Hi there Friends, I’m sure many of you already know that PLA can heat deform , but I have fun proof of that from here in sunny Phoenix. I’ve been itching to take on a major project but the heat here is so oppressive. I pushed on anyways. Wrong Choice.
the project is full topography carve of Arizona. I already did a smaller proof of concept in MDF, but was ready to create the larger model in cherry. After a successful surface plane, rough cut, and semi-detail cut, I was ready for the 1/16" final cut.
this was a 4 hour job, and even though I started in the morning, the heat grew and grew. I ended up with Stepper motors reading at 165… I later learned that PLA can deform at 140… oops.
However, the Z-axis carriage started to sag, and it really changed the accuracy of the toolhead. It began dipping farther and farther into the wood and exceeding the recommended chip-load. Cuts got wonky, the project was ruined…
Those are two great questions @jeffeb3 of which I’d have to do more research to answer… Can you point me in the right direction for finding that?
I mean, we’re at 110+ ambient temperature here, so I’m expecting them to run hotter than most peoples. My computer that was running the machine was at 115.
OK. Those are set to a number chosen by @vicious1 (138, in whatever goofy units they use) to be reasonable defaults. It’s good to know those are high enough to cause problems in the summer in AZ.
I really wasn’t convinced ambient temperature mattered that much, but clearly it does.
Wow, we never get over 80 here, next to the north pole… Just a quick input from someone without much clue, who printed a new burly core in petg because of skewed parts. Make sure you’re using a stiff type of PETG! Mine was very soft and the whole z was quite "bendable "…
@turbinbjorn I think PETG is known for being bendy without breaking. So I’m planning on getting stiffness from the infill%. PETG has a higher heat tolerance, so that’s why i’m giving it a chance. I’ll also not run 4 hour jobs in the middle of summer.
you might try ASA. I’ve never actually used it but was researching a while back for some printed objects to go in my truck. IIRC its heat tolerance is even higher than PETG and is almost as stiff as PLA.
It is related to the digipots, and doesn’t have a physical unit. It is proportional to holding current.
These drivers send the same amount of current if the motor is staying still or if it is moving. The same if it is working hard, or hardly working. The thing that changes is which coil the current goes through, and which direction.
I am watching a netflix nature show and I just saw this:
Perfect, thanks for the insight. Thats good to know.
Hahaha, yeah… its a bit ridiculous right now. I went for a hike last night with friends, we started at 7:30pm, ended at 10pm. I got back in my car and it read… 100 degrees.
You get used to it… to a degree.
This is my rottweiler… something magical happens on her coat, and she gets insane numbers.
****DISCLAIMER: she has a doggy door, and goes in and out as desired. She’s safe! I created an arduino setup that automatically adds water to her bowl, so she’s always hydrated and happy. Its currently 74 degrees inside. *****
With ambient temps so high, a fan will never drop it below those 110 levels, but it may keep it form soaring to the 165 I got. At least, thats my thinking.
I think this is likely due to the emissivity setting on the gun. Some guns allow you to customize the emissivity for the material you are shooting, some dont. With that dark black coat, the emissivity is probably high, tricking the gun into thinking it is hotter than it really is. I am sure your doggy is quite safe!
