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Would it be possible to use a heat lamp to speed up the initial heating of the print bed. It currently takes about 30-40 minutes to get to 90C. I was wondering if I could rig up a heat lamp to run until the bed is up to temp to make the process faster.

Thanks,
Nathan

30 minutes? Cripes!

I've used a heat gun with good effect previously, but there are other ways to make your heatbed get hot quicker:

• Increase power supply voltage
• Ensure wiring is up to snuff (16 ga or thicker, preferably silicone insulated multistrand)
• Insulate the bottom with cardboard/cork
• Insulator on the top such as a hand towel or similar (while heating, you take it off before printing)
• Use a relay to switch the power instead of a FET

Mine goes from room temperature to 105 degrees in 5 minutes, which is just about fast enough for me

It depends on the surface material and the heatlamp as to how well it will work, but so long as it has a lower thermal gradient to get up there, and less need to fight cooling, then you'll see an increase. I recommend getting a chamber for the printer, and just having the heat lamp keep your chamber ~50 degrees for the entire time you're printing. It will improve your surface finish and heat up times, especially for ABS. It could also keep the fumes down, and keep people and stuff out of the build area.

I do have a chamber on my printer. It is not 100% sealed as it was initial designed just to prevent drafts and help hold heat in a little better. I would like to increase the voltage to the bed but I have read a few of the threads on adding a 24 volt power supply and using a ssr but there is a lot of changing information in those threads so I am not sure how that would all work.

I have been considering rewiring the bed, if I remember correctly the stock wiring for that part is pretty thin.

I was reading some old threads about the different revision of the Onyx heatbed and it was mentioned that the Rev 5 had some problems with not being able to reach higher temps. Would it make sense for me to purchase a newer rev 7. Would I see a difference in heating times and where the bed tops out at?

I added a 250W heat lamp to my enclosure and it works very well. Thread:http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php?t=9706

Stock heated bed now heats up much more quickly. Just be sure to use a properly rated socket and temperature control/limiter.

Have good bed adhesion and flat ABS parts with a bed temp of 70C due to 60C+ printing environment.

Nice build, do you happen to remember which temperature controller you are using.

I was eyeing:
http://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-All-Purpo ... tBy=recent

Thanks

Yes, that is the same model Inkbird controller I used

Set to shut lamp off at 70C and back on again at 67C.
With my enclosure in a chilly basement, chamber temperature hits a natural equilibrium in the 60's C, so the Inkbird is really just there to set a temperature ceiling and display chamber temperature.

Has anyone used a hairdryer instead of a heat bulb for a heated enclosure? I say a couple of examples of this in other forums and thought it might work well as the hot air would be blown around the enclosure ensuring an even heat. Any thoughts?

I actually modified my Mendel enclosure to accept a hair dryer nozzle over the weekend. I've only done one print with it so far, running it up to about 37C and holding it in that neighborhood, but early indications are positive.

I decided to go with the more traditional heatbulb as I read some more posts about how hairdryers are not designed to run continuously and my basement is pretty cold. So far the heatbulb is working great even with my leaky enclosure.

Here is a quick shot of the setup. I have a smaller ceramic heater bulb in the mail since the one in there right now is huge and way to bright. Next up is to print some better brackets to reduce the holes in the enclosure and find a way to join the sheets of acrylic.

I just completed my enclosure... Photos and videos to come soon.

One thing to seriously consider... Move your extruder to a point outside of the enclosure. It gets pretty warm in the, not good for the stepper motor. Of course, that also means that extending the wiring, Bowden tube, etc. Been there, done that.

I went with two 150 watt ceramic heaters, individually switched, running off of a single Inkbird controller. This way, I can leav thall controller set, and just turn on or off heaters as desired.