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  1. #1
    Student
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    2

    Question Filament for electrical plug

    Hello Folks, I?m thinking about printing a plug shell for my golf cart charger. I bought one off eBay and it?s a tad to wide. My question, is abs or pla safe to use for incasing electrical wires? Here?s a pic of the charger I have and the other pic is what would be inside. I basically need to print the two black pieces you see in the pic and I would be putting the parts shown in it. Is this possible with pla or abs or am I going to burn my house down lol? Thank you!!

    D7B6B05F-8472-4D9C-B377-1DAF463A2E69.jpg

  2. #2
    Either will work but eSun PETG would be a better choice if the the part will be sitting in the sun on a day like today.
    If all you have are on hand is PLA and ABS then I would prototype with PLA as do the final in ABS. PLA will not do well in the sun and heat. ABS does better in heat but does not hold up for the long run in the sun.
    The charger puts out a 12 or 24v DC current for a cart or at least that is my assumption, it is fuse protected and the mian AC power is breaker protected. So even if you sorted those metal tabs together it would not burn down anything.
    The plastic plug you are printing is there to keep those tabs from touching each other and give you something to hold on to. The other thing is does is prevent you from plugging it in backwards. Charger should be polarity protected but being an ebay unit, maybe not... So make sure you assemble it correctly so the positive lead goes where it is supposed to go.
    Have fun and good luck with the design and fabrication!

  3. #3
    Super Moderator curious aardvark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Posts
    8,818
    just avid 3d printed abs for anything going outside.

    Pla should be fine.
    It's not effected by being outside. I've had things made of pla in the open for years and there's no deterioration.

    Unless it's going to get hotter than 70c on a regular basis, then heat isn't an issue. Both are pretty good insulators.

    Don't see an issue other than temp.

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