Heated Build Chamber for Rapman 3D Printer

This is an Instructable for a heated build chamber to house a Rapman 3.2 3D Printer. I chose the Rapman 3.2 because of it's relatively large print area, user friendly interface and the available dual extrusion upgrade. Assembly of the kit was simple and I found myself printing in no time; however, I soon began to experience warping in larger printed objects. After a bit of research, I began weighting the pros and cons of a heated build chamber vs a heated bed platform. The idea of a chamber was more attractive because I felt it would be easier for "me" to construct. I am no longer experiencing warping and there is also a noticeable dampening of the sound which the printer motors create.

The dimensions of the chamber are 32 in. width x 33.5 in. height x 24 in. depth. I would imagine that the chamber could accommodate a different 3D printer (such as a Prusa Mendel or similar RepRap) with or without (depending on the model) some modifications. Thanks for checking out this Instructable and if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
- Happy Building

Step 1: Project Overview

- The heated chamber is primarily constructed from Corrugated Plastic Sheets, bonded using a hot glue gun (mini). For the purpose of this Instructable I have divided the heated chamber into three color coded sections (see image above).

Comments

[Cold Shoulder Media]

I'm building a heated plywood cabinet for my prusa mendel, and was very happy to find your instructable!

I'm very curious about your electronics, temp monitoring, and method for airflow.

Let me know more about how you wired everything, and what you would do differently if you did this again.

Thanks!

[TimPayne]

My apologies for taking so long to reply. I use a wireless Acu-rite model: 00822A2 (from Home Depot) to monitor the temperature of the chamber from my desk. When printing large parts I keep the temperature at around 120 F. The side of the chamber houses the ceramic heater. There is ventilation on the side of the chamber and I usually keep the top only partially covered while the heater is on. If I have a job that needs to print over night, I will turn the heater off and fully cover the side compartment (which is where the insulation comes in handy). The ceramic heater has a built in fan, so that help the air circulate. On a side note, the type of heater that I use is not intended for this purpose and if it is completely covered while activated over and extended period of time, it will overheat and become damaged. I hope this answered you questions and if you need to know anything else feel free to ask.
Cheers

[bill0756]

Excellent solution, but as others have commented on in other blogs, there can be problems with acrylic warping at over 140f(60c), which would destroy your machine or loosen it very much, so as a warning to those doing this to monitor the temp and keep it cool...inside the heated chamber. In fact, you actually keep it at 95F for most builds and only go up to 120 if it's a big build right? The heated build chambers recommending over 60c have special accomodation for cooling the print head, and they must be used for nonacrylic printers, right?
What filament are you using..or does that ever really matter since youre operating at 120f or less?
Is 95f to 120f really adequate all the time to eliminate warping? If so then why are many chambers said to operate at 70-90c(154f-190f)?