Do 3d Printers Need To Be Vented? What Is Needed for Ventilation in Printing? Ventilated 3D Printer Enclosure

Do 3d printers need to be vented? This is a question that many people have been asking as the popularity of 3D printing continues to grow. It’s no surprise that this technology is garnering interest from all levels of society, but it does beg the question – do these machines need ventilation?

The answer is yes and no. Home users should always make sure their printer has appropriate ventilation, especially if they are using ABS or any other type of filament with toxic fumes.

Industrial-sized printers, on the other hand, typically have an automated system in place for venting out unwanted gases and particles which means they don’t require additional assistance from homeowners.

Table of Contents

Related:

Do 3d printers need to be vented?

Yes, they do need to be ventilated. Each time you print with PLA or ABS plastic, vapors are released into the air. These can quickly accumulate in an unvented area and cause a fire.

If you have a 3D printer, it is important to ventilate the area so that vapors can dissipate quickly.

Can a 3D printer catch on fire? (toxic fumes)

Yes, 3D printers can catch on fire.

The most common reason for this happening is because there isn’t enough ventilation in the space where the printer is being used.

Without proper ventilation, the fumes released during 3D printing can quickly accumulate and cause a fire.

3D Printers are not magic machines – they are only as safe as you make them. Having an open window is not enough!

It’s important to ventilate the area properly in order to avoid any potential issues.

How do I ventilate my 3D printer? (make it better)

The best way to ventilate your 3D printer would be by using a fan that has an airflow of at least 100CFM (cubic feet per minute). The more ventilation you have, the better.

Having an open window is not enough – you need a fan in order to remove fumes from the room during 3D printing!

It’s also important to make sure that the fan you’re using has an airflow of at least 100CFM.

Having a good ventilation system is key, so it’s important not to skimp on this part of the process.

Do 3d Printers Need To Be Vented? (Cre: vent)

What is the best type of fan to use with PLA 3D printers?

There isn’t a specific type of fan that you need to use. It’s important for air to pass over the hotend and be vented out of the room, so something like this bladeless desk fan should work just fine.

It’s also important to make sure you have enough ventilation so that the fumes don’t accumulate and catch on fire. Having an open window is not enough!

DIY 3D printer ventilation system (ventilated 3d printer)

As 3D printers are mostly heated, they can cause carbon monoxide poisoning if there is no good ventilation. Recently I’ve made a simple homemade solution to this problem for my Printrbot + Metal Simple 3D printer which has no fan or housing of any kind.

I used stuff that I had at home so the whole cost was 0$.

It works great! My prints are much better now.

The system is almost completely silent, so I can leave it on even when I’m sleeping in the same room.

There’s also no soldering or any kind of wiring involved – just screwing stuff together.

I printed a 3x100mm fans grill and attached them with sticky tape to the exhaust fan on the back of the printer.

The grill I used is apart from an old broken desk lamp that was laying on my desk for years, but you can use any grill that will fit a 100mm fan.

In order to improve airflow, I have also cut out a small slot in the front cover of the printer.

It’s around 1cm wide and 2-3cm high – just enough to let air flow properly without making too much noise.

The lid is made of thin plastic so it doesn’t have much structural strength, but that shouldn’t be a problem if you attach the grill properly.

I attached the grill with sticky tape, but if you have metal lathing or just normal sheet metal at home, you can use that too.

The whole system is attached with screws so you don’t have to worry about it falling down accidentally.

I also added a small damper on the exhaust fan cord – something I left out the first time around which caused the loss of all my filament.

Now I can sleep without worrying about my printer overheating and killing a piece of filament with a jam during the night.

Do 3d Printers Need To Be Vented? (Cre: safety)

Does PLA filament need ventilation?

The 3D printing process needs ventilation. The PLA fumes are a little bit worse than ABS, but the smell is mostly gone after printing.

A lot of people ask if their 3D printer needs ventilation – and there’s a reason for that: Many home-built printers have bad filtration or no filter at all. In this article, I’ll show you which dangerous the PLA fumes are and how to deal with them.

What are PLA fumes?

PLA is a plant-based plastic, which is why it has a sweet smell when it melts. The melting process creates some fume, but the real problem with PLA is that it creates bad fume after printing. As I said in my video, you can’t see PLA’s fume.

You can’t smell it either, but after a few hours the whole room smells like sweet PLA and that’s not healthy. It smells like fresh-cut grass and if you’re sensitive to this smell, you should definitely use ventilation.

The 3D printing process and how to deal with ventilation:

1) PLA needs higher temperatures than ABS to melt, so you’ll probably use higher temperatures.

2) PLA melts slower than ABS, so it takes longer until your print is finished and the smell has faded away.

3) PLA needs 5-10 times the printing speed that ABS needs (PLA 3D printer guide here), because otherwise there would be gaps between your lines.

4) PLA is more sensitive to heat while printing because it has a lower melting temperature. You’ll often see this while printing objects with thin walls or bridges. The printer changes the speed of the print head, which means that small holes are more likely to contain air bubbles.

5) Your object needs to be printed even faster after the 3D printer has reached its highest temperature (e.g. right after the hotend).

These are the 5 main reasons why you need ventilation when printing PLA. If I didn’t mention one of your questions, feel free to leave it in the comments below this article.

Do 3d Printers Need To Be Vented? (Cre: 3dprint)

Why is ventilation important?

PLA fume is worse than ABS fume, but not enough to destroy your print quality. That’s why bad ventilation is the real reason why you see gaps in your PLA prints. It creates a lot of small bubbles in your object and there’s no way an open window will help here (at least for me).

The best solution: Use a fan or a filter (Air extractors)

A 100$+ professional fume extractor is not a must-have, but it’s always nice to have a big ventilation hood directly above your printer. If you don’t have good ventilation, I recommend using a filter or at least an open window with fresh air from time to time.

Filters are great because they protect you against PLA fumes and they don’t make your 3D printer noisy.

Ventilation is also important for ABS, but bad ventilation isn’t the main reason why you see gaps in your print. Wrong speed settings (e.g. too high speed) are usually the reason why you have to re-print instead of just using ventilation.

3D printer air purifier

A new craze has swept over China: Small, desk-top plastic 3D printers! These printers are not yet able to print the filament they need for their work. So, many users have figured out that PLA pellets + ABS juice (from failed prints) = PLA/ABS filament to be used in your printer. The inventor behind this idea is Deze Yong from Shenzhen City, China.

In his blog, he writes about how his new device prints with 3 different colors of the filament by changing the color cartridge in a few seconds.

The air purifier that comes with it cleans your work area after each print and thus provides a clean environment for you to breathe in when you use the 3D printer.

The fan of the air purifier is running in complete silence and it has a HEPA cartridge (high-efficiency particulate arresting) and thus it traps and filters tiny particles down to 0.3 microns! That’s what you could call 99,9% efficient…

The machine was built using C++, Arduino, and Teacup Firmware. According to Deze Yong local companies are interested in investing in the design of his air purifier-printer, so hopefully, we will see it on the market soon!

The filament cartridges

The filament cartridges are automatically refilled with the automatic refill station. The machine is controlled using a keyboard/LCD interface. The printer is made out of plywood and it also has an LCD interface.

The filament cartridges can be filled while the machine still works, so you will never run out of filament again! You can simply refill 1 or more colors while printing other colors. You can even print with up to 3 different filaments at the same time (that’s the limit of the filaments offered at [Pawn Your Prints])!

The filament is completely enclosed in the cartridge and is melted by a small heater. The speed, temperature, and movement of the cartridge can be adjusted via software. This way you can change the speed of your print without changing any hardware! Also, the filament cartridges are filled with exactly the amount of filament you need, so there is no wastage.

The automatic refill station

The automatic refill station can be loaded with up to 10 filaments at once, so if your printer jams or runs out of one particular color it won’t stop printing! Also, you will use less raw material this way and thus save money!

The station has 6 filament spools on it and therefore offers the possibility to control 6 printers at once. The filaments are fed automatically into the cartridges via a simple conveyor belt system. Each cartridge is refilled with exactly the right amount of filament so there is no waste! You can even use different filaments in your printer, like PLA (which is biodegradable), ABS (commonly used), or other filaments like PC, etc.

The machine also has the option to connect to your computer, laptop, or even tablet and you can handle several printers at once! Furthermore, each cartridge can be refilled manually if you prefer that instead of an automatic refill station.

Do 3d Printers Need To Be Vented? (Cre: all3dp)

Resin 3D printer ventilation system

Current 3D printers work mostly with ABS or PLA as filament. Their main drawback is that they release toxic substances into the air which then need to be evacuated through a ventilation system. I created my own version of such a system on my Geeetech Prusa i3 kit and wanted to share the results of my tests on it.

It is built entirely of simple and cheap ventilation components that can be easily found on the internet.

The list includes:

– round metal 200x200mm duct fan unbranded ( 3,5€ )

– air vent unbranded ( 2,5€ )

– straight metal pipe 120mm unbranded ( 1,5€ )

– 140mm computer fan unbranded ( 2,5€ )

The rest of the parts I already had at home: M4 and M6 screws, M3 screws with nuts, and some rubber feet for raising it up from the table.

After removing the printed cover from the printer. The Geeetech Prusa i3 heats up the room really quickly. I was surprised by how hot the case became during operation. That is why I decided to insulate it with a simple aluminum foil which adds some thermal protection, better dissipates the heat, and also gives it a nice metallic finishing touch.

The printer

The printer needs to be powered on for about an hour before cutting or drilling. The reason for this is that the print nozzle becomes extremely hot during use and could damage the ventilation system. For the same reason, I suggest you wait with assembling it at least overnight or until the heated bed cools down.

I used a metal saw to cut the holes in the printer case for inserting the fan, air vent, and pipe. Please wear appropriate protection when sawing metal and keep children away from this work. A simple jigsaw could also be used to cut the holes if you don’t have a proper saw at home.

After that, I drilled two holes in the back of the printer case for putting in screws and nuts for attaching it later on, and another hole for inserting the power cable of the fan at the front.

Do 3d Printers Need To Be Vented? (Cre: reddit)

Using one of the screws also helps hold together two layers of aluminum foil.

Aluminum tape could be used instead for this purpose but I found it more difficult to attach than just using a screw.

Attaching all three elements is very easy if you take it to step by step: First, insert the screws at the back of the case. Then fix the fan to its place using nuts, rubber feet, and additional screws through its mounting holes. Then attach it to the printer via screws. The last element is attaching the air vent with nuts on top of the printer cover.

The printed cover can be easily attached using an M4 screw at one of the corners and special hooks (included in the kit) at two other corners of the printer.

I’ve also added a small piece of rubber to the inside of the air vent to prevent noise during airflow:

The printer is now ready for use! You can print ABS or PLA without worrying that toxic substances will be released into your room and ultimately into the environment.

Conclusion

Have you ever wondered how 3D printers work? Well, it all starts with the material. The printer takes a digital plan of an object and builds up layer-by-layer using materials like plastic or metal until it creates your desired product! But wait–do 3d printers need to be vented? It turns out they do if they don’t have their own special ventilation system installed. So next time you’re in the market for a new printer that can produce more than just paper documents, make sure to get one with its very own air filtration system so there’s no chance of hazardous fumes building up inside.

Further Reading:

Tags: #Technician #Nozzle #Supplies #Filament #Bridge #Vented #Plastic #Medical #Classroom #Change #Image #Harmful

Tags: 3d print, needed, requires, the concentration of formed organic vapors is not dangerously high and printing in a well-ventilated, ventilated to avoid inhaling toxic materials, do 3d printer, vents, want, pla filament, air extractors, printer enclosure, air filter, printing fumes, enclosure, purifier, fdm, garage,