I really want to buy a printer (resin or filament), but I’m concerned about the health aspects concerning inhaling the dust.

Is it really safe to have a printer indoors? Should I rig up something on my balcony instead? What room do you have yours in?

How do you guys deal with the dust? Do enclosures work? Any complaints from family members?

  • asbestos@lemmy.worldEnglish
    13·
    1 day ago

    Stay away from resin as a beginner. It requires serious ventilation (ducts etc) and precautions which I’m assuming you don’t have planned. As for FDM, keep it in a room where you won’t be when it’s printing and make sure to crack a window open during printing or afterwards if you’re printing ABS/ASA as it’ll warp if you don’t have an enclosed printer.

  • Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    8·
    1 day ago

    Dust? That’s never been an issue for me. I’m sure I’m above average for serum microplastic levels, but stick with pla and PETG if you have poor ventilation near the printer. I think basic 3d printing is quite safe with low levels of toxicity. Don’t put the thing in the nursery or anything. Set it up in a low traffic room with decent ventilation and set up a remote monitoring system for it as you’ll want to keep an eye on it. Make sure it’s not too far from a smoke detector and have fun.

  • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    7·
    1 day ago

    I have my printer in our “hobby room”, well ventilated and the printer is enclosed with a charcoal filter.

    If you’re just printing PLA, a well ventilated room is probably enough to keep VOCs at a safe level.

    I still wouldn’t use the printer in a room you’re staying in for several hours at a time while it’s printing, but I would say the noise of an FDM is definitely also enough to make you not want to be in the same room while it’s printing.

    • tetris11@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      2·
      17 hours ago

      Is it really that loud? If I put it on the balcony and run it overnight, will the neighbours complain do you think?

      • IMALlama@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        16 hours ago

        You’ll be fine on a balcony. Prusas are fairly quiet. I have an enclosed printer (a Voron) and it’s fairly quiet. I WFH 2 days a week and am able to have it printing 10 feet from me while working and on calls without issues. I wouldn’t call my old unenclosed printer loud, but it wasn’t quiet either.

        • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          2·
          11 hours ago

          Prusas are fairly quiet

          Interesting, I still think they’re way too loud to be around. The cooling fan alone is too loud IMO, combined with the steppers whining away it’s definitely not something want to be around for more than I absolutely have to.

            • anguo@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              1·
              1 hour ago

              On MK4 printers and later, the only thing the stealth mode seems to be doing is slowing down the bigger linear moves. I don’t notice any difference in sound otherwise. The fan is what you mostly hear.

            • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
              1·
              4 hours ago

              I know, I still think it’s too loud to sit around for prolonged time. 5min? Sure not an issue at all, +30min? It’s a huge issue (for me). It’s like being in a room with a paper printer that’s printing nonstop, not an issue while you’re waiting for a few pieces of paper but you don’t want to sit next to it for hours. Or a laptop with its cooling fan running full tilt, it’s OK for a few minutes, but the droning monotonous sound is horrible to listen to for more than that.

      • RegalPotoo@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        15 hours ago

        It’s not that they are particularly loud, it’s that the noise they do make tends to be quite “whiney” and high pitched and can get quite annoying after a while.

        The problem with putting it outside is that big temperature swings (+/- 10C or so) could cause warping or other problems while printing - the plastic needs to cool at a fairly consistent rate, otherwise you end up with inconsistent sizing on your z-axis.

        Filament itself also doesn’t like moisture, so if you live somewhere where you get close to the dew point overnight you could easily ruin the whole spool of filament

  • marcos@lemmy.worldEnglish
    42·
    1 day ago

    Yeah, dust is not what you need to care about. But it’s not good to have a printer indoors.

    There are enclosed printers that you can plug ventilation ducts that solve this problem. Some have filters, but any filter without a molecular sieve (usually activated coal) won’t help you, because the problem isn’t with dust.

    Resin printers also give you problems on handling the resin. It’s not enough to enclose those printers, you need protection equipment and a place to deal with the supplies and recent prints.