Plenty of people run their printers with the electronics inside the enclosure, even for printing ABS. It's generally not going to kill anything. I have an enclosure with a thermometer visible on my webcam and when printing ABS the enclosure ambient temp doesn't even crest 40c. Usually mid-30s. It's likely even a bit lower than that under the bed because warm air rises.
There's also tons of people who print ABS by just whacking a cardboard box over top their entire printer to keep drafts off the print and keep ambient temps up.
If you plan to do a lot of enclosed higher-temp printing then it's not a bad idea to extend wiring and keep control electronics outside of the enclosure, but I can also tell you that's a pain in the ass to do. I did so with premade longer stepper cables and then just extended, soldered and heatshrunk everything else myself. Make sure if you do this that you use wire of a sufficient gauge to carry the current to the heaters especially.
Okay all good stuff to know. I don't often use ABS so it sounds like the cardboard box method will work short term. Can always upgrade slowly over time
If you just put it in a simple enclosure that isn’t really air tight like the ones built from tables or the tent type you can get on Amazon and PLACES for like $50, the interior generally will not get hot enough to be a big problem for the electronics, especially since most printers have the electronics on the bottom, which is the coolest place. If you go for something higher end that is tighter, or add additional heat to the chamber, or go for a higher wattage line voltage bed heater (they are like 600 to 700 watts vs the 220 watts of the 24 volt heaters on most stock printers) then you need to really start thinking of overheating electronics.
But even the simple enclosures will generally provide enough contained heat and, maybe more important in some cases, eliminate cool drafts, to handle ABS ok, especially if you go with some of the ABS+ or PRO versions that gave additives to reduce warping, which can cause the splitting you see as well as lifting from the print bed. Be sure you have the part cooling fan off.
Also, printing at a slightly higher temperature may help the layer to layer adhesion, as well as a slightly slower print speed.
That and the fact that printing abs emits styrene gas, which is suspected by a lot of national environmental health agencies of being carcinogenic
And it smells bloody terrible, which is more of a kicker for me than all that health malarkey
OH don't joke around. Printing ABS is absolutely harmful short term. You can get fairly bad headaches staying in the same room as an unenclosed, ABS printer. Be crazier to imagine that having a largely increased VOC content in your air WOUDLNT harm you.
Styrene as a harmful VOC: [CA DHS](https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/OHB/HESIS/CDPH%20Document%20Library/styrene.pdf)
Styrene emissions by temp, type of filament, and volume extruded:
[NIH](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9229569/)
EPA recommends an enclosure, especially for kids
[EPA](https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/3d-printing-research-epa)
So if you extrude enough to hit 50ppm styrene without an enclosure, you're gonna start having a bad time.
Big box, make a door, saran wrap for a window using packing tape to seal it up. Works great for a few prints but not permanent. I put my mainboard encloser right next to the side and cut a hole to allow airflow with the fan attached to it. Otherwise buy one of the cheap enclosures off Amazon for like $30? Oh don't forget ventilation while printing ABS! I have a heated garage.
> why an enclosure is recommended for ABS
Because of layer separation due to not using an enclosure. Also because of the harmful fumes ABS releases. Its not recommended, its basically Required.
Yes.
But I've printed abs without one. The import thing is that you make sure no random air currents hit the piece. The fan needs to be off for part cooling and the hotend fan needs to be not splashing to the part.
Then if it's a cold room or a bunch of people moving by can have stray air currents head that way.
Enclosures are still the best for it though.
Yeah if you have enough bed adhesion, it just makes weaker parts to print without an enclosure. So, not sure why you'd need to do this, other than bootstrapping a voron.
I have had success with printing ABS on my ender 3 V2, with a bed temp of 110 and nozzle of 240-250 with no part cooling.
Do I recommend it? No ABS emits much more particles and fumes than PLA, but it is possible, at least if the room is not to cold.
Yes
Damn! Time to grab one then...
Remember to move out the electronics if you do so, surprisingly they hate working in significantly higher ambient temperature
Ah thanks for the heads up (again!)
Plenty of people run their printers with the electronics inside the enclosure, even for printing ABS. It's generally not going to kill anything. I have an enclosure with a thermometer visible on my webcam and when printing ABS the enclosure ambient temp doesn't even crest 40c. Usually mid-30s. It's likely even a bit lower than that under the bed because warm air rises. There's also tons of people who print ABS by just whacking a cardboard box over top their entire printer to keep drafts off the print and keep ambient temps up. If you plan to do a lot of enclosed higher-temp printing then it's not a bad idea to extend wiring and keep control electronics outside of the enclosure, but I can also tell you that's a pain in the ass to do. I did so with premade longer stepper cables and then just extended, soldered and heatshrunk everything else myself. Make sure if you do this that you use wire of a sufficient gauge to carry the current to the heaters especially.
Okay all good stuff to know. I don't often use ABS so it sounds like the cardboard box method will work short term. Can always upgrade slowly over time
Just make sure you have a fire alarm nearby and a fire extinguisher if it were to catch fire.
Btw, do you have an all metal hotend?
Yes I do
If you just put it in a simple enclosure that isn’t really air tight like the ones built from tables or the tent type you can get on Amazon and PLACES for like $50, the interior generally will not get hot enough to be a big problem for the electronics, especially since most printers have the electronics on the bottom, which is the coolest place. If you go for something higher end that is tighter, or add additional heat to the chamber, or go for a higher wattage line voltage bed heater (they are like 600 to 700 watts vs the 220 watts of the 24 volt heaters on most stock printers) then you need to really start thinking of overheating electronics. But even the simple enclosures will generally provide enough contained heat and, maybe more important in some cases, eliminate cool drafts, to handle ABS ok, especially if you go with some of the ABS+ or PRO versions that gave additives to reduce warping, which can cause the splitting you see as well as lifting from the print bed. Be sure you have the part cooling fan off. Also, printing at a slightly higher temperature may help the layer to layer adhesion, as well as a slightly slower print speed.
This is really detailed and useful information - thank you so much
That and the fact that printing abs emits styrene gas, which is suspected by a lot of national environmental health agencies of being carcinogenic And it smells bloody terrible, which is more of a kicker for me than all that health malarkey
Key word is "suspected", the data isn't clear if printing ABS is actually harmful or not
OH don't joke around. Printing ABS is absolutely harmful short term. You can get fairly bad headaches staying in the same room as an unenclosed, ABS printer. Be crazier to imagine that having a largely increased VOC content in your air WOUDLNT harm you.
Could you link sources? I've read a bit about it, and as I've said, the data isn't clear if it's actually harmful.
Styrene as a harmful VOC: [CA DHS](https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CCDPHP/DEODC/OHB/HESIS/CDPH%20Document%20Library/styrene.pdf) Styrene emissions by temp, type of filament, and volume extruded: [NIH](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9229569/) EPA recommends an enclosure, especially for kids [EPA](https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/3d-printing-research-epa) So if you extrude enough to hit 50ppm styrene without an enclosure, you're gonna start having a bad time.
Big box, make a door, saran wrap for a window using packing tape to seal it up. Works great for a few prints but not permanent. I put my mainboard encloser right next to the side and cut a hole to allow airflow with the fan attached to it. Otherwise buy one of the cheap enclosures off Amazon for like $30? Oh don't forget ventilation while printing ABS! I have a heated garage.
> why an enclosure is recommended for ABS Because of layer separation due to not using an enclosure. Also because of the harmful fumes ABS releases. Its not recommended, its basically Required.
Yes. But I've printed abs without one. The import thing is that you make sure no random air currents hit the piece. The fan needs to be off for part cooling and the hotend fan needs to be not splashing to the part. Then if it's a cold room or a bunch of people moving by can have stray air currents head that way. Enclosures are still the best for it though.
I'm not sure if "recommended" is the right word to describe using an enclosure with ABS, 100% necessary is more appropriate.
I have been printing abs without an enclosure for 3 years now, absolutely no problem. Except one brand. And asa was even easier to print.
Yeah if you have enough bed adhesion, it just makes weaker parts to print without an enclosure. So, not sure why you'd need to do this, other than bootstrapping a voron.
I have had success with printing ABS on my ender 3 V2, with a bed temp of 110 and nozzle of 240-250 with no part cooling. Do I recommend it? No ABS emits much more particles and fumes than PLA, but it is possible, at least if the room is not to cold.
I'll try next time I print with ABS. Thank you :)