Fireproofing a 3D printer

[Coaxialgamer]

So a couple months back, i bought an Anet a8 3D printer ( a prusa i3 clone), which I've been using fairly regularly. 

 

The problem is this printer has no built in safety mechanisms, meaning i need to be able to supervise it while it does its thing.  This is fine for small parts, but it prohibits me from running larger prints overnight or during school hours. There's no real functional pause mechanism either, at least not for my purposes. 

 

Has anyone tried to or run across a project to fireproof a printer? I've seen many people mod their equipment so u assume someone has tried this before. 

[Hackentosher]

Some good first steps, but look into the specifics of making the anet a8 safe. IIRC, the powersupply is pretty dangerous and it doesn't have a lot of thermal protections. @iamdarkyoshi has had a few of the machines and made them safe...ish

[iamdarkyoshi]

I have an anet a8 as well. Add an 80mm fan both to the power supply and controller, and make sure there's no way for the thermistor or heater to come out.

[bob345]

There are a few hot ends that include a thermal fuse for over temp protection which is probably the simplest solution. Another option would be to wire up your own safety limit controller. Typically it would be used to cut power entirely to the machine if your set limit is exceed or a fault is detected. Its the same kind of controller used along with PLC's and PAC's in with industrial automation equipment as an extra layer of redundancy. These kind of controllers can also be use to check thermocouple/rtd/thermistor continuity and trip if one is not detected or a fault such a sudden change in measured temp as what would happen if your measuring device where to fall of the heating element. Somthing like this will likely be enough for your application, just make sure you get one that will work with the power you have available.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-ITC-2000-Temperature-Controller-Thermostat/dp/B00QQ02U42/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1525837848&sr=8-2&keywords=temperature+limit+controller&dpID=41gsy5if4mL&preST=_SX342_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

[lazypc]

I'm assuming that the Anet uses a form of Marlin firmware, which does have some protections built into it for thermal runaways, overtemps, and no-temps. Some of that is dependant on being able to get readings from the thermsistors so make sure they are secured properly.

The Anet also does a have a reputation of having one of those power supplies that can burn your house down. So I would consider replacing it with something safer... call it an upgrade for getting a better hotend eventually.

Also I know it's just common sense, but checking to make sure your smoke alarms work and having and knowing where a good working fire extinguisher capable of putting out A-B-C rated fires is always a responsible thing to do.
As additional protection you can make sure your printer is also plugged into a surge protector, preferably with a built in circuit breaker. I need to check on that myself. I think I may be just using a cheap power strip, which is sad considering I am also thinking of where a good surge protector is in my house right now I can use.

[iamdarkyoshi]

2 hours ago, lazypc said:

I'm assuming that the Anet uses a form of Marlin firmware, which does have some protections built into it for thermal runaways, overtemps, and no-temps. Some of that is dependant on being able to get readings from the thermsistors so make sure they are secured properly.

The Anet also does a have a reputation of having one of those power supplies that can burn your house down. So I would consider replacing it with something safer... call it an upgrade for getting a better hotend eventually.

Also I know it's just common sense, but checking to make sure your smoke alarms work and having and knowing where a good working fire extinguisher capable of putting out A-B-C rated fires is always a responsible thing to do.
As additional protection you can make sure your printer is also plugged into a surge protector, preferably with a built in circuit breaker. I need to check on that myself. I think I may be just using a cheap power strip, which is sad considering I am also thinking of where a good surge protector is in my house right now I can use.

Unplugging the bed on my anet a8 does shut off the heater to the printhead as well, it seems to just go into panic mode if it doesn't see normal temps