Workshop woes!

[Oxalainen]

Hey everyone and greetings from Finland!

I've been 3D printing for good couple of years, I'd like to think I've learned a lot and I've ran into tons of different 3D printing problems too. I have over 20 years of expertise in operating large format inkjet printers and 8 years of experience running various CNC machines, like lathes and mills. I'm currently running two 3D printers (and for long hours), but I've had 4 different FDM printers so far. However, past winter here was difficult, and I'm running out of 'usual suspect' fixes.

There's been nothing but trouble with my 3D printing for past months. Delamination, constant nozzle clogs, heat creep, you name it. I've been trying to do the common fixes, tweaks and adjustments, but usually after 2 or 3 days of printing generally okay, the problems resurface. My current active printers are Sovol SV05 and Artillery Sidewinder X2, the defunct ones are Ender-3 Pro and Mingda Magician X. I print mostly PLA, Wood PLA and Silk PLA. No plans to print ABS, ASA or other more high end materials yet, but if I had, I'd buy a fully enclosed heated chamber printer for that job.

Thing is, the past winter was challenging here, weather-wise. The temperature in my workshop (basically a garage) fluctuated about 10 to 12C (from +12C to +24C) in relatively short intervals. When the temperature inside was below +15C, I didn't even bother switching my printers on. Even today it's really gusty outside (and still snowing, in April!) and I felt a subtle breeze inside when I was on my morning workshop stint an hour ago. I have also kept my filament spools on desk, I have a filament dryer but I'm starting to think I'm not using it properly, or enough. I've seen people on the Youtube and Interwebs claim that you don't need to dry your PLA, but I'm starting to think otherwise.

I'm wondering if I could benefit from a special printer 'cabinet' where all my printers would sit, semi-enclosed? I'd place it in the farthest reach of the garage door, which is made out of cheese and helps little keeping interior temperature even remotely ambient. The cabinet would have walls on three sides, probably open top for ventilation and maybe a curtain of some kind in the front, so I can open it for the summertime. Would I be running into other problems sooner or later, and should I upgrade my household fire insurance?

Any ideas from other people from colder regions?

[CrazyIvan]

Thanks for posting!

I can't offer much by way of practical experience (I do my printing inside the house) but general observations. Yes, a stable environment is critical.

Garages generally have two means of access (ie a door separate from the vehicle entry), not least for safety. If you're using it as a workshop and no longer as a garage, it seems to me the obvious way to go is to insulate and draft-proof the interior walls (including the main garage door).

I can't advise on fire insurance!

[Oxalainen]

Excellent, thanks!

My garage door is indeed one of those which slides up in four segments, it's paper thin and has little effect in keeping heat in -or cold out. I've been piling my leftover styrofoam sheets against it (and over the slider rails on the edges, which have a visible gap to outdoor realm) and got maybe a degree or two increase in inside temp. The garage door has two ventilation channels for interior air, so I've been reluctant on blocking the entire door. I only open the big garage door (I have normal door as an entry from the warehouse side of my garage building) during summer, plus it's far too small gargage to fit a car anyway. I once drove my wife's previous Volvo V40 in it, but couldn't step out from the car anymore.

I once split the garage space in half by rigging PVC curtains from the ceiling, and that added maybe a degree or two of the temperature on the end where the garage door was not. But this isn't viable option anymore, and thus I was thinking about isolating the printer section from the rest of the garage this time. Plus building that cabinet section would be good excuse to finally tidy up the place as well, LOL!

I'll post some pics of the process and do a report of how it worked -if any! It is, however, getting Spring here, so I hope the weather outside gets more stable as well.

[Antipodean]

For keeping filament dry in a cabinet, one possibility is to use a low wattage tungsten bulb (15-25W) on permanently in the bottom of the cabinet. This raises the temperature enough to dry things out when the atmosphere is humid, without going to the expense and complexity of a dehumidifier or other machines that consume heaps of power.

I know of a guy who did exactly this in Fiji to keep his camera equipment dry enough in the tropical humidity so he didn't get fungi growing on lenses and other problems that humidity brings (how I learnt of the technique).

[Oxalainen]

For keeping filament dry in a cabinet, one possibility is to use a low wattage tungsten bulb (15-25W) on permanently in the bottom of the cabinet. This raises the temperature enough to dry things out when the atmosphere is humid, without going to the expense and complexity of a dehumidifier or other machines that consume heaps of power.

I know of a guy who did exactly this in Fiji to keep his camera equipment dry enough in the tropical humidity so he didn't get fungi growing on lenses and other problems that humidity brings (how I learnt of the technique).

That's a brilliant idea, it'll also provide subtle background light into the cabinet, which helps keeping track of what's going on inside.

[jannickz]

The fluctuating temperature in your workshop (12°C to 24°C) is definitely a culprit. PLA likes a stable printing environment, ideally around 20-25°C. Rapid temperature swings can cause warping, delamination, and filament jams. Keeping your filament spools on the desk might be exposing them to moisture, especially with the fluctuating temperatures. Even PLA can absorb moisture, leading to inconsistent printing and clogs.

[Oxalainen]

Alrighty, did some steps to improve the 3D printing conditions in my 'shop!

First step, clean up everything! LOL, check!

Second step, rearrange the printers into the corner which is the farthest from the cold draft. Check!

Third step, separate the new printer section from the rest of the 'shop, also check!





Granted, a simple shower curtain isn't much of an 'enclosure', BUT I'm hoping it would keep the environment inside the printing area a bit more stable, and at least it should keep dust and draft at bay better than before. I also added few leftover sheets of styrofoam on the concrete floor, to improve insulation. There's space for 4 printers, currently it's storing my filament 'dry box' and misc stuff, but those will be moved elsewhere once I get to purchase more printers.

BTW, the curtain was chosen by the Mrs. I'm glad she picked one of the less 'floral' patterns out from the selection. The left side is still open, but I'm blocking that with some PVC tarp later on. My Sidewinder X2 (top) is still waiting for the new main board, so currently only the SV-05 is running. However, now that I've kept my filament dry, it's been doing generally all right.