Foamcore box, exhaust duct, extruder dampening, LEDs
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2015 5:18 am
Here's something I did a while back for my Rostock MAX v2. I wanted a simple enclosure that would primarily serve to ventilate fumes out of the apartment. I also needed to be able to service the printer and see what was going on inside.
I ended up making a box out of 3/16" foamcore board. Air is extracted from the box with a 120mm fan, through a custom-designed 3D printed duct, into 4" PVC bathroom exhaust duct, which goes into a duct on a sliding door insert (also foamcore board). I took inspiration from a portable A/C unit which vents out in a similar fashion. It can also be used horizontally on a sliding window.
The box is held together by metal framing angles with machine screws and nuts and washers, which was totally overkill. (Next time I'd probably try some of these foamcore construction techniques.)
There's a door attached with small hinges I found at the hardware store. There are windows cut out on the door with some sheets of PETG taped on from inside. The corners are sealed up with blue tape so it's as airtight as possible; there's negative pressure inside when the door is shut and you can't smell the filament at all. The door can be "latched" shut with some velcro strips.
Full Imgur album
[img]http://i.imgur.com/Qw2lUGX.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/a8SmPes.jpg[/img]
I think a future version of this could be made to look nicer, but this is a cheap and effective solution for the moment.
The box doesn't do much for noise, but I installed the Astrosyn dampers which made a world of difference. I also "rubber-band mounted" the extruder for isolation from the top board, which dramatically cut the extruder noise. The rubber bands go through the original holes and a bent paper clip on top links the rubber bands together. Planning to do the Air Struder mod soon though!
[img]http://i.imgur.com/h6Mt0t7.jpg[/img]
For lighting, I also have a dead simple solution using some spare self-adhesive 12V LED strip I had lying around. They're rigid enough to hold themselves up. Eventually some 3D printed mounts for these would be nice.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/3C33kvM.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/1u3R3s5.jpg[/img]
I ended up making a box out of 3/16" foamcore board. Air is extracted from the box with a 120mm fan, through a custom-designed 3D printed duct, into 4" PVC bathroom exhaust duct, which goes into a duct on a sliding door insert (also foamcore board). I took inspiration from a portable A/C unit which vents out in a similar fashion. It can also be used horizontally on a sliding window.
The box is held together by metal framing angles with machine screws and nuts and washers, which was totally overkill. (Next time I'd probably try some of these foamcore construction techniques.)
There's a door attached with small hinges I found at the hardware store. There are windows cut out on the door with some sheets of PETG taped on from inside. The corners are sealed up with blue tape so it's as airtight as possible; there's negative pressure inside when the door is shut and you can't smell the filament at all. The door can be "latched" shut with some velcro strips.
Full Imgur album
[img]http://i.imgur.com/Qw2lUGX.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/a8SmPes.jpg[/img]
I think a future version of this could be made to look nicer, but this is a cheap and effective solution for the moment.
The box doesn't do much for noise, but I installed the Astrosyn dampers which made a world of difference. I also "rubber-band mounted" the extruder for isolation from the top board, which dramatically cut the extruder noise. The rubber bands go through the original holes and a bent paper clip on top links the rubber bands together. Planning to do the Air Struder mod soon though!
[img]http://i.imgur.com/h6Mt0t7.jpg[/img]
For lighting, I also have a dead simple solution using some spare self-adhesive 12V LED strip I had lying around. They're rigid enough to hold themselves up. Eventually some 3D printed mounts for these would be nice.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/3C33kvM.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/1u3R3s5.jpg[/img]
