Will putting my 3d printer in an enclosure damage it's electronics?

[2DPrinter]

I heard this could possibly happen. Would it be a big risk having my entire Monoprice Select Mini Pro printer in an enclosure while printing PLA? 

[2DPrinter]

6 minutes ago, James Evens said:

The problem is that the chamber will raise the ambient temperature and with that the electronics lifetime will be significantly shorter. 

Also why put inside a enclosure for PLA printing?

Gotcha. 
The reason I want an enclosure is I print in a cold garage (anywhere from 30-50F sometimes) and I get warped prints. Also to keep dust out and possibly reduce the noise level. 

[Bombastinator]

5 minutes ago, 2DPrinter said:

Gotcha. 
The reason I want an enclosure is I print in a cold garage (anywhere from 30-50F sometimes) and I get warped prints. Also to keep dust out and possibly reduce the noise level. 

Sounds like an ideal solution would be an enclosure with some sort of climate control. Small heat pump perhaps? The problem is they’re generally made for whole rooms and are fantastically expensive.   If the outside climate stays too cool all the time you might be able to do that with say a hacked hair dryer and an arduino.  Do auto temp control with the arduino by altenateively blowing in the too cool air or heated air depending 

[Bombastinator]

1 hour ago, James Evens said:

@Bombastinator You don't need a heater. 

The heat bed is enough heat to keep the chamber warm. In case of PLA it actually will create too much heat so you need some sort of cooling.

Heh.  I live in Minnesota.  Winters get cold.  Winter is not upon us though.  Then air con or even just a fan depending on surrounding temp.  Air conditioners usually have temperature sensors so something could probably be arranged with that. They’re not necessarily very accurate though.  An air conditioner can usually be bought used for not a lot of money.  Ain air conditioner is a heat pump that can only run in one direction. If it’s moving heat into a colder space they can use very little power.  It’s when the outside air is warmer that they draw a lot of juice.  The smallest air conditioners are around 5000 BTUs which is more than will likely be needed.  They even make box fans to fit air conditioner holes.  Maybe find a cheap used air conditioner and base the enclosure around joining the two.

[2DPrinter]

 

On 4/10/2021 at 11:57 PM, Bombastinator said:

Heh.  I live in Minnesota.  Winters get cold.  Winter is not upon us though.  Then air con or even just a fan depending on surrounding temp.  Air conditioners usually have temperature sensors so something could probably be arranged with that. They’re not necessarily very accurate though.  An air conditioner can usually be bought used for not a lot of money.  Ain air conditioner is a heat pump that can only run in one direction. If it’s moving heat into a colder space they can use very little power.  It’s when the outside air is warmer that they draw a lot of juice.  The smallest air conditioners are around 5000 BTUs which is more than will likely be needed.  They even make box fans to fit air conditioner holes.  Maybe find a cheap used air conditioner and base the enclosure around joining the two.

Not sure if a fan or air pump to heat or cool would be necessary? 

I could always open the enclosure door like James was saying or just lower the print temps if it got too hot. 

The hard part of this is figuring out an enclosure for my build. I can't really separate my electronics from the Monoprice Select Mini Pro from the part I want enclosed (the print bed and nozzle), so idk how I am going to build one.

[Bombastinator]

3 hours ago, 2DPrinter said:

 

Not sure if a fan or air pump to heat or cool would be necessary? 

I could always open the enclosure door like James was saying or just lower the print temps if it got too hot. 

The hard part of this is figuring out an enclosure for my build. I can't really separate my electronics from the Monoprice Select Mini Pro from the part I want enclosed (the print bed and nozzle), so idk how I am going to build one.

As long as it’s not too hot to print, whatever works. My understanding is stable temperature is more important than specific temperature.  Might want an opening that is adjustable some how.  A bathroom fan hooked up to a thermostat could provide stable temps over a long period if needed.  One can do it with no fan and adjustable louvers or something too.  Old houses used to do that.  Across multiple floors even.  That kind of thing takes time and measurement to set up though.  A fan ant thermostat would be set it and forget it.

[ColinLTT]

This is actually a great question - For printing PLA and even PETG most printers will be fine, although that is entirely dependent on the cooling provided to the control/driver board. If you're enclosing a printer to print in ABS/other higher-temp plastics, moving the brains of the operation outside of the enclosure is a really good idea. 

 

On very high-temp printers the steppers are often water cooled to prevent them from overheating! Video example

[2DPrinter]

Okay thanks everyone! I will take this into consideration when thinking about building an enclosure!!

[Flufsor]

It also depends hard on the size of the enclosure and stuff.

My enclosure has small ventilation holes and brings the internal temperature only to a 30° C and those temps should not be a problem.
That is with printing pla on 215 and a bed on 60.