Switch Theme:

Looking for PTC/Proportional heaters  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Can anyone in the UK recommend a good PTC/ Proportional Thermostat heater setup for a 3D printer?

I've tried a regular thermostat heater in an enclosure and it will heat the enclosure and printer and resin up and the results are wonderful, except on flat surfaces where I get odd lines. These are from the thermostat basically turning the heater off/on all the time and the heat going up and down in waves, which produces those same wave effects in the resin. I've tested this over the last few days, both powering the heater from a separate power source (increase it was electrical power drain to the power pack it was all plugged into) and in simply using the heater at the very start to pre-heat everything and then turning it off*. The lines are most certainly caused only when the heater is running no matter where its drawing power from.

Thus far my hunting keeps sending me to egg incubation setups; car setups (which is basically all components not complete heating units) or reptile/enclosure controllers (which seem to be only made to work with ceramic bulb heaters or heat mats).
I know people in the USA have used the IncuKit Mini which is an all in one, but sadly the UK doesn't seem to have stock of it (and importing sends the price very high).

I'm sure there must be some simple units in the UK that would do the same job and I'm just not finding them. I'd welcome any help on this - I'd like to get the printer printing again, but until I can heat it the poor thing has to sit cold.



*which works, but because the printer and resin end up cooler the supports end up welded onto the model FAR more so than when they came out warm. Coming out warm the supports fell off; coming out cold and even 0.3 and 0.25 were holding on tight and I had to use a hot water bath to get things off and even then it was more of a tug at times (where I couldn't get clippers in).

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
 
Forum Index » 3D Printing and Digital Modeling
Go to: