Here’s a part of a cabinet in my wardrobe where my printer lives. It’s a bit noisy with all those hard surfaces so I am just about to put up some foam padding on all 5 sides.

Is that stupidly dangerous?

You can see I have a smoke alarm there, but it won’t stop a fire on its own.

Edit: the cabinet has no door, it’s always open like in the photo, but the wardrobe door is generally closed. The room has some ventilation so smells do go away.

  • Klystron@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    This is one of those, “if you have to ask” scenarios. If the little voice in your head is saying maybe this isn’t such a good idea, maybe it’s not such a good idea.

  • rambos@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Id say you are fine, but I would add a fire extinguisher like others suggested, just in case. Many people have cheaper printers in ikea lack enclosure, which is made of cardboard, but they are not good example. Proper solution would be a metal enclosure and you being there while printer is on. But come on, who got time to watch printer for 20h or so.

    If noise is too high in next room, you can reinforce your cabinet with some metal brackets or stop vibrations with rubber or simmilar. You need to find where noise is comming from. Also, you can add acrylic door (with holes on top/bottom for airflow), it should reduce noise significantly. Put thermometer inside and check temps after long prints. If enclosure gets too hot add more holes or a fan.

    If you put insulation inside the cabinet, use some screws to make sure it doesnt fall off from the heat

    • EmilieEvans
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      1 year ago

      you can reinforce your cabinet with some metal brackets or stop vibrations with rubber or similar

      Printer on a concrete or stone slab decoupled with thick rubber. Make sure the cabinet can handle the weight as you are adding roughly 30-40kg on a 25x25cm area.

  • filcuk@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    I would also recommend an anti-vibration mat (typically used for washing machines).

  • 𝑔𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑥𝑖@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Doubtful. The main reason I could see a 3D printer starting a fire is either thermal runaway, often caused by bad software (on cheap printers) or electrical issues. You can check your wiring and make sure that nothing looks loose and all of your cables are in good condition. You can also make sure that your printer firmware is up to date. It’s a Prusa right? I think you should be safe from software failure in that case, as they’re quality.

    If you’re really concerned about it, you can also move your power supply, and even your mainboard, outside of the enclosure by using longer cables. This would keep the majority of the electrical components away from the foam and heated box. From my position I don’t see an issue, but that’s my personal opinion – not legally accountable information. I will say that Stefan on CNC Kitchen uses foam as well, to get rid of ringing in prints. If you decide to go through with it, just use common sense and check to see if anything is hot. You might also get some benefit out of looking into silent stepper motors/drivers and trying to make the printer itself quieter.

    • snota@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      I disagree that the main reason is thermal runaway. It is more likely to be underrated components that can’t handle the current. This would not be immediately apparent and does usually come from lower quality printers.

  • nyan@lemmy.cafe
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    1 year ago

    In addition to the stuff other people have pointed out, make sure you glue your insulation down very well, so that it won’t fall off and come into contact with your print head. Just in case. Other than that, I don’t see anything other than the usual potential electrical issues.

  • Venutianxspring@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    I’m not an expert here, but looking at the volume of the space, you’re probably going to be fine. Why don’t you add a small fan in the back of the enclosure to get some more airflow?

      • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        It’s bad for the print, but good for safety to prevent overheating. But since you don’t have a door, you should be fine.

      • Venutianxspring@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        Yeah like the other commenter says, bad to have direct airflow, but you can have a fan at the top circulating some air through the space

      • Imacat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        1 year ago

        You don’t want to pull cold air in but a small fan to circulate the air in the enclosure gives you more even temps from top to bottom and can improve print quality. I installed a nevermore filter a while back to filter the filament fumes and was surprised to see my prints improve too.

  • marcos@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    It gets worse and worse :)

    Yes, using a high-power electrical device inside your wardrobe is a very efficient fire hazard. It not only makes it easy to start a fire, but it also provides plenty of fuel to jumpstart over the iffy small-fire stage where it still has a chance to not consume your entire home.

    Also, sending those smells somewhere they won’t harm anybody is a significant concern when you decide where to place a 3d printer.

  • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    Do you close the door? If not, I’d think you’d be fine. Even if you do close the door, it might still be okay, idk.

    • PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      This cabinet has no door. I should have said so. It’s always open like this, but the wardrobe door is generally closed.

      • JohnDClay@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        Oh, if there’s airflow it’s probably fine. The question I had was how hot would the whole thing get while printing.

  • GhostlyPixel@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I saw someone else also suggest it, you could do an automatic fire extinguisher.

    This one dispenses after 3-5 seconds of direct flame contact, others will be different.

  • Johnvanjim@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    It’s a Prusa Mini, so probably not. Quality parts and thermal runaway protection and all that…