Hot Box

So my printer lives in the basement and it is about 10°C down here through the winter and probably only gets up to 15-20°C max during the summer. Makes it a great spot to store beer and wine, but is a little tough on hot plastic.

I know some of you have built acrylic/plexiglas enclosures for your printers. How much warmer has that kept the interior of the printer? I have some styrofoam project panels and the large pieces that the unit was packaged with and was thinking of making a hot box for the printer.

My main concerns are how warm can the steppers on the extruder and x-axis get before they become cranky? Has anyone isolated the components in the base from the main print area? By this I am referring to the large gap on the x-axis drive side and the smaller one the other side. Should I upgrade the fan for the cold end of the extruder?

My printer is a newer vintage (purchased in January), cork insulation under the bed, 40mm fan over the boards, ... I have already resolved to put a couple of conjoined 80mm fans in place of the 40mm fan to help the bottom deal with any extra heat. My printer is also lifted about 50mm off the work surface so there is plenty of airflow.

As for the gaps between the base and the print area I was thinking of using some window & door great stuff I have around. Dam up the print area side with masking tape and gently spray some foam over the area and spread it around so it is only about 10mm thick. Or just put a few pieces of aluminized HVAC tape everywhere.

I have no real idea on the on an extruder fan or parts fan for that matter.

 

Check out @Mike Kelly enclosure:
http://forums.robo3dprinter.com/index.php?threads/mike-kellys-robo3d-enclosure.2712/
buy it here

http://www.printedsolid.com/shop/3dprinters/r3dhouse/