Resin Printer Heaters / Resin warmers / And Air filtration?

[learmoia]

I'm finally getting into using my Anycubic Photon D2, and one of the concerns I will need to resolve is temperature.

I haven't printed anything yet.. Just watching some beginner guides that cover the whole process,  and messing with the Anycubic Slicer with some basic shape prints.

The printer is the basement.. The room is climate controlled but ambient temp is around 62-65 degrees.  From what I'm learning, I need a working temp of 75+ degrees to get good print results..

I'm seeing several options, and I'm curious what everyone's experience is..?
-Ambient warmers that sit inside the printer hood (and also filter some of the fumes?)

-Resin Vat warmer

-Resin bottle Pre-Heater

Thoughts..?  Thanks all..

~Ian

[John]

I'm finally getting into using my Anycubic Photon D2, and one of the concerns I will need to resolve is temperature.

I haven't printed anything yet.. Just watching some beginner guides that cover the whole process,  and messing with the Anycubic Slicer with some basic shape prints.

The printer is the basement.. The room is climate controlled but ambient temp is around 62-65 degrees.  From what I'm learning, I need a working temp of 75+ degrees to get good print results..

I'm seeing several options, and I'm curious what everyone's experience is..?
-Ambient warmers that sit inside the printer hood (and also filter some of the fumes?)

-Resin Vat warmer

-Resin bottle Pre-Heater

Thoughts..?  Thanks all..

~Ian

The online experts are doom sayers .. I print all the time in my basement at 65, and have not had too many issues .. what I do is take the resin in the at and put it on a aluminum sheet, and let the vat heat up a little ... then just print away .. the resin will heat up just fine from using it ..  alternatively, get a coffee cup warmer and heat the bottle for a half our or so before pouring it in ..

[learmoia]

First Thanks...

Second

what I do is take the resin in the at and put it on a aluminum sheet, and let the vat heat up a little ...

I hate typing on the iPhone.  I place the resin vat on one of those little oil space heaters and let it warm up the resin for the first print when it’s cold.  To keep from messing up the FEP I use some aluminum foil underneath the vat for protection. 

[samusi01]

You'll probably need to experiment. Some of the resins I've used perform fine at lower temperatures, others not so much.

[Chris333]

I've never used a heater. My newest printer gives a temp on the screen and the temp goes up once you start printing. Some of my prints are warm when I start washing them.

The printer says 87.8 degrees F right now and I haven't used it in months. Now way it is that hot in here so I guess the temp is off. But if I print it goes up.

[John]

First Thanks...

SecondI hate typing on the iPhone.  I place the resin vat on one of those little oil space heaters and let it warm up the resin for the first print when it’s cold.  To keep from messing up the FEP I use some aluminum foil underneath the vat for protection.

Sorry Ian . I accidentally edited your response .. all of the post is mine ..

[ridinshotgun]

I have to use a little mini heater in my printer that is in my basement since it gets down to the 50's in the winter and stays there until May.  I set it to 75 start it an hour before printing and it keeps it that way until I shut it off when done printing.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BL6WZPM9

[Scottl]

I print in a cold location, because I live in a cold location, lol.

My first printer ran with resin at ambient temp, which could be as low as 14 deg C, but not higher than 24 C.

I found the most consistent results with the lowest viscosity resins.  In the Anycubic family, the water wash wash notably less viscous and printed in the coldest conditions without fail.  ABS like resin was the most viscious and failed more frequently in the cold.

My new printer has a heated vat that operates at 30 C and so far that helps, I think.  Still about 18 C down there so the real test is to come.

I will say, the resin warms in all printers on its own during a print cycle.  If you keep the resin at room temp above 20 C and then add it to the vat, that may help,  but I expect it is hardly worth the effort. 

Also, the high speed resins are much lower viscosity by design, so they are probably better bets for cold printing,but I have not tested that.

[Scottl]

Btw, preheating resin sounds ok, but I just leave mine in the vat and top it up.  I only remove it to change chemistries.  So heating it prior to use is not very practical for me. 

I mean, without UV, the resin is not affected by sitting for months in the vat.

[robert3985]

I have one printer with and one without a heated resin vat. In the past, my printing room was also the furnace room, so I cut an extra vent close to my 3D workbench, the resin in bottles stored underneath and the printers on top.  I used two different thermometers, an alcohol bulb glass one, and a digital one that is part of my atomic clock.

It was easy to keep the temperature at between 75 and 78 deg F, and once I got the vent open just the right amount, I didn't have to fiddle with it any more.

However, I still checked the ambient temp in my printing room before each and every print session, and I never had a problem due to cold temperatures with my Anycubic ABS-Like Resin Pro-2, which I use exclusively for all of my printing.

Now that I've moved to a new residence, the 3D print room is in a small bedroom far from the thermostat which is in the great room on the south side.  This big room is easily heated up by the sun coming through the large windows facing south, and the rest of the rooms...4 bedrooms, two bathrooms...get about ten degrees colder than the greatroom.  I've compensated somewhat by keeping the vents completely open in the bedrooms I'm using as workshops, and closing the vents somewhat in the greatroom, but that doesn't compensate if the temp in the great room is 80deg and the temp in my printing room is 67deg.  I've managed to even it out a bit, but I'm going to need a heater of some sort on my 10" printer, or maybe an efficient, thermostat controlled electric heater in the room and I'll keep the door shut.

OR, I could buy a new printer with a heated vat.  Which is what I am seriously thinking about.

However, I like the idea of getting an efficient, fairly powerful thermostat controlled space heater for my print room, which would also heat the stored resin since I buy my resin in 10-packs, and I don't want them in a warmer portion (the great room) of my residence.  I want all of the 3D printing stuff in one room.

Sooo, in response to the OP's question about heating the resin in the vat, depending on your print room's configuration, I would seriously consider getting an efficient space heater, fairly powerful, digitally controlled (timer, thermostat) and turning it on a couple of hours before you are going to print. Or, keep it on all the time since it should cycle on and off, keeping the room, your printer, and your resin at the optimal temperature for successful printing.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Sumner]

....I just leave mine in the vat and top it up.....resin is not affected by sitting for months in the vat.

Same here, use Siraya Tech Build Sonic Gray exclusively to this point.  Printer is in the shop and 66-70F in the winter and 73-76F in the summer and I don't see a difference in prints.  Printed yesterday with resin that had sat for a couple months.  Stirred it well added about the same amount to the vat and prints were great.

Sumner

[robert3985]

Btw, preheating resin sounds ok, but I just leave mine in the vat and top it up.  I only remove it to change chemistries.  So heating it prior to use is not very practical for me. 

I mean, without UV, the resin is not affected by sitting for months in the vat.

I do this too with Anycubic ABS-Like Resin Pro 2.  However, after a long period, maybe a week or more, it needs to be more than merely "stirred".  A whitish sediment forms on the release film, which needs to be scraped off with my soft silicone stirring spatula, then I stir it in a cross-lattice pattern for several minutes until it's a uniform color.

To make sure there's as little of the residue left on the release film after scraping and stirring, I'll do a 30 second film-cleaning burn, holding a folded piece of normal printing paper against the film in a corner with a gloved finger...then lift the cured layer out of the vat after the light goes off with the paper stuck to the cured layer.  The release film looks perfectly clear at this point.

I haven't had any problems whatsoever with not putting resin back in the bottle and I can't tell any difference in either printing parameters nor physical qualities even when it's been several months.

I have extra resin vats, for special resins, such as clear or tinted, which only get used rarely.  I store these on a clean, level shelf with a stiff piece of opaque white Bristol Board sitting on top, and after I go through the same stirring/cleaning procedure as above, the results are equally okay, with the caveat that the clear, tinted resin's tinting needs to be refreshed as the tint slowly becomes less and less intense over time.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Lemosteam]

For my two D2’s, I use a little plug in space heater (size of a resin bottle) that uses a remote for time and temp and run it for two hours before and during the printing. I also print in my basement in Michigan.

Not a single issue.

The d2 has a plastic vat so I would be hesitant with a vat heater. I also just don’t like finicky add on stuff. I leave my vat full hence the two hour warmup.

Seriously, I have not had a failed print yet after I got my slice settings dialed in.

I also use an unconventional stl and support creation method. I load my stl into free Lychee because I love its manual support creation tools and its ability to update the master stl file.  If I make design changes Lychee recognizes the save data and the supports will automatically update. Then I export the supported lychee file out as an stl file, and then I load that into the AC slicer to create the slice file for printing.

It’s more steps but it’s very robust against saving errors as I can revert, especially if I version the file name.

[learmoia]

I found a space heater, set the thermostat, put it near the printer, and that seems to work fine..

Next question.. what are you guys using for air filtration for the fumes?

[Lemosteam]

For me nothing. No one complains. The DLP resin is kinda mild as far as I’m concerned. Doesn’t really bother me.