After the disappointing X1E release (price/specs), I started looking at DIY options. One of the things I looked into was the power supply since the X1E uses active cooling for the 450w supply. The 100W power supply, LM100-20B24-C, in the X1C has a pretty restrictive temperature derating. Caution should be take if you’re running the chamber above 50c for extended periods of time.
Considering Bambu limits their actively heated printer to 60C (and likely with modifications for that) I don’t think its a great idea to go much above that for any significant amount of time.
Most actively heated printers using conventional electronics, plastics, and belts don’t go too much higher than the X1E, so I’d assume there are common limits in those components. The BBL electronics are not well ventilated, so pushing the temps up any more might be problematic. I’d imagine the steppers are limited by temps as well. Many steppers can take a Class B 130C operating temps, but starting with a 60C enclosure you can easily get close to or over that. Considering the price of the BBL steppers, I’d imagine the 130C is probably close to a hard stop. Additionally, the plastics around the stepper don’t seem to be a particularly high temp plastic so I’d assume its ABS, and ABS loses its strength around 110C.
Largely what I’m saying is keep the total package in mind as you crank up temps.
Dont go too hot. Youll start getting extruder jams.
There may be thermal protectors somewhere, but mechanically, pretty much anything can handle 100C/212F. I wouldn’t go higher than that, a lot of wiring insulation is only UL listed up to 105C. Mechanically, everything will be fine. It’s the electrical I’d be mos t worried about. I’m running some ABS parts right now. Nozzle is 270C, bed is 90C, chamber is 44C. I’m running everything as far back as possible.
They’re good up to 400F minimum. Besides the steel parts, the carbon fiber tubes are the next most temperature tolerant parts in the assembly.
I try not to exceed 50C now, when doing long prints that reach 60C there’s a really bad smell in the machine almost like a connector burning smell. If you old enough to remember what bakelite (the stuff we used before there was plastic) burning smells like. I’ve looked inside the back and can’t see anything untoward, time will tell I just hope it tells before the warrantee runs out. It’s pretty warm where here in West Aus ambient in my workshop is around 38C, I’m currently print ABS with the glass top removed and the cabinet sensor is showing 47 and it’s not even summer yet. I have no ABS warping at all on a TXT PEI plate, I just make a circle with the glue then dilute it with a 70% IPA wipe and spread all over the plate and don’t use brims.
You must live in a different universe than I do 
The pultruded carbon fiber tubes I see have a glass transition temperature of 100C. Roll-wrapped pre-preg tubes go some 25C higher, but that’s not what is used in the X1C.
A lot of wire insulation is only rated to 80C, 85C, 90C …
I guess it all depends on the resin used. The carbon aspect can DEFINITELY take anything a printer can throw at it, but some resins are not designed to take high temps. Many prepregs (industry standard carbon fiber) cure at max temps of 300F/~150C, and have a service temps around ~600F/~315C, so I would expect the rods to be good at any temp these printers can generate. But, if the resin used is a cheaper non-epoxy resin, it is possible for that temp to be substantially lower.
Either way, I’m not expecting the rods to be a problem point. The belts, steppers, control boards and various plastics in the chamber are the pieces that need attention. Again, I’d bet once you get close to 60C chamber temps, the steppers are running a temp that is very close to their top end. Most electronics generate heat and if you start at 60C, its not unthinkable to see them get close to or over 80C and that is the start of the danger zone for basic uncooled electronics. At those temps you want stuff that is spec’ed for it. I would assume the electronics are safe but its hard to confirm without breaking it.
The rods are not rolled prepreg, they’re pultruded. Pultruded can be high-temp cured as well, but do you really think the X1C contains aerospace grade stuff?
And yes, I agree that other plastics are going to start off-gassing and softening at lower temps than the CF rods, and the steppers are also going to act up earlier.
Thanks for pointing out the PDS on that material. Don’t know much about vinyl ester resin. However, I doubt Bambu set up the printer with a carbon tube that is maxed out at the normal high side chamber temps (60C/~150F from the PDS you referenced). Also note, glass transition temps have a different meaning to semi or fully crystalline materials (opposed to amorphous materials like PLA, ABS or PETG). On something like carbon fiber, the glass transition is the start of material change, but it can withstand much more heat in service if the resin isn’t sensitive to temps. Just like PEEK, whose Tg is 145C but is serviceable over 200C+. Many semi and crystalline materials can still hold shape well after their Tg.
On a side note, personally, I wouldn’t think of prepregs as aerospace-only unobtanium. Its simply heat sensitive resin infused cloth. Prepreg is super easy to laminate (not messy), but requires heat to cure. That’s where the unobtanium comes in, but I’ve seen people use regular ovens with good results as they only need to ramp up and down slowly to 300F stable temps for curing. Equally, you could easily make homemade solutions with an Arduino/Pii that does the job just as well as an autoclave.
im looking to do this to my p1s. could i ask what size of the reflective thingy you used and where you got it?
Stepper motors can skip steps if they get too hot. Id be mostly concerned about the grey plastic base warping under the Z axis since it could throw off the belts alignment. Definitely protect it with a thick layer of neoprene adhesive backed thermal foil that you usually use to insulate print beds. Cheap on amazon.
Something ive been eyeing is this heater which would fit under the left fan on the x1c
Chitu Systems Resin 3D Printer Mini Heater-Versatile Temperature Control,Easy Installation,Quiet Operation, High-Performance Fan&Overheat Protection-Compatible with Most 3D Printers https://a.co/d/eu6bmze
It gets hot but also offers consistency, consistent chamber temps before each print
anyone have luck with these independent chamber heaters? I have a riser/vent I wanted to print in ASA but the first piece warped beyond use.
This one has its measurements wrong, but looks like it would fit. downside is needing to open chamber to adjust temp. But, if you set the chamber temperature to 50 and it gets to that, in theory it should shut off.
“addHTTPS”://a.co/d/7nI3srJ
This one has external controls you could put outside the printer but might have some issues fitting.
“addHTTPS”://a.co/d/iaPV0gB
Something I stumbled on is if you home the bed before you heat soak with aux fan max it significantly improves the efficiency of getting heat into the chamber off of the bed. It increases the time to heat the bed by a large amount though. I have been able to reliably get to 60C which will keep the chamber in the 50s for the duration of a print.
I am planning to insulate the inside with Aluminized fiber glass insulation. I also plan to improve the air flow for the electronics and potentially insulate those from the heated chamber. I also bought a better fan for the nozzle to reduce the chance of thermal runaway from it not being able to keep up in a heated chamber environment.
Did you try this? How were the results?
Currently trying to set up an extraction system to pull air from the chamber outside a window so I can print ABS in my studio flat without the fumes escaping, but the extraction kills the chamber temp so I need a way to keep the heat in more efficiently.
Welcome to the forum and the world of Bambu! Have you seen the “Bento Box” filter system? It filters the hot air inside the chamber.
I have seen this, as well as concerns that it isn’t sufficient to remove all the VOCs and particles from the air. I’d rather be overly cautious. There is a page wiki .bambulab. com/en/ knowledge-sharing/ exhaust-pipe-connector-installation-tutorial on the wiki that describes how to add ducting to the exhaust to vent fumes outside, but I don’t know if the chamber fan can create enough pressure to get through the duct run.
That’s true, better safe than sorry. I have a laser engraver going to a window duct and it’s fan is pretty weak too. At one point I thought about putting one of these somewhere in the run to pull more out. If you did that with the Bambu it would definitely pull everything out but the temp would really drop. What if you only turned this on when it was done printing?
Oh these are out there too. I’m not sure how well they insulate and I’m not crazy about any of the 3 color choices, but they are an option.
I have actually just bought something very similar, see image below. I have a variable vent on the other side of the “T”, the idea being that I just want to help the fan built into the chamber rather than overpowering it. The fan is a bathroom extraction fan. I will probably end up building the variability into the exhaust attachment.
I still haven’t quite worked out how to get the air through the bug mesh on my window, so that is the next challenge!
I did also see these two methods for insulating the printer, might try and DIY a version of the 2nd one, just to mitigate any effect from the fan.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/comments/1dujb70/inuslation_kit_for_bambu_lab_x1c_and_p1s/
https://www.reddit.com/r/BambuLab/comments/1aers3x/working_on_a_silicone_foam_panel_sys_for_x1/
