Really great conversations going on for the DIY curing boxes. I just wanted to show my solution to the problem. First off, the box/jar/canister lined with foil and filled with the simple LEDs works great. That was my first iteration. However, after someone in my lab left in on for 5 days while I was away, I realized this thing needs a timer! There are a couple timer relays out there that work great, but the interfaces are no bueno and clunky to set the timer. So, in came the arduino. Also, I like things to look snazzy so I cut the box out of acrylic and used an acrylic bender to give me gentle edges.
What are your thoughts on the design? Any questions?
Here is prototype #1 in acrylic using the timer relay from amazon Timer Relay. Also shows the 12in version. Box needed to grow to accommodate parts this size.
My only concern is those LED strips have a bad reputation of fading rather quickly when they are inside an enclosure. Apparently heat kills them. It’s not as much of an issue with the jar because they are on the outside of the enclosure.
Thanks 3DTOPO! We’re in the process of endurance testing the lights. Also, we wired in 2 small little heater pads to warm up the box even more! When you say fading, do you mean the intensity of the light changes or the color of the light changes?? Have you experienced this first hand?
Walter, thanks! We have a couple sizes prototyped with the ability to accommodate any size needed. For a user like yourself, what footprint would you want? This is the larger format geared for folks trying to make larger multi-body parts or if you’ve got a bank of printers and need to cure a bunch of parts at once.
We wired in some heaters last night to get this thing really cookin’ (pun intended). Currently relying on natural convection for heat dissipation, may need to wire in a little fan to help it along. Thoughts?
12" square would be the largest I could find space for. I have one I built out of foam-board. Coated the inside with shiny prism paper and have a strip of the correct LEDs wrapped around the inside about 8 times. Also have a clear Plexiglas platform about 2" from the bottom. The unit is about 8" square and 12" high. Works OK but not fantastic. No heater but it get warm anyway.
Ummm, yes please. Where do I send payment!!! Compared to my 5gallon chrome lined bucket that thing is wicked nice. I sincerely would like to purchase one w/o lights… just housing/controls and reflectives? Is this a possibility?
The strip lights definitely croak after a few months. 2 cartridges, 2 months, roughly 12 hrs per day… and associated volume of material. Not sure on roi… but at $20 per strip it’s still not terrible. If you could pull off bulbs in that assembly… wow.
