Ultimate 3D Printer Enclosure Filter V2.1

Has anyone had success in obtaining a stronger replacement fan that fit's the current design? Seems my current setup is struggling to overcome the HEPA filter resistance. Thx

GAME CHANGER: With the exception of tools and poop bin for my A1, this is my first serious build.. Other than the thin wall issue I encountered when printing the upper housing (easy fix), this print went flawless. The engineering that went into this design and documentation must have consumed a lot of time and energy. This will help me print without the constant irritation to my respiratory system. Thank YOU very much!!!

M 4

mahjoe

@mahjoe_2476425

Printed and getting ready to assemble - seems like a SOLID design!

One question - on the filter adapter pieces you have a 60x30mm rectangle where the diverter controls the air out to. Is there an STL for that 60x30mm rectangle -> round hose I can use to send some air outside?

Indeterminate Design

@Indeterminate_550491

@mahjoe_2476425 I don't have an adaptor designed for that. I put holes there just in case anyone wanted to make their own adaptors. (edited)

Build this industrial looking filtration system for my PrusaXL with the EnXlosure.
It does produce a fairly low pull - unfortunately - but I combined it with my own filtration system ( https://www.printables.com/model/779722-exhaust-filter-with-fan-enclosure-for-3d-printers) by adding a new adapter piece ( https://www.printables.com/model/950430-filtration-adapter-for-ultimate-3d-printer-enclosu). That together seems to work. (edited)

S 7

stealthwang

@stealthwang_2275966

@Unicorn3D_1783668 you have a 120mm PC case fan blowing into your adapter, which is then hooked up to this system which is pulling air with the listed blower? Is the CFM of the 120mm fan similar? Is it a high static pressure 120mm fan?

I can't help but think that having two fans inline is bound to be less efficient than a single sufficiently spec'd fan.

If you say the results speak for themselves and are better I believe you, I'm just surprised it worked that well.

@stealthwang_2275966 Actually... I did buy the recommended fan for the filter system. I also kept the PC fan (as there was doubt in this thread that the fan was strong enough for the design). I tried to use them alone, in tandem, with all things removed and no matter what I did, the result was not really satisfying. Unfortunately. I hoped that the combination might help here - but that was too fast.

So - as I want to have a well working filteration system for my office I am back in the race. My own one was doing a descent job as it was filtering out the VOC's and some of the dirt (I can show you multiple filters after 2 months of use (which was astonishing). However - as there are smaller particles which will not be caught by the AC filter - I got nervous and want it to be better...

My first thought was swapping the original fan with a 3-4x more pull filter. But that was leaving me still with the question of where to put this around my printer - which is near to impossible.

So I looked at all existing designs at Prusa and other places and I am now in progress of creating myself a new filtration system - which I think will be really good. There is a round reasonably priced HEPA filter, a container with activated carbon, together with a high CFM (>70) & low noise (<25dB) filter unit which pulls the air through the filters. This is all on a fairly small space and can be used horizontally or vertical. I have hopefully something to show in about 2 weeks (after a short break).

As this is now my 3rd filter project, I am fairly confident that this will work as expected unless I am hit by some other unrelated technical problem.

Hope this helps! (edited)

Joachim

@JHHa_2108082

My first serious, multiple parts print. Very well made project. Thanks for sharing!
Fairly straight forward to make even for a newbie.
Used the filter adaptor from @joerghamster_1809927 (thanks!)

In the EU I got these parts:
Fan:
https://www.amazon.it/dp/B09C7SXGJK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Filter: https://www.amazon.it/dp/B0C2YZXH1D?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Activated Charcoal:
https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01HY983US?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

B 2

bhofmann

@bhofmann_260947

I'm having difficulty slicing the thin walled parts and getting them to come out. What slicer was used for the parts originally?

@bhofmann_260947 My first Upper Housing print wall's were too thin and cracked with minimal pressure. I changed the Wall Loops from 2 to 4 and that helped considerably. Printed on Bambu A1 using Bambu Studio.

Aloha Indeterminate!

I was building everything and am pretty close to get it all set up. However the piece "upper_housing" came out to be so thin, that there are actually a few tiny holes (top curved tube) where one can see a bit through. Other than that it looks absolutely perfect from the outside. I somehow doubt it - but this wasn't intentionally done that way?

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Indeterminate Design

@Indeterminate_550491

@Unicorn3D_1783668 I added a second revised part with 1.2mm walls (Called Upper Housing (Thick Wall 1.2).3mf)

@Indeterminate_550491 Awesome, that worked!
Note: I did use support before already - however - it is possible that removing the support was also removing a bit of the very thin housing.

joerghamster

@joerghamster_1809927

Nice Modell, only some parts (HEPA / Fan) I had to replace, as the mentioned parts weren't available in Germany.

But with a quickly designed Adapter for the HEPA the Filter works quite well (Is uploaded on my profile).

I will change the Fan against a stronger one (the first I bought only had 24 CFM, the new one has 38 CFM as first tests with ASA showed, that the Airflow it is slightly to low to keep the odor in my enclosure.

Joushou

@Joushou_1339808

I just got all my parts assembled to test and much of what @BobK_1919016 said mirrors my own thoughts and experience. I bought the recommended fan and even at the 12v maximum of the speed controller, the intake does not appear to pull as much air as I would have hoped with the HEPA filter in place. I might try adding gasket material at some point and sealing the intake/exhaust of the blower fan to ensure air is getting forced exclusively through the filters and not being pulled from the outside through seams.
While bolting parts together, I had some concerns about air-tightness between them. I threaded my bolts into the PETG without making modifications to the STL files and, although tight, I feel they were adequate. However, the M3 bolts were especially prone to stripping before achieving satisfactory compression.
The clips to hold the upper housing seem like they could be shrunk a little bit. They hold the top in place but aren't pulling it down onto the charcoal container. That gives enough space for air to squeal through the parts and less air to be pulled from the enclosure. Scale these smaller in X & Y for better results.
I found it interesting that the CAD file denoted different bolt sizes, included an accurate model of the fan, and yet didn't place the mounting holes in the housing on center with those on the fan's model.
I printed the flapper valve as well and I'm sure it's in part just my printer's settings but it does not sit flush on its plate. Even so, a chamfer on the flap could help keep it more secured against that plate when there isn't a negative pressure inside your enclosure.
I DO like the project and its desire to use standard parts and materials. The reason I chose this particular project was the combination of HEPA+Charcoal filtration as well as generating a negative pressure for my enclosure, as it not an air-tight design. I haven't actually mounted my filter on my enclosure or run it with charcoal, so I can't speak to its real performance just yet, but I still have hope and want to believe in it.

BobK

@BobK_1919016

I have a Qidi X-Max 3 and wanted to use this filter system to augment/replace the existing case ventilation fan. Although the existing fan system did use a small charcoal filter bag to remove some VOCs, I was still bothered by the smells from the printer when it would run more than 5-6 hours at a time - especially with non-PLA filaments.

On initial review, I liked this design, and I could envision how I would tie it into the existing X-Max 3 case. I planned on using the Top Mount Intake to pull air from the top of the machine. This would then be connected via 2.5” vacuum hose to the main filter system which would be mounted to the side of the printer. The filtered air would then be piped back into the case as low to the floor of the device as possible.

Before I talk about the results of this build, let me first identify some of the issues I found with the design as I started printing and assembling the components.

I made the classic mistake of assuming the dimensions on the model were correct and ended up having to reprint the Top Mount Intake and Upper Housing Straight for Hose parts. On these parts, the mounting points for vacuum hoses use inconsistent hole diameter. e.g. Top Mount Intake uses 57.5mm while Upper Housing Straight for Hose uses 55.5mm. Both should really be 58mm at a minimum to ensure being able to insert a standard vacuum hose connector tube. It’s much easier to correct a hole of this diameter when it’s slightly oversized rather than undersized. Unfortunately these were both undersized.

Additionally, I found that hole diameters in the model are not sized with tolerance values. (e.g. Hole for M4 bolt is 4.0mm rather than recommended 4.3mm for normal tolerance pilot hole.) If printed “as-is” you will need to drill out holes to recommended pilot hole diameters. In most cases this isn’t a problem, but it will reduce the strength of the parts in some cases where there is very little extra material around the hole.

And, fasteners specified in the model are too short as they have been set to only just touch the exit hole which leaves no extra length for attaching washer & nut. Not a huge problem if you have a good selection of M3, M4, & M5 bolts lying around, but if you bought specifically for this model, you will have an issue.

Reflecting on the previous two issues, I’m assuming the designer intended the bolts to self thread into the printed material rather than using nuts or threaded inserts. This would explain the hole size and lack of length on the fasteners. However for a design that is going to rely on strong part connections to avoid any air leaks, I think it would be better off using nuts and/or inserts. Or at the very least it should use bolts with a coarser thread and more aggressive thread bite than M Socket Heads. The fine thread on these bolts will strip out the plastic very easily.

I also found that the mounting holes in the Filter Adaptor used to connect to the fan casing seemed to be incorrectly aligned to the particular fan I ordered off of Amazon. I’m not sure if these fans use an industry standard hole pattern or not, but I was only able to get bolts into two positions. Again, this may be because I didn’t use the recommended fan (I needed a 24v fan to tie into my printer’s control board). Just something to keep in mind for those in a similar situation.

So, after reprinting a few parts due to the above issues, I finally got everything assembled. I purchased a piece of plexiglass from the local hardware store to replace the existing plastic lid on the X-Max3. I mounted the Top Mount Intake to this plexiglass with a large opening in the plexi for airflow. I located a suitable spot on the lower right side of the printer and created a hole for the Bottom Mount and Bottom Return Air parts. I had to trim the Bottom Return Air nozzle in order for it to avoid the print table when it moves to its lowest Z-position.

I wanted the speed of the filter system to be controlled by the printer, so I used a 24v fan in the filter and plugged it into the existing port used by the default exhaust fan. Finally I closed everything up and loaded the charcoal and HEPA filter into system. Unfortunately when I turned on the printer and cranked the fan up to 100%, I was getting very little suction through the Top Mount Intake. I was getting a moderate flow of air from the Bottom Return Air, so I disconnected the hose from the Upper Housing Straight for Hose part to see if the long hose was reducing the airflow. But even without the hose, there was very little suction going into the filter system. In an effort to eliminate any air gaps that might be causing the lack of suction, I added duct tape around the Filter Adapter. I also added some tape to increase the tension applied by the Clips on the Filter Housing.

I was still not getting much suction at the filter inlet port. I believe the fan is struggling to overcome the HEPA filter and charcoal resistance. Compared to the existing exhaust filter system on the X-Max3, I just wasn’t getting any bang for my buck with this setup. I have since removed it from the printer and plan on running some more bench tests to see if I can make this work. But for now I think it would require a stronger fan in order to be of value in my setup.