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?
One of the first thing I printer was a way to attach a computer fan to a dryer vent. Then I printer a cover that could mount on an enclosure.
The printer has positive ventilation that pushes air out, through a hepa filter to catch any particulates, and then outside.
Works well.
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
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!
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
Stay away from resin as a beginner. It requires serious ventilation (ducts etc) and precautions which I’m assuming you don’t have planned. As for FDM, keep it in a room where you won’t be when it’s printing and make sure to crack a window open during printing or afterwards if you’re printing ABS/ASA as it’ll warp if you don’t have an enclosed printer.
Put it in the bathroom with the fan on and the door closed.
won’t the constant change in humidity ruin the print and the filament
Hah, for me it’s in a bathroom with no shower, and typically printing when the bathroom isn’t in use. I also keep the filament enclosed with desecant and a little ESP humidity sensor, just in case.
Hmm, sounds like a tricky setup
Dust? That’s never been an issue for me. I’m sure I’m above average for serum microplastic levels, but stick with pla and PETG if you have poor ventilation near the printer. I think basic 3d printing is quite safe with low levels of toxicity. Don’t put the thing in the nursery or anything. Set it up in a low traffic room with decent ventilation and set up a remote monitoring system for it as you’ll want to keep an eye on it. Make sure it’s not too far from a smoke detector and have fun.
That’s kind of what I was thinking, but thought it best to check
I have my printer in our “hobby room”, well ventilated and the printer is enclosed with a charcoal filter.
If you’re just printing PLA, a well ventilated room is probably enough to keep VOCs at a safe level.
I still wouldn’t use the printer in a room you’re staying in for several hours at a time while it’s printing, but I would say the noise of an FDM is definitely also enough to make you not want to be in the same room while it’s printing.
Is it really that loud? If I put it on the balcony and run it overnight, will the neighbours complain do you think?
You’ll be fine on a balcony. Prusas are fairly quiet. I have an enclosed printer (a Voron) and it’s fairly quiet. I WFH 2 days a week and am able to have it printing 10 feet from me while working and on calls without issues. I wouldn’t call my old unenclosed printer loud, but it wasn’t quiet either.
Prusas are fairly quiet
Interesting, I still think they’re way too loud to be around. The cooling fan alone is too loud IMO, combined with the steppers whining away it’s definitely not something want to be around for more than I absolutely have to.
They have a mode called stealth mode that should reduce the quantity of noise produced by the steppers: https://help.prusa3d.com/article/power-modes_2213
Evidently the mk3 was significantly quieter than the mk2 with this mode enabled.
On MK4 printers and later, the only thing the stealth mode seems to be doing is slowing down the bigger linear moves. I don’t notice any difference in sound otherwise. The fan is what you mostly hear.
I know, I still think it’s too loud to sit around for prolonged time. 5min? Sure not an issue at all, +30min? It’s a huge issue (for me). It’s like being in a room with a paper printer that’s printing nonstop, not an issue while you’re waiting for a few pieces of paper but you don’t want to sit next to it for hours. Or a laptop with its cooling fan running full tilt, it’s OK for a few minutes, but the droning monotonous sound is horrible to listen to for more than that.
It’s not that they are particularly loud, it’s that the noise they do make tends to be quite “whiney” and high pitched and can get quite annoying after a while.
The problem with putting it outside is that big temperature swings (+/- 10C or so) could cause warping or other problems while printing - the plastic needs to cool at a fairly consistent rate, otherwise you end up with inconsistent sizing on your z-axis.
Filament itself also doesn’t like moisture, so if you live somewhere where you get close to the dew point overnight you could easily ruin the whole spool of filament
Ah damn, there goes my balcony idea.
Yeah, dust is not what you need to care about. But it’s not good to have a printer indoors.
There are enclosed printers that you can plug ventilation ducts that solve this problem. Some have filters, but any filter without a molecular sieve (usually activated coal) won’t help you, because the problem isn’t with dust.
Resin printers also give you problems on handling the resin. It’s not enough to enclose those printers, you need protection equipment and a place to deal with the supplies and recent prints.
Why is dust not a problem? Heads up, I don’t know much about printing
Because printers (of the kinds you’re likely to find on the consumer market) don’t make dust in any significant quantity.
They make fumes, which are an entirely different kind of hazard and need different precautions
Gotcha. Thank you
