Power Consumption

[mike_biddell]

I note, in threads for hot extrusion printers, that people have noticed large increases in their power consumption. Simply because of 250-500 watts of heating per hour. Peachy scores again..... probably 5 watts max? Unless someone has accurate power consumption figures?

[harpo99999]

based upon the 20mW laser power, the largest power consuption would be in the audio interfacing board (guess <1w?? no idea actually) so possibly able to be powered from a usb port(5v @ 200ma) of the computer or a small power brick. and the reason for the low power needs in relation to the MELT plastic 3d printers(that have 40w PER extruder(165+ pla, 235+abs, other plastics possibly approaching 300c) and typically 100w for the hotbed(large area lower temp 110-120c) just to keep the plastic sticking to the bed) is the photon-activated curing of the liquid resin

[Slatye]

USB power (especially on USB3.0 where you can get 900mA) could well be possible, although technically you're meant to ask the PC before drawing that much power.

The other advantage of the low power, of course, is that you don't end up heating up whatever space the Peachy operates in. It's annoying to have an air conditioner running just to get rid of the heat dumped by a conventional FDM printer.

[mike_biddell]

USB power (especially on USB3.0 where you can get 900mA) could well be possible, although technically you're meant to ask the PC before drawing that much power.

The other advantage of the low power, of course, is that you don't end up heating up whatever space the Peachy operates in. It's annoying to have an air conditioner running just to get rid of the heat dumped by a conventional FDM printer.

There is no doubt, the very low power consumption of the Peachy is a major selling point, especially if you intend to use it for small scale manufacturing. Does anyone know how the resin cost per unit volume compares with extruded plastic per unit volume???

[prototrout]

Does anyone know how the resin cost per unit volume compares with extruded plastic per unit volume???

I can make a guess (with a lot of poor assumptions). MakerJuice's most expensive resin currently sells for $45/L, so I'll assume PeachyJuice will sell for the same amount. After a quick search, it looks like PLA costs around $30/kg, which ends up being (at 1.25 L/kg) around $37/L.

So the resin will be a somewhat more expensive than PLA, but not by a ton.

Making some rather larger assumptions (and using some numbers from this page), using up 1L of PLA would take about 1kWh of electricity. 1 kWh will only cost a few cents, so the savings in power consumption isn't nearly enough to make up for the higher materials cost.

Of course, the price of resin could end up being lower (or higher), and if the Peachy (and SLA printers in general) get popular enough that will help drive down the price. But we have no way of knowing when or even if that will happen.

Bonus: at a price difference of $7/L, assuming a price of $500 for a printer kit (I think that's about what they go for), you'd have to print around 57L worth of stuff before the PLA printer becomes cheaper (with a break-even point of around $2200).

[Slatye]

It's a difficult question because the production techniques are so different.

With a conventional (FDM/extrusion) 3D printer you generally fill the interior of the part with a low-density mesh pattern. This increases strength and allows the top of the part to be supported - otherwise even something like a cube couldn't be printed because it'd be impossible to print the top.

With something like the Peachy, a standard cube will be completely solid. Even if your model is hollow, there's no way to get the spare resin out of it - so it'll be full of liquid resin that will solidify over time. As a result, it uses far more material than an FDM-printed cube. On other other hand, if you leave a tiny hole in the cube then you can print it completely hollow and drain the excess resin afterwards. No need for internal structure to support the top. This would use far less material than an FDM-printed equivalent.

For many things, like sculptures, this is perfect. You just leave the bottom completely open because it's never going to be seen, and that allows excess resin to drain once it's done. No need for internal structure, since the printer can do overhangs unsupported and a sculpture doesn't need to be really strong. For machine parts it's probably largely irrelevant, because you'd want them to be solid anyway (and the Peachy won't have the delamination issues that FDM printers have). Where it will matter is stuff like toys, where you want a part that's pretty solid but not too heavy and not too expensive to make. In this case it's just a matter of deciding how you optimise the part. Maybe you make the walls thicker and skip internal structure. Maybe you use the Wiggle resin so the whole thing is nice and flexible. Neither option is available on FDM.

[boris_G]

I hear you Slayte. Options abound with SLA printers, whereas these options do not exist with FDM.

Overall, the power consumption is low enough to make me want to invest in a fleet of these printers driven by HP thin clients or ARM boards with sound (either/ or, depending). As was said, printing 1L of resin uses 1kWh of electricity, here at the moment, on peak is around the 50c/ kWh mark, off peak is around 20c/ kWh mark. However, these printers, due to them not having heating elements, lend themselves well to energy storage solutions (something I'll be investigating at university).

What I'm really curious to know, right this instant, is the minimum resolution of the printer, as per the shot on the update on KickStarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...c/posts/682243). I initially thought the left hand print was done on a FDM printer, rather than a Peachy. That is a marked improvement in quality! Wow! We must be approaching a level of near 0.02mm now, right?

I had investigated using motor driven mechanical irises for a SLA based printer, to get the resolution down. Obviously, these improvements have been done in software, as hardware doesn't seem to have changed drastically - or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Anyway, I'll tend this to the community... and take this off-topic, but in a way it is, imagine getting those resolution prints with something that consumes over 150W of power constantly...

[harpo99999]

boris, from what I remember one of the updates (that showed a square column) that was a claimed 2.8mm high and claimed over 2000 layers in it, which is an approximate layer height of 0.0014mm, if there is ANY fdm printer that can claim even one magitude larger layer heights (ie 0.014mm) please let us know as the best I have seen in my surfing is 0.1mm.

[boris_G]

Harpo,

Certainly, this is amazing, a 0.0014mm layer height is something to write home about! As you said, best an FDM can do is 0.1mm.

The wall thickness is my next question, and one answered by the specifications page on the Peachy website - 0.2mm. My goal is to print H0 (1:87) scale model trains with the Peachy, and conversing with a friend in the Ukraine, his CNC machine has a resolution of 0.02mm for a presumable wall thickness. However, a 0.2mm wall thickness, combined with a layer thickness of 0.0014mm is quite a small area.

I think now it is a case of "Get the printer, and put it through its paces" in terms of what it can actually print. One thing I will be printing is stanchions for overheads for my model trains. I'd like to see how it goes there...!

[Kingoddball]

I believe there is an ultimaker which can print in 0.05mil - IIRC he was close to 0.02!

Crazy for an FDM.

This peachy has increased very well! Last I remember it had 0.2 mil.

Where did you get the 0.014mm info from?
I can't find it.

Time or order a second peachy!!

Info:
Ultimaker is capable of some of the biggest volume prints in the business. It can also print with a layer height of just 0.02 mm.

http://www.3dgeni.us/which-3d-printer/

Image of an FDM @ 0.02 - http://davedurant.wordpress.com/2011...ity-of-prints/