My 3D printer does not have any heat insulation on the bed at the moment. It also takes quite a while to heat up and probably wastes a lot of energy maintaining the temperature.

Is this something that makes sense to do? I would probably cover the bottom with some sort of insulating foam. I also don’t want it to fall off after a while as adhesives tend to do after a while.

Is this worth doing and what materials should I use for this?

  • Lasherz@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    3 hours ago

    I think your effort would be better put towards an enclosure for the whole printer if you don’t already have one.The radiant heat loss of the bed will become a good thing. Lots of people add additional heat time to give the stagnant air time to heat up the enclosure. As others have said though it sorta depends on what you’re printing mostly if it matters at all. PLA is such low temp it’s not difficult for the machine to maintain at all. If you’re doing PC or nylon you may need every advantage you can get.

    For the adhesives conversation, there are quite a few that can cope with high temp. Silicone is probably the best in case you regret it. Other glue could take a coating of your plate off.

  • FUCKING_CUNO@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    4·
    5 hours ago

    Ive not seen anyone try that before, but interesting idea! I do think you would probably be better served by an enclosure, however. I’m sure some thermal energy is lost from the underside, but I’d guess you’re losing more above the bed as heat rises. An enclosure would also allow you to print some more finnicky filaments that are sensitive to temperature changes during printing.

  • marcos@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    5 hours ago

    IMO, if you are printing PLA, it’s not worth it.

    The usefulness increases with the temperature. It dramatically reduced my printer’s consumption when the bed is 95°C, and allowed it to heat up to 115°C without pushing it to its limit (I didn’t try anything further).

    I have an adhesive insulator from Aliexpress. It has lasted for a few months without any visible wear, but I can’t say much about its longevity. But given the price, I would be kinda ok with it lasting only a couple of years.

    • Rolivers@discuss.tchncs.deOPEnglish
      2·
      4 hours ago

      That is also a factor, I almost always print PLA and ABS/PETG only when the part needs to withstand high temperatures (inside a car for example).