Printing a non-formlabs resin in open mode

Here is what it looks like.

@3DTOPO: Thank you very much 3DTOPO for sharing all this information. Wow, you have done some creative things to “work around” the limitations of operating the Form2 in Open Mode. I really like your “heater blanket” that lines your printer cover. What are those heater elements…are they some sort of heater element “sheet” that you taped to the inside of the cover, then connected the heater element leads to some sort of PID controller or other heater controller? And what about the Formlabs resin cartridge when you print in Open Mode…do you remove the Formlabs resin cartridge or leave it in place (so that it just “goes for the ride” during the Open Mode print)? How hot does your printer cover get when you are heating the inside of the chamber while in Open Mode? I know that 100 degrees F will not melt the printer cover, but I wonder if it can stress relieve the cover which might cause it to distort (assuming the printer cover is injection molded, applying heat to it would relieve the in-molded stresses in the cover, and potentially let the cover distort to some “new normal” geometric configuration)? What has your experience been in this regard?

Phew! :grin:

Cheers! Yes exactly. I will share much more details when I post my build log soon. Been meaning to do it for a while now, thanks for the motivation.

It can go for the ride, but it is my understanding its better for the bite valve to remove the cartridge when its not in use.

I have some insulation preventing the heater to directly contact the plastic (with some aluminum foil for reflectivity too). The heater pad is 200-watts with a maximum temperature of 155C. I found that running it at full power was pushing it, so I installed a light dimmer and run it around 40% power (~80 watts). But the point is, even at full power it did no damage to the lid.

Anecdotally I would say the top of the lid is right around 100 degrees when I run it at 100 degrees. I could add some insulation or even a sheet of aluminum foil to be more efficient and reduce the external temperature, but it hasn’t been really needed.

In any event, there have been no signs of distortion of whatsoever.

Acrylic has a melting temperature of about 160ºC so you definitely don’t want to run that heater full blast.

Your local auto-parts store will sell small, round, stick on thermometers that I guess people put on their dashboards. They’d work great stuck to the outside of the lid for keeping an eye on temps. They’re not very accurate, I’m sure, but a few degrees either way is “noise”.

At work, we have this fancy liquid crystal tape that changes color as a function of temperature. That’d be even better than a cheap auto dashboard thermometer. I just can’t suggest where to find any…

Correct I am aware of the melting temperature of acrylic. The heater is insulated from the plastic so even running at full power it doesn’t melt. But like I said, I turned it down which just takes a little bit longer to heat up.

They sell those stickers for aquariums.

The controller has a thermometer and shows the temperature of the build chamber. It works well enough that I don’t need any more readings.

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