I tend to print episodically, which means there may be long stretches of time when I’m not printing at all. I just finished a printing project, so I’m heading into that hiatus now. Although the X1C is enclosed, I’d still like to keep dust off it when not in use, and insects from making their nest in there, especially since it’s in my garage. During these times I was planning to just unplug the X1C and drape some plastic sheeting over it to keep the dust off and insects out, but if there is a better way to seal everything out (ideally, including moisture) while in storage, please post.
Thinking out loud about it now…Maybe what I need an enclosure for my X1C enclosure?
you could cover the printer with the box ? Or put the printer into that - otherwise could seal the door’s open spaces with some tape and also the fan outlets.
Thanks for the suggestions. Got me thinking that the simplest solution is just a large garbage bag, which I could then tie off, so it would be completely sealed. If giant mylar bags existed, I might go for that, but probably easier to just throw some desiccant sachets in there along with a wireless humidity sensor to keep tabs on it.
Longer term some kind of sealed box with a heater (to control relative humidity to a low level) might be the way to go. I’ve read that such heaters are used inside gun safes with good effect to prevent rust. They obviously do draw power, but not large amounts.
I started a seprate thread (Are any parts of the X1C at risk of rusting in a humid environment?) to inquire about rust potential. Depending on how that gets answered, I’ll use either a thin 0.55 trash bag to seal off the X1C from the environment, or else I’ll upgrade to a 4mil trash bag (seems to be the thickest available) and use that instead. Moisture does migrate through plastic, but the thinner the plastic, the more/faster it will migrate.
Sorry but all the foil bags will not protect it from moisture.
Put the Bambu in a plastic box with a lid and put a dehumidifier inside and that’s it.
If it is stored in the garage or in a LAger is not rain your problem but air humidity and you get that only solved in which the device is in a tight box and the air is kept dry (dehumidifier).
The printer costs over 1000 dollars, there will probably be another 20 dollars for a suitable plastic box.
That’s a good idea. There do exist gasket boxes…i.e. plastic boxes whose lids has gaskets, specifically for sealing out moisture, dust, pretty much anything. It might take some searching to find one that could fit a BambuLab printer, but I’ll take a look. So far no one answered my post about whether there is any rust potential in the printer, so it might be overkill. Better overkill than underkill though if all it costs is $20.
Actually, not so easy to find. Even a “120 quart” gasket box is just shy of the needed internal dimensions, and even that assumes I’d have to remove the filament holder, which I’d rather not have to do. Bah, this is getting awkward. It was a good idea though.
I think I’m back to the notion of a thick bag with desiccant and a wireless humidity sensor as the first pass on a solution. It should work as long as the desiccant holds out, and how long that will be is the big unknown. From what I’ve read, keeping RH below 20% is considered “good enough” for rust prevention. Even a conditioned space inside a house might well exceed that figure. Dehumidification via ordinary air conditioning, or even a dedicated refrigerant based dehumidifier, doesn’t drive RH below 30%, unless, of course, it already is.
Actually, putting a low wattage heater inside the X1C might yield good results. The X1C is designed to withstand much higher temperatures anyway. I guess maybe in a future version, with appropriate safeguards… In theory the heatplate itself could maybe be run at low temperature… 33C would do nicely…
and finish off with a DC power supply. Keep it too warm for a bug to want to live inside the X1C, and then all you need is some kind of dust shroud to fit around it. Maybe one of those fireproof grow tents, such as:
The heat will most likely manage the relative humidity on the inside of the X1C, and, well, I don’t see anything that needs protecting on the outside of the X1C, so that should maybe do it.
More like a $100 solution than a $20 solution, but no recurring setup or tear-down after the initial setup.
They fit PERFECTLY around the printer, with plenty of space at the top for the AMS. I just pop a bowl of drying silica beads on the plate and leave it on the bench
Don’t know where you live, but if not too far away, you could store it indoors in my ham shack, since it is a room in my home, it is kept at 75 degrees.
Probably a good idea. As I discovered last winter, it can’t run without degrading prints if the temperature is lower than 50F or without likely incurring damage at lower temperatures.
I thought I’d be further along by now in building it a proper heated cabinet, but that project got overtaken by events. Someday…
size is 50x50cm
