Greetings All. First post and question.

[SgtToe]

Hi All

I am a noob but have been reading lots for about a month now. I am pretty set on getting a makerfarm i3v but am probably 8-12 months away from being able to purchase. I am in an apartment and have some space in the family/living room or a non heated but insulted atached storage closet outside on the patio.

So questions revolve around environment and steps between now and then.

1. I live in Flagstaff, AZ at 7100 feet Elavation, it gets below freezing in the winter and can get up to 95F in the summer, should I even consider the closet on the patio?
2. Seems like the family room is going to be where it goes, but I have read about micro particles and smell, plus I'm betting these are noisy, are there any other environmental concerns I should know about?
3. Read that really large post a few pages in about enclosures, is that standard operating procedure to build an enclosure once you start to get a hang for the printer and develop an understanding? Do people put foam in them to dampen noise?
4. Size, seems like the general thought here is buy the biggest one you can afford, but is the space needed for the 12" much bigger than the 8" or is it just 4" bigger in each of the 3 axis? I see folks mention warping with large prints, do I need an enclosure or heat lamps to print large prints? Trying to decide if should go with a smaller one.

Thanks for your wisdom, I have really enjoyed reading and lurking so far.

SgtToe

[sniffle]

Welcome :-)

I can't answer everything, but in general yes it can smell, some are more sensitive to it than others. Outside is a bad idea, as the wood will definitely warp from the day to day environmental changes. They are somewhat noisy an enclosure will help dampen the noise but unless it's in an out of the way place or behind a door you'll hear it. As to the overall footprint of the printer, I gave myself a few inches each way with the 12" printer and it ended up being a 24" cube, It could be slimmed down some by about 4-6 inchest in height and maybe 2 inches in depth but that's about it... as to the other sizes i have no idea

[gmay3]

Hi SgtToe and welcome to the forums!

I'll take a stab at your questions.

1. From seeing how "extreme" temperatures have affected others during printing, I would say to try not to use this closet if possible. I think you'll have a hard time in cold temperatures. Regardless, I'm of the opinion that you want to keep an eye (or octopi webcam) on the printer for safety reasons. In the beginning, you'll learn much more about the printer by being able to watch it and interact with it.

2. I believe that, if possible, it's better to not breathe the printer fumes if possible and like you've likely read ABS is more smelly than PLA. Printing a few Yoda Busts isn't worth any future potential harm towards your family!

3. I'm guessing this "large enclosure post" was mine so apoligies for that! I am just finishing up my enclosure designs now. I wouldn't say it's standard as we all have different priorities for our printers but I think for your situation you should use an enclosure. These can be as cheap as a tupperware container or as expensive as CNC routed wood. My situation is similar to yours in that I want to get the fumes out of the house so adding an exhaust vent system to my enclosure that will dump the fumes outside is ideal. I haven't heard of anyone using foam for sound proofing but by all means try it! The printers aren't so loud that I would think this would be necessary though.

4. Heat lamps and enclosures will help warping or large parts. I would assume each size is at least proportionally bigger than its predecessor. I have the 8" and have never wanted to wait long enough to print a part that takes up the entire print volume. It's much easier to print small parts and assemble them so keep that in mind.

I will be moving to an apartment in a few months and the enclosure I'm designing is going to be used to exhaust the air out of the window during printing. I think something like this might be what your looking for!

[SgtToe]

Thanks both

Yes Gmay3, it was your post, lol.

You know it might look a little ghetto but I had not thought about something like an upside down trash can or storage bin. I have a window insert from a floor model AC unit that bit the dust last summer, I could use that to vent. I have a PI and a wireless dongle from other projects so I was planning on using OctoPrint anyway to watch it.

FOLLOWUP Question. Yes I have read that PLA smells less. I imagine most of my early printing will be making mods for my printer, am I correct in assuming that one should make replacement parts and mods from ABS? If I was going to buy one spool to start would it be better to start with ABS for this reason, even though I won't have the enclosure on early in the game?

[gmay3]

Yes Gmay3, it was your post, lol.

You know it might look a little ghetto but I had not thought about something like an upside down trash can or storage bin. I have a window insert from a floor model AC unit that bit the dust last summer, I could use that to vent. I have a PI and a wireless dongle from other projects so I was planning on using OctoPrint anyway to watch it.

This trashcan, tupperware storage enclosure has absolutely been done so you should be fine using that. The window AC vent is exactly what I'd use. You've got all the right thinking and components to make this happen. Let's see this glorious beast in the enclosure thread soon! Can't wait to see how it turns out!

FOLLOWUP Question. Yes I have read that PLA smells less. I imagine most of my early printing will be making mods for my printer, am I correct in assuming that one should make replacement parts and mods from ABS? If I was going to buy one spool to start would it be better to start with ABS for this reason, even though I won't have the enclosure on early in the game?

I started with one ABS roll for the reason you mention. One of your first prints should be a backup set of extruder parts and those are sensitive to heat. Therefore, it's worth getting at least one roll of ABS. If you can swing it, I would definitely recommend getting a PLA roll in the beginning so you can start to see which one you prefer!

[AbuMaia]

I hear PLA smells like pancakes when it's being extruded. My sniffer's not very sensitive, so I haven't noticed it yet, nor the smell of ABS for that matter.

[rhonal89]

To me PLA smell sweet. Haven't try ABS yet.