Outdoor Use of PLA

[colin85]

If I spray paint PLA will it last outside or am I better printing in ABS?

I am designing a cctv camera housing for the tenvis iprobot 3, when I print it in abs it warps due to it being so large but do not have this problem when its printed in pla.
I have heard that pla will degrade outside, I was just wondering how long it takes and if there is a way e.g. painting that I can stop it.

Many Thanks
Colin

I Probot 3 Case.jpg

[jimc]

i did 15 lights for my deck posts and i did them all in abs. if your housing is going to hold the weight of a camera and its going to be pla and sit in the hot sun as well it will deform. everything i make is usually a functional part which needs durability and i find pla to be about useless for everything. if you have trouble with warping and want to try a very easy, strong and more heat resistant material then goto www.madesolid.com and try their pet+. i am really starting to sound like a sales rep for them but i really have no affiliation. i just found the product to be great and easier than pla to print with. if you go with abs you can also model mouse ears/discs onto the bottom of your model to help it stick down.

[greatestalive]

I probably wouldn't recommend painting PLA, or really any plastics in general. Never did it, but I know what happens when you paint plastic. The sun and weather will put a beating on it.

[jimc]

na i paint plastics every day for a living. the substrate doesnt make any difference into how long the paint lasts. pla is definately harder to paint though and get paint to stick to since its hard for solvents to bite into it. abs is a dream to paint. you dont even need to prime or sand it. the solvents in the paint bite right into it and bond like its part of the plastic.

[mechadense]

PLA degrades in porous form only under industrial composting conditions - it should stay ok for quite a while in normal climate.
Black PLA can easily deform in intense sunlight!

[LambdaFF]

Hi one of the methods to protect your plastic from too fast detrerioration and makes it with a higher surface hardness is eletroplating.

[johnstevenjacob]

You can spray paint PLA, but you can’t expect that it will last due to temperature and weather exposure outside. According to 3d2print.net, PLA normally degenerates within 6 months to 2 years especially when exposed to the environment.