fumes.

When I did a recent run of ABS prints my wife came in and said 'It smells like melted plastic in here!', yeah, it does.  😉

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

Posted by: @jsw

Usually people complain more about ABS fumes.

When I did a recent run of ABS prints my wife came in and said 'It smells like melted plastic in here!', yeah, it does.  😉

I didn't mind the PLA fumes for the first few weeks, and then I found they were irritating my allergies. I didn't even try to print ABS until I built an enclosure, and your wife is so right! The moment I opened the enclosure door it was horrible! 😂

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

@robee

You may want to try PETG ... I cannot guarantee it does not release harmless stuff into the air, but at least it does not smell 😀 I find PLA smell a bit distracting, can't "get used to it" like you do with most smells.

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

Ya know, when I print with brown PLA from Hatchbox I swear I can detect the aroma of coffee. I know that coffee is a common textile dye and for craft work so I figure they might be using coffee as a PLA dye. 

I don't find the PLA aroma to be objectionable but ABS really stinks!

Don't really know about PET or most of the others.

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

I have printed ASA, ABS, and PC Blend.  The Prusa mini is not ideal for them, but it will print them.  

As for the enclosure, it also controls fumes and reduces noise in a room.  

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

I've been successfully printing ABS in an enclosure for a month or so now. I've done a number of mods to make it work well. The most important of those have been the silicone bed leveling mod and modifying the firmware to increase the max bed temperature to 110°C. Without these mods I have separation from the bed. I still sometimes get separation at corners for very large parts, but it is always minor.

Another thing I have done which I find really helpful is installing a PINDA probe. I had to do a significant work modifying the firmware to support a PINDA, but it allows me to effectively preheat the enclosure and ensure that the PINDA is at the same temperature for every print. Prior to this I could not get reliable prints as the MINDA would measure different Z heights on every print.

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

@bluedragonx

I had read what you did to get around this and that was part of the reason I initially asked this. Hopefully, if they come up with a secret menu as they have indicated they will do for the Bondtech maybe they will allow for changing the max heatbed temp (but not holding my breath).

I don't understand the Pinda and Minda difference but it's a big disappointment they didn't include that sensor instead. Your solution would require someone to maintain a separate FW for each release :(. 

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

I can't speak about ABS, but I've printed lots of things in ASA, in my vented enclosure, with the custom bed leveling gcode and a bone stock Mini. I do use a brim and full height skirt / draft shield on bigger items. I always dry my filament before printing.

Regards,

Mark

RE: What's the point of an enclosure if the mini can't reach the temperatures for ASA / ABS?

Posted by: @cendrizzi

@bluedragonx

I had read what you did to get around this and that was part of the reason I initially asked this. Hopefully, if they come up with a secret menu as they have indicated they will do for the Bondtech maybe they will allow for changing the max heatbed temp (but not holding my breath).

I don't understand the Pinda and Minda difference but it's a big disappointment they didn't include that sensor instead. Your solution would require someone to maintain a separate FW for each release :(. 

Early firmware versions supported a max bed temp of 110°C but they reduced it to 100°C because some Minis weren't able to heat the bed that high - so it's a hardware limitation on some Minis, but to me it sounds like a quality control problem that they "fixed" with a software update.

The only difference between a MINDA and a PINDA is a thermistor - the PINDA has a thermistor so that the temperature of the probe can be read. This allows you to compensate the probe readings for temperature since the probe changes predictably. It also allows you to accurately pre-heat the probe so that your readings are consistent when you do bed leveling.

I agree that maintaining separate firmware to keep supporting the PINDA is a pain. I hope they add support to the firmware - the hardware supports it so I don't see why they wouldn't. They haven't added any compelling firmware features since I built my own firmware so I haven't made any effort to keep it up to date.

My next project will be to port Klipper to the Mini. Klipper already supports the STM32F407 chip that the Mini uses so it should be a relatively simple matter of configuration.