When printing ABS you need to use high bed temperature, but it needs very long time to reach 90-100 °C. One simple mod is to insulate termically the bottom part, to avoid heat to disperse. Time to heat will not be cutted in half but will be reduced, also the hotbed temperature will be more steady during printing. After all this is a cheap and easy mod so.. why not? :D
You will need:
- a thermal insulation sheet, the one used for home radiators. You can find it at the hardware store for about 5 eur, the sheet is about 70x100 cm and you need a square of about 22x22 cm;
- some kapton tape
- glue (every type should work)
- tools (scissors and cutter)
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Post-Printing
Installation
- First of all, you need to unmount the hotbed and turn it upside down.
- Place a strip of kapton tape on the hotbed contacts, since the termal sheet is covered in aluminium and you don't want to have some short-circuit.
- Cut the sheet in a square the size of the hotbed, minus about 5 mm per each side; you will need this gap to fix the insulation to the hotbed. Also cut a hole in the center where the thermistor is. (in one picture you will see kapton tape on the thermistor, after shooting it I removed it to avoid it giving false measurements caused by hot air trapped inside)
- Put some glue on the edge of the insulating sheet to give the tape a better grip.
When glue is dry, place the sheet onto the bottom side of the hotbed and place the kapton tape all around the edges, fixing it to the hotbed. - I put a small piece of tape in the center, to avoid the sheet loosening with time - again, not covering the thermistor.
- Reinstall the hotbed, connect the wires and do the leveling procedure again.
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Category: 3D Printer Parts
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