Hi everyone,
I want to be able to print ASA and ABS on my A1, so I’m currently designing an enclosure complete with a fan, temperature sensor, and all the bells and whistles. However, I’ve run into a problem: the A1 is rated for a maximum temperature of 45°C before electronic components risk damage. Yet, the recommended ambient temperature for ASA or ABS is at least 45°C—ideally closer to 60°C. So, I’m thinking of building a sort of “hood” or cover out of acrylic and 6.5mm plywood that sits flush against the top edge of the printer’s own housing—specifically, right below the display. I plan to use a rubber or silicone seal for that connection. The whole assembly would stand on four legs to maintain the correct height.
Do you think this might work, or would you advise against heating the chamber above 45°C regardless?
Best regards
Sell the A1. Go buy a P1S.
Not a good idea to enclose the A1. With the time and effort it takes to do it properly with cooling fans and all, might as well go buy an enclosed printer.
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Can you do it? Yes.
Should you do it? Absolutely not.
It’s a bedslinger mate. You need an enclosure double the size of your printer to account for the bed travel.
Buy a P1S or even a P2S.
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Not recommended, you will accelerate the cooking of electronics that are designed to be passively cooled with ambient air.
If your ABS/ASA print is not very tall (less than 2cm, like a hook on its side or something) you should be able to pull it off no problem, just try it. The radiant heat from the very nearby bed keeps the area right above it hot. You can use a “draft shield” skirt - (basically a skirt with infinite height) to help keep the air in even more to get you slightly taller. Once you go past 2-3cm, its all over though. Remember to ventilate the room.
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To add to what others have said, remember that the print, along with the plate, is going to swish back and forth in the 45 degree temp air, increasing the rate at which the part cools to the ambient temperature. It’s not going to be like a core XY machine where the air around the part is relatively still, it will warp more. I think you’d be disappointed in the result and also think you should sell the machine and get an enclosed printer.
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Buy an enclosed printer. It’s the entrance fee to engineering grade filaments. Keep the A1. Some reasons have already been moentioned. Here’s more. It’s known, perhaps not widely enough, that printing pla over petg buildplate residue or vice versa, the 1st layer won’t stick. In reverse, printing ASA or ABS over petg residue adheres so well, it destroys buildplates & prints. Someday, maybe, mfg will include these facts in user’s instructions. So, keep the well scrubbed buildplate or filament designated, clean scrubbed A1 buildplates for pla/tpu/petg and add an enclosed, core xy printer. With newer availability of engineering grade filaments coming to market, consider the heat ranges necessary. Not mentioned in the skirt suggestion for asa/abs are speed settings. Think slower than tpu. Glad to here your printing confidence has grown to try different filament types. Get a printer designed for this use.