MakerFarm 8" Prusa i3v Enclosure

[RobH2]

I see how the door works now. Nice solution, I like it.

If you put your electronics outside the enclosure then you'll have to address how to lift the enclosure off of the printer. The wires will all have to run to the bottom edge and out. What's the issue with leaving the board inside in it's normal place? The elevated heat isn't going to affect anything. Electronics can generally operate at pretty warm temps without issue. That way all you have is one bundle of wires running out to the Power Supply.

I like your experiment for "Science." Nice...

Think hard about and test the filament location. You don't want the extruder to be pulling on the filament too hard because it will lift your hot end. If the spool is on the side the filament will be being pulled sideways over the edge of the spool and there will be added friction. The filament works best when if freely travels from the spool straight to the extruder without any turns or without touching anything. A rod above the case hanging from the ceiling or mounted to and offset from a wall might we worth exploring. You don't want that extruder to have to tug on the filament any more than it already has to. If the spool is turned 90-degrees and the feed direction points towards the center of the enclosure that might just work. You'll still have to address the turn because you have to go up high enough to then come down through a hole over the extruder.

This would change your design and add cost but what about having the enclosure high enough so that the spool could be inside over the printer? That would have the added benefit of drying the filament out while it prints from the heat. We all know that while we are printing for several days in a row our filament is sitting there sucking in moisture. Then we have to eventually go dry the stuff. What if the act of printing was actually a filament dryer at the same time? Not a bad idea to at least pursue.

Looking forward to seeing your final resolution.

[gmay3]

Thanks!

I was initially worried about heat and the electronics and stepper motors but maybe that won't be an issue after all. I think its going to help a lot once I get my printer fully assembled and start printing!

Understood about the filament spool. I'll have to rethink about what to do. Unfortunately I am restricted in space where I'm going to be putting the printer and I only have about 2 to 3 inches above the top of the i3v's LCD housing. I'm putting the printer under a shelf that's a little lower than I'd like. I'm renting a house right now or else that would not be a problem.

There is a chance I would be able to mount the filament spool above the printer enclosure in the shelf above it. The solution to this problem might just be that I need to move the shelf up.

I didn't know filament had an issue with moisture. What effect does it have? Do you store your filaments in an airtight container when its not in use?

[RobH2]

I do store my filaments is a 5-gallon bucket that has desiccant in it to absorb moisture. The bucket is a Gamma Lid (look at them on Amazon). I have a professional hygrometer in there and it stays around 1.5% humidity. It might be lower but hygrometers have a hard time measuring really low humility. You don't need the meter. I already had it so I put it to good use.

How I actually store each roll is like this. I purchased some 9" x 6" mesh bags and 5 lbs. of commercial desiccant It looks like translucent blue plastic BB's. It's neat and clean because it doesn't create powder or break up. When it's full of water it turns clear and that's a nice indicator. You just bake it in the oven for an hour and it's ready to go again. I put a few cups of desiccant in the mesh bag and close it off. Then I put one of those mesh bags in a 2-gallon Ziploc with the filament and squeeze out excess air. That way the desiccant is only removing moisture from a small amount of air. It's more efficient that way and keeps me from having to dryout my reusable desiccant all the time. Then, I put 3 or 4 rolls, each in their own Ziploc (along with desiccant mesh bag) into the bucket. The bottom of the bucket has one of those mesh bags too that it pulls the moisture out of the bucket air. What this does is allow me to open the bucket and remove any filament I need without adding any moist air to the other rolls because they are all individually protected. Then when I close it, the only work that has to be done is for that mesh bag in the bottom of the bucket to remove the moisture in the air again. It may be overkill but it's really simple and easy so why not? It seems to work because I've had no jams since I got my printer and no moisture issues.

I've always had this setup so I've never had moisture problems. Before I got my printer I was reading alot about them. I kept reading that the filaments absorb moisture and people were going through all kinds of repeated "oven drying" cycles to keep the filament dry. Apparently too much moisture in the filament causes gassing, pops and jams. I've never had any I think due to my initial decision to store in a dry space. Someone else will have to talk about the problems associated with moisture because I have never had to deal with it. Apparently, ABS is really a sponge. Nylon and Pet+ are not as bad from what I read.

Can you mount a rod inside the cabinet above, crack the door and have the filament spool out from in there? That actually seems kind of cool really.

I'll be on the lookout for someone else to talk knowledgeably about what a headed enclosure does to stepper motors and RAMPS. I'm just speculating as I don't have an enclosure. So, get some second opinions. But my sense is that you'll be OK. It's not going to get 300-degrees in there. I think if you had a passive (and you do already) vent in the top to let warm air escape, then that's all you need to do and it won't get too hot. You just want it warm enough to cancel out cold drafts that exacerbate warps.

[gmay3]

Oh wow, I didn't realize that humidity could cause jams. I think I'll try to have a setup similar to that I think it will be easier than trying to fit the spool in the enclosure. Plus if I have more than one spool I'll need to keep them dry anyway!

The shelf above my printer is very "homemade" by someone that is not skilled at making things lol. I think some pictures are in order to show you what I'm working with!