BigBox Enclosure Case

Discussion in 'Guides, Mods, and Upgrades' started by Tim, Oct 1, 2016.

  1. Tim

    Tim Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2016
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    9
    I've been wanting to build an enclosure case for the BigBox for some time now. In part to cut down on noise, in part to isolate "fumes", in part to help bring more temperature stability to the build chamber.

    Having dreamt about doing this for the better part of six months while walking up and down the hallway with a screaming child in the middle of the night, and thought of a dozen ways to build the perfect enclosure (but not actually doing anything....), I ended "cheating", using ducktape with 5 sheets of acrylic - the whole project took about 2 hours & works surprisingly well.

    All pannels are made from 2mm acrylic sheets. The dimensions are 600mm x 900mm (these just happened to be the sizes in stock at my local hardware store), and the "roof" is 600 x ~660mm. The roof is slightly bigger to give a 30mm overlap on each side, which acts as a handle. Becuase it doesn't have a door, you need to lift the whole enclosure on and off the BigBox at the start and end of each print. A door would be nicer, but it's actually not much of an issue to access things this way. Joins are made with duct tape, inside and out.

    There is no external venting and the box does get a bit hot, but not enough to cause problems (yet...). Doing a ~6-hour of using PC (270-degree hot end, 120-degree bed), the internal temperatures ends up around 50 degrees (room temperature being about 20 degrees), so most of the heat escapes via convection.


    Screenshot_1_10_16__8_10_PM.png
    The half finished box (no roof), which doubles as a playpen for my daughter



    Screenshot_1_10_16__8_12_PM.png
    The finished box, in place
     
    moshen and mike01hu like this.
  2. Kanedias

    Kanedias Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2015
    Messages:
    408
    Likes Received:
    124
    Simple and effective.
     
  3. Dr Jeep

    Dr Jeep Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2015
    Messages:
    529
    Likes Received:
    169
    I like the "child enclosure" in your photo more....convenient way, as you say of isolating noise and fumes.

    Phoenix project on the floor as well I see, where is the kanban board for this build :D
     
    mike01hu likes this.
  4. Tom De Bie

    Tom De Bie Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    May 7, 2016
    Messages:
    191
    Likes Received:
    35
    I thought exactly the same thing when I saw that picture ;)
     
  5. fpex

    fpex Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Oct 18, 2015
    Messages:
    623
    Likes Received:
    58
  6. Folkert Kaman

    Folkert Kaman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2016
    Messages:
    57
    Likes Received:
    42
    IMG_0411.JPG
    Finally got my BigBox enclosure sorted. It's a wooden frame with Polycarbonate clear panels. It has doors for access on the front and the back.

    I fitted it with an temperature controlled extraction fan and a carbon filter. If you are interested in the housing of a standard carbon filter from Geberit: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1821087
     
    moshen, Chris Toast, eca and 7 others like this.
  7. Jasons_BigBox

    Jasons_BigBox Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2016
    Messages:
    248
    Likes Received:
    71
    I love that!

    It's got something of a museum display case about it....

    "And here children is what people used to think was the future before Dr. Kaman had his great idea that became instant 3D printing that we take for granted today........."



    I went to the science museum in London a few years ago and they had a case showing the development of home computers. I still have half of them in my loft!!
     
  8. Dr Jeep

    Dr Jeep Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2015
    Messages:
    529
    Likes Received:
    169
    Very nice, like that, though with a littleun I'd be shot in my home for having bottles of interesting looking chemistry like that at ground level :)

    How is the fan doing controlling the temp during a print what sort of min/max are you seeing on the controller you have put together ?
     
  9. Folkert Kaman

    Folkert Kaman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2016
    Messages:
    57
    Likes Received:
    42
    I did go for an Arctic F12 PWM fan, which gives about 80 CFM at no head for now, which is probably a bit on the low side. I did not have the resistance of the Geberit filterelement, so it was just a guess based on the heat generated by the BigBox. The air inflow is for now through the 3 mm gaps between the doors in the front and back.

    With the heated bed running at 105 C for ABS and one printhead this gives me around 38 degrees at the top of the enclosure where the sensor is. The fan is then at full speed. The temperature at the bottom of the enclosure is around 25. The

    I am probably going to be ordering a fan with about twice as much flow, this would allow me to control the temperature a bit better and allow for higher ambient temperatures. Room was now at 19 degr. C. In summer this would be higher.
     
    #9 Folkert Kaman, Oct 13, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2016
  10. Folkert Kaman

    Folkert Kaman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2016
    Messages:
    57
    Likes Received:
    42
    Probably showing my age. Woodworking is probably an archaic bit of craftmanship in the future. We will be printing artisan cabinets from wood filament instead of machining them out of parts of a tree.
     
    Colin likes this.
  11. Falc.be

    Falc.be Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2015
    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    40
    How do you prevent the electronics from heating up ?

    I am about to start building mine but i have already had problems with it
     
  12. Folkert Kaman

    Folkert Kaman Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 20, 2016
    Messages:
    57
    Likes Received:
    42
    It is all about cooling airflow. According to my calculations you should have around 35 cfm going through the unit to maintain the internal temperature rise at 10 degrees C with 200W being consumed by the BigBox. With 300W you need around 52 cfm.

    This means that in my case the fan has to be able to achieve the above given flowrates with the head losses created by the enclosure inlet and the carbon filter at the outlet. As I did not know the resistance of the carbon filter it was a bit of trial and error. Without the filter any 120 mm fan will probably do.

    Hope this helps.
     
  13. Falc.be

    Falc.be Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2015
    Messages:
    263
    Likes Received:
    40
    yeah, i will have to change my plans a little bit

    I plan to use a vent that I can open and close with a servo to heat up the enclosure faster + a PID controlled fan.

    arduino setup is sitting right next to me
     
  14. Tim

    Tim Member

    Joined:
    Apr 1, 2016
    Messages:
    18
    Likes Received:
    9
    @Falc.br - Re preventing the electronics heating up, I'm running a 12v / 140mm fan over mine. Seems to do the trick. The stepper motors are the other thing I do worry about — they are around 60-70 degrees, which I expected is a problem, though hasn't caused any problems yet...

    @Folkert Kaman, love your case, it's the sort of thing I had hoped to make myself!
     
  15. Matt

    Matt Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2016
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    0
    @Folkert Kaman, a complete copy on my behalf but it just works!

    I have been suffering with ABS cracking due to the cold temps in the UK. But then I was worried about the contained fumes etc, so knocked up a quick Arduino based temp monitoring device and filtration system based on a Miele carbon filter from a vacuum. The next stage is to look at implementing heaters to independantly heat the volume rather than relying on the heated bed etc 20161204_150139.jpg 2016-12-04 15.01.49.jpg
     
  16. TimV

    TimV Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 13, 2016
    Messages:
    151
    Likes Received:
    26
    Love the fact idea, but so far I haven't seen any enclosure that does following:
    -reduce noise : it's not because it sealed that it reduces noise. In most case it will even amp it.
    - keep electronic really cool. Even without a cover today's setuo bb1.1 is less than optimal for running elctronics. Example : rpi runs at 41-43•C when printing, which is still ok, but not perfect.
    - keep your spools out of the heated enclosure. Idea temp to feed plastics is always 20-25•C. Long term slow heatup at 70• C will 'degass' your plastics, changing crystal structure and will affect the end result.

    I'm not a chemist, but our R&D is expert in plastics extrusion (largest cable builder in the world!). They use these techniques to emulate aging and/or improve the crystal structure post process.
    Also, the experimented with this with an ultimaker and they come the same remarks.

    Only my thoughts.
    Greetz
    T.
     
  17. Matt

    Matt Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2016
    Messages:
    48
    Likes Received:
    0
    I keep my spools underneath the enclosure in the really useful box. It is then fed up to the printer in bowden tube so keeping the air away from it (well a bit anyway). It start in 3mm bowden and then I reduce that down to the 1.75mm stuff. This appears to be an improvement over 1.75mm all the way

    This does seem to keep it a bit quieter. I have since used the original packaging foam to dampen out the vibration from the printer, and the whole thing is resting on a foam floor, so it is quite well isolated. The high frequency motor noise seems reduced, but TBH noise was not an issue for me as I previously had to take the printer outside due to the noise level inside!

    Keeping the electronics cools is an issue. If it continues to be so, I may mount it all on the outside with some big 120mm fans blowing at them.
     

Share This Page