Re:Printing and Assembling the MK735, a 3D-Printed DIY NAS Case
by BadJo0Jo0 on Monday July 22, 2019 @02:17PM
(#20500684)
I have a few 3D Printers, a scratch CoreXY build, Tevo Tarantula, and PowerSpec Ultra (rebranded FlashForge Dreamer) I run prints unattended often. Overnight or leaving my house for errands. The only thing I do is regularly check termination points and board components to see if they are fine.
I wish I knew what was wrong with other people's configurations or the quality/settings of their hardware that causes these fires.
I blame kit providers racing to the bottom to throwing together low quality hardware and passing them off as solid workhorses. For my Tevo Trantula I replaced the screw down terminal block for one with higher amperage rating after noticing some slight melting on the housing, and spent a whole day doing PID tuning for the hot end and the heated bed.
There should also be a bigger disclaimer for kits to deter people who don't have decent knowledge in electronics to just go for complete printers or higher quality/proven kits.
As far as I am aware, no FDM 3D printer is safe to run unattended, overnight without supervision. I know there are ways to make things safer, with various interlocks, fire suppression items (like those kitchen vent-hood pucks), cameras for monitoring, etc. But I still wouldn't trust just letting something like that run.
I've yet to do anything with 3D printing, so maybe I am just out of the loop on this. I do know that software and hardware has come far enough to allow for print stop/re-starting (such as when reloading filament in the middle of a large job). Maybe that's how these long prints are done without the danger?