I really want to buy a printer (resin or filament), but I’m concerned about the health aspects concerning inhaling the dust.
Is it really safe to have a printer indoors? Should I rig up something on my balcony instead? What room do you have yours in?
How do you guys deal with the dust? Do enclosures work? Any complaints from family members?
Enclosures are a must IMO, but I do print mostly abs and nylon. I have mine in the garage in a separate airspace with recirc filters like the Nevermore, have the large stealthmax on my voron, I don’t stay in the room when I print, but it definitely reduces the residuals.
If you have to print inside, vent outside, benefit of using an enclosure is that you can set this up pretty easily. Venting the entire room outside is also a good option. I do not recommend using anything but the “safer” filaments until you’re certain the airspace is separate from your home, I’m on the cautious side.
All filaments produce fumes, you still don’t want to be breathing pla or petg fumes on the regular, I don’t mess with resin, you want VOC cartridges and a respirator for those AFAIK, I have some from previous jobs and they’re pretty affordable but it sucks to work with those on in the summer (and I’d need to shave…). There’s variation between manufactures of the same type of plastic, I’ve got some abs that has minimal to no scent, have another I’ve used that stinks.
Would it be possible to have some kind of semi-heated enclosure, and put it into a garden shed (with a long extension cord)? Don’t some printers already have bed heating, and that would cover any temperature warping issues? Or is the issue that the filament will warp
Depends on the printer, the large Vorons use high wattage ac heaters and are self enclosed, I have fans on mine that force air under the bed, can easily push into the 60s in the summer. My prusa in its enclosure maybe does mid-high 40s, but I have no issues with warping, did all my original voron prints on it and still use it for smaller/quick prints, good adhesion helps a lot, for small stuff I don’t always preheat for abs. I pretty much run Buildtak surfaces on my printers, it’s replaceable if it’s damaged + adheres extremely well so I can get away with being a bit more carefree.
Haven’t personally needed additional heating other than maybe a space heater in the garage to stop things from kicking out on a low temp when not in use, did consider modding one into the enclosure but I’m personally thinking about going for insulation first.
I’d be cautious about a long term extension cord outside, I’m not an Electrician or an EE so I won’t give you advice on that, be nervous I’d clip it mowing the lawn at the minimum, mains spooks me so I give it an overabundance of caution.
hmm, a lot to think about. Yeah I’m not a fan of running a cable out either, not for lawnmower issues (I can bury the wire along the perimeter) but for squirrels or curious cats
I got a Prusa MK4s in an enclosure in my garage where the temperature for down to around 5°C. It still print perfectly fine.
good to know!