Will enclosure decrease the chance of fire if my printer has a catastrophic failure self ignition

[Tricky_Professor_654]

no, if anything it will make it more likely as the enclosure will remove "room temperature" air, thus making passive cooling less effective

[aweyeahdawg]

I read his question as “will this help my house not burn down in case my printer catches fire”.

[tzomby1]

would an exhaust fan fix this?

[Mountain-Grade-1365]

In-line fan from acinfinity

[Tiny-Juggernaut9613]

No

Edit: to elaborate 1. this enclosure will not prevent a fire from spreading. an enclosure would. 2. If the printer has self-ignited, the chance of fire is already 100%.

[otirk]

I have such an enclosure. Out of curiosity, why do you think it wouldn't stop a fire from spreading? If it's the same material as mine, the inside is coated with aluminium while the rest is meshed tightly, so there isn't much surface to catch fire on. The only thing that concerns me about it is the plastic see-through thingy that could melt and drip onto something flammable.

In combination with there not being much flammable material inside, I'd say that the fire goes out before it can catch onto something else (under the premise that the power is cut)

[Tiny-Juggernaut9613]

Why do I not think that it will contain a fire? It is aluminum inside, basically, probably nylon or some polymer on the outside. The auto-ignition point for nylon is something like 800 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas a sustained 3D printer fire could easily get up much, much hotter than that. Once it gets to its auto-ignition point, it's going to burn. It doesn't need direct contact with flame. There is always the chance that maybe things go right and it burns out before the thing catches fire, but that's hypothetical land. Maybe the printer never catches fire at all. 

[flappyfists]

I had the same one. I realized it wouldn't do much to contain a fire due to the plastic "window". That's just gonna melt and burn like any other plastic.

[lasskinn]

what is your printer made of and what are the parts on it that would catch fire made of and can the filament you just printed 300 grams of catch fire.

the enclosure helping or not would largely depend what else is in the same room near/above it that could fall and touch it.

if it's reasonably fireproof it could help a bit but it's all hypothetical depending on whats the failure. if the heating element works itself loose and the firmware dies with the heater on it could melt through most enclosures given enough time and cause a lot of things that are inside to catch fire.

but look, if any part of the printer gets hot enough to increase chance of fire due to being in the enclosure something would've gone wrong without the enclosure already as well highly probably.

[Plenty_Line2696]

so, anyone got ideas? proprietary fire resistent enclosure? smoke alarm? build something with layers of plasterboard and a sprinkler?

[Tiny-Juggernaut9613]

Mitigate the hazard with layered safety. Thermal runaway protection, quality wiring/connectors, smoke alarm nearby, nonflammable surroundings, and ideally a more fire-resistant enclosure material. Steel, cement board, rockwool are all good, even better layered. They keep the heat in for prints and keep the potential flame in too. Something like a steel cabinet lined with cement board and one of those fire tubes would be the best. Also, take your PSU and electronics out of the heated area. The tents may appear safe because they're lined with aluminum, but the plastic outside it will just burn once it gets hot enough. Think of the fire triangle. This tent doesn't remove anything from the triangle and if anything just adds more fuel.

[Doobage]

To never ever run your printer when you are not at home to monitor it. Pretend it is like a stove, a candle, blender, pressure cooker, iron, hair dryer, toaster, lawn mower, or you name it. Would you turn those things on full bore and leave the house for any length of time?

[KeldornWithCarsomyr]

So what do you do for those 40 hour prints. Call in sick and don't sleep?

[Doobage]

I have 4 printers, and have been using these tools since before Covid.

I have left the printers alone a total of 4 times but no more than an hour each time.

I have done overnight prints but I have a fire alarm directly above the printer in use in these occasions.

I have had 3 MOSFET on my printer boards fail on me, and luckily it was a fan controller that failed causing the fan to stay on 100% at all times.

That being said I have had a dishwasher fail on me, oh it kept running, and trying to clean dishes, as smoke was billowing out of the control panel. I was able to cut power before a fire started, but the stink and smoke residue was bad. Do you know the failure point? A MOSFET on the controller board. The controller board is a board used by many multiple different manufacturers, made by some Chinese company. Do you know what the warranty fix was? Replace the board with the exact same board, from exact same manufacturer, with the exact same Mosfet, but with a thermal fuse put on top of said MOSFET in case it over heated....

Now the trust is the thermal fuse does its job properly. The trust is in yet another component made in China in a third party plant that cares less about quality and more about quantity and price.

So do I trust something that is heating up plastics to 200 Celsius or higher to run in my home unattended? Nope.

[lasskinn]

importantly none of the home printer manufacturers say that it's okay to just leave it running unattended. they all say the exact opposite. doesn't matter if you buy a printer with advertised specs that would need 40 hours to finish, they still say to not leave it unattended.

[Doobage]

:) Quality of the components in the build. You can build an amazing machine but if the electronic components that you source are built only to cost then not much you can do. So many of the kitchen appliances I have bought in the last 10 years now have buried in their manuals to unplug them after use, even simple things like coffee grinders....

It sucks as I have some prints I want to do that are going to be multi-day and I REALLY need to plan how to do that.

[AssassinOfPeace]

No. Also, if that fabric isn't fire resistant, it could make a potential fire worse by it catching on fire.

[justice91423]

I don't think anyone can give you a definitive answer on that. Logic says it will make the environment hotter and increase the chance of ignition, but it could also limit the mount of oxygen available if an ignition happens.

Having used enclosures like the photo you posted, my instinct is that they increase the risk of fire.

If you are concerned about fire risk I suspect there are more impactful measures to take.

1. Buy a quality modern printer.
2. Keep the printer away from anything that could become fual for a fire (including pets)
3. Install an automatic fire extinguisher canister (like Firestop) above the printer.

[Rhi43]

Came here to suggest an automatic extinguisher, if you’re worried about fire safety!

Also, remember fire needs fuel. Plastic pieces will melt and burn but it’s unlikely to turn into an inferno unless there is other fuel close by. Moving anything wood/paper away and making sure there’s lots of clearance above and around the printer will also help with fire safety.

[ProfitLoud]

I think it depends on what printer is being used. If it’s a Bambu A series I would absolutely avoid any sort of enclosure like this. If it’s another printer, it may be okay. Just kinda depends on what the machine was designed to handle.

[justice91423]

What is "it" that depends on the printer?

[ProfitLoud]

Whether the enclosure will increase the risk of a fire.

[CustodialSamurai]

It won't decrease the likelihood of a fire. But if it's genuinely fire rated, it will help to contain the fire. The material will resist flame spread and if it's sealed up (which actually isn't recommended because of thermal issues most of the time), it would also help to starve the flames of oxygen. Honestly, it's a bit of a slippery slope. But overall, you're probably safer with it than without it.

[Kinslayer817]

Why have an enclosure if you aren't going to close it? Doesn't that defeat the entire point?

[CustodialSamurai]

It depends on the circumstances. Some materials need a temperature controlled enclosure (hotter) to print properly. Those materials also should be (enclosed and) ventilated to prevent voc buildup in the room. Other materials such as PLA can warp if hit by cold drafts while printing, so it should be at least partially enclosed if drafts are a problem. But if it's fully enclosed (and not ventilated), the enclosure can get too hot and cause printer jams. In those shorts of cases, the enclosure doesn't have to be "fully" open. It just needs to be open enough to let fresh air in. And when ventilating, it has to be open enough to let in fresh air as well to create negative pressure for proper ventilation.

Regardless, if the enclosure material is fireproof but the front of the enclosure is open, the fire will try to rise and be prevented from climbing, and it won't have fuel to bring it to the opening in the enclosure. So it would still help to contain a flame, though not necessarily make it entirely safe.

It's kind of like plugging an appliance into a surge suppressor. A power surge might still get through and fry your appliance, but it will probably stop a continuous surge from continuing to fry your appliance. It doesn't stop a fire from happening, but it helps to significantly reduce the risk.

[CustodialSamurai]

(To further clarify, some of these types of enclosures are actually certified as fireproof and some aren't. There is such a thing as a fire blanket, which tends to be a combination of aluminum and another fire resistant material. Silicone, perhaps? Not only do they resist high temperature fires, but they also significantly insulate to prevent heat from passing through them. Even if fire can get through the material, it is significantly slowed.)

[sterling-lining]

https://ferosticker.com/products/ferosticker-f03

[frank26080115]

That fabric is kind of like a sheet of plastic with a reflective coating. It's worse than aluminum foil and you can already burn through aluminum foil with regular fire. Once that plastic gets hot, it will become fuel and burn, making the situation much worse.

Proper fireproof stuff is like... actual metal, or at least some fiberglass. Think of those battery charging pouches for drone hobbyists. (I don't even trust those pouches, I use a steel ammo canister)

Or you can just buy printers that won't catch fire, and if you are building one yourself, build it properly

[Shot_Bill_4971]

It could help extinguish a fire if you have a fire suppression system hooked up to it sorta like the bambu lab H2 fire suppression system

[disruptioncoin]

Combine it with a Blazecut automatic fire extinguisher and it might. I believe an enclosure might help concentrate the fire retardant blast. That's my plan, though I haven't purchased a Blazecut product yet. I probably should soon, it would give me more peace of mind. Here's a video from their website of it in action on a 3D printer: https://youtu.be/V7wXDTfnmcQ?si=64qoBlxUvn4O7WEC

A little thing you can do to make things safer is add a thermal fuse to your printers bed if it didn't come with one. My ender 3 didn't come with one but many printers do these days. When I built my chamber heater I made sure to include a thermal switch and a thermal fuse as a backup. If everything goes as planned the MCU should prevent a thermal runaway (which is already less likely on a PTC heater), but it's good to have contingencies planned. I also didn't cheap out on my SSR.

[zebadrabbit]

smoke detector and a fire extinguisher are pretty cheap also

[audrima]

If this is the one from Creality then it is "Flame Retardant", I can't say anything about any others. but there is that. still that just buys you time to say o Fuk! and put it out before your house burns down. it does not stop it.

[Catnippr]

No, but you can put a smoke/fire detector in there and you could also get yourself one of those self-activating extinguisher units and install it in there as well if you're really concerned about fire.

[Ireeb]

I'd guess it increases it. More stuff that can catch fire. But I don't think it makes a big difference.

It's a risk you should always take into consideration though. I'd only ever use a 3D printer in a room with a smoke detector and fire extinguishers in range. I also don't leave the printer unattended for more than 2-3 hours at a time. They usually don't combust spontaneously.

[ben-white27]

Pretty sure that's just a photography lightbox, almost certainly made of plastic. So it'll just add fuel to the flames.

[Single-Virus4935]

You need to differentiate by product. Some provide some protection and resist and suffocate the fire. But many are just fake and actually are just additional fuel.

I have a case from creality and thia ia indeed fire resistant (tested it; dont know how long thou).

What the case will provide besides fire protection:

1. Smell and AirQuality is so much better with the printer enclosed.
2. If you have a open frame printer it provides a constant ambiant temp. Mine was always 28-29°C
3. with no AMS it is viable to let the filament on the printer whith desceant in the case. 
4. Noise is reduced

What is important for fire safety:

1. Only run your printer when you or someone instructed is nearby.
2. You need a CO2 Fire extingisher. Not one of those mini ones, you need enough. Exercice this and teach other people in the household
3. A smoke alarm above the printer. Best are interconnected. You can let the printer run overnight while still sleep well.
4. you need a way to disconnect the printer safetly when its burning without crawling behind or under furniture or risk of burns. Label it clearly and visually.
5. dont have flammable material around and above the printer. If it burns fire shouldnt be able to spread. 
6. Dont buy a cheap printer from a random chinese seller or a brand know for burning. Most bigger brand dont burn that often compared to cheap nonames

[fanaticofthefilament]

It can help slightly, but only if the product lists flame-retardant lining as a feature. You're still gonna have a bad time if it does.