Unanswered Best way to add exhaust fan to robo 3d printer (Cheap DIY Fume Extraction)

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the community and new to 3d printing. I've had nothing but a great experience so far with my Robo 3d R1 (Auto leveling PLA + ABS). However, my wife hates the smell the fumes the printer gives off and is worried about effect the printing process could have on our families health (She makes a good point I should have considered it before buying it). This lead me to look up DIY fume extractors and print enclosures. Both of these seem pricey and somewhat annoying (Lots of fiddling, not much printing ). I have a basic understanding of electronics and I wire things into my home from time to time so I'm not afraid of electricity. Here is my basic thought, opening the window will help to some degree but won't ensure the chemicals are being sucked out of the house. Therefore we need some sort of method to pull the fume from the printer without damaging the prints or making the print bed to cool (Warping, other annoying things). Here is my idea (Please if you have something better let me know) this takes the smallest amount of imagination to think up so please bear with me. See the link below from Lowes. I bought this fan and it actually comes pre-wired with a standard plug. I also bought 15 feet of 3 inch exhaust tube (It's metal and feels solid). I've plugged it in and this works fairly well (So far this is about $20) in materials. I've noticed no more smell and for the most part this seems to work fairly well. The exhaust is hooked to a line that goes out the window and is nicely hidden behind a day bed in my office. The problem is (Please hold the laughter to a minimum) I don't have any good way to place the fan near the printer so I just hold it for an entire print (As you can imagine these are super short prints as I get tired of holding it up to the back of the printer). Can anyone recommend a decent way for me to attach this fan on a more permanent basis without...

1) drilling into the case, (I guess I could do this but, I'd prefer not to)
2) creating an enclosure and put the fan on top of it (I think the open model I'm using works very nicely and I don't like building boxes for things that are designed to get hot (Why enclose it if I don't have too).
3. Mounting it to the wall - I could do this but again, I might want to move the printer one day and I'd prefer not to tear up my wall).

So, the ultimate question is here. Can I attach this bathroom fan to the back of the robo 3d without drilling into the case (do you know of anything I could print to attach it?) I have ton's of materials everything from aluminium,wood,iron,brass,lots of screws.) As a note the fan is somewhat heavy but surprisingly quite (About 8.5 pounds) I'm not opposed to drilling into the case but I would only want to do so if I was damn sure I could get it attached without much fuss. A more non-invasive strategy is what I would prefer.

Notes:
This currently works very well for fume extraction, however I would strongly prefer to not hold the fan up to the back of the printer for a print longer than an hour.

Possible solutions I've thought of:
- Maybe a clamp of some sort? Most of my test with these have failed because they get in the way of the wires for the print head)
-Two bolts through the case into the fan housing (This would be evasive but, would ensure the fan sticks in place).

 

Not sure why but it won't let me post links

If you go to lowes.com this is :
Broan 4-Sone 50-CFM White Bathroom Fan

 

This is the rough idea of what I'm trying to do.

 

I have a portable spray booth for airbrushing, works on a similar principle. It uses a sucking force to suck out the fumes and voc's into a HVAC 3M filter. U get to see all the nasties that otherwise would have gone to your lungs.

The only issue I have with this would be the temperamental nature of 3D printing; adding anything that changes ambient airflow can cause problems. I guess you would have to keep this far enough away so that it does not suck warm/cold air that can prevent your printer from acting silly. But then, how effective would it be? I keep mine in an open room about 40 feet from the laundry room which has an exhaust fan for the dryer. When that sucker is on, especially when I am using ABS, my model starts cracking.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

The sucking power seems decent however, I haven't had much trouble with PLA builds getting cracked. It seems to do fine. I'm not sure what you mean by heated chamber. This sits in my office which is about ~70F year round. The bed and extruder head heat without issue, when this thing is running at full power right over the back of the printer (Think of it as being flush with the flat part of the back of the R1). Also I could impede the flow a lot by attaching the shitty white clip that came with the fan (It seriously decreases the sucking power by about half). Just wish I could find an easy way to attach it safely. It would be cool if I could put it in the top of the printer (Hooks of some sort with a strap holding it up) but, I haven't had much luck on it yet. Can any of you think of anything I can print to get this attached? People use these all the time as cheap fume extractors. I'm surprised no one else has tried this.

 

So then if I don't mind not using ABS (It seems fairly bad for you fo do inside anyways) this idea could work?

 

Any idea how I could attached the Fan housing to the back top of the printer? I'm looking for something that could hold it pretty tightly. (I also wonder if too much pressure would screw up prints (The weight of the fan))

 

If it is just issue of fumes and the occasional stinky, I find PLA to be almost non-existent. This is important for me as well since my wife is ultra sensitive to smells and have kids with allergies and asthma, I think a air purifier, the ionic ones with a slow fan or no fan would work to take away the stinky and the fumes. I can see if you are using resin or lacquer, perhaps a more radical solution is required, but an air purifier can generally handle even cigarette smoke, which i can't imagine being less foul than PLA or even ABS.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I'd agree but, my wife still seems to think she can smell it (It does still have some smell) Also the air purifier won't pull the ultra small particles into the filter (At least not from my understanding on them). I'd rather just push them outside and make them everyones problem

 

I just blame the dogs when she smells stuff...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

...or get a Boston Terrier, like I did- they fart all the time and just blame it on them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Improvise, adapt, overcome


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hmm, no dogs, sorry, I like them she doesn't (Allergies). Maybe I could use strong metal clips plus support straps. Hmm. Also dog farting is not a fix to me