So any thoughts on how to prevent a printer fire from spreading? Just being paranoid 
Unplug. CO2 fire extinguisher.
While im not home thou
@Cristian_Martinez You probably wonât like this answer, but running a printer unsupervised that way is a really, really bad idea.
Considering i work 50 to 60 hours a week and i run 12+ hour prints its impossible not to lol
Well if you donât start a fire in the first place it wonât spread. Lol
@Cristian_Martinez Then youâre rolling the dice. Even if you ran it outside on a isolated concrete pad youâd still be rolling the dice. Good luck.
I was thinking of this idea for some time but not really sure if it would work. So you would have those co2 canisters that u use in paintball/airsoft hooked to a sort of temp sensor near a common place for a fire(drivers, board). The printer would be in a encloser, and in the event of a fire (heat sensor gets triggered) the co2 would release into the encloser rlreplacing the air so no fire could start. Just an idea really, but seems legit enough to work
@Matthew_Del_Rosso Iâm sure you could make one.
@Cristian_Martinez one idea is that you could put the printer in some kind of enclosure. That way if it were to catch on fire, it wouldnât be able to spread.
How about a case around whole printer that is sealed with no oxygen inside. Or on the cheaper side http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?1,580893
@Christopher_Chaffin i was reading that earlier actually lol
Ive got it running on octoprint so i can keep an eye on it but thats really only good to catch the fire on video lol
@Christopher_Chaffin ya thats sorta what I was going for
Fire proof foam enclosure seems pretty neat. And the idea to fill the enclosure with a gas such as CO2 is great @Matthew_Del_Rosso â
I am currently doing a custom printer design and I thought to put this âautomaticâ fire extinguisher in a closed compartement:
And also I have a smoke detector that trigger a relay to turn off any power.
before you go and spend money on safety systems you need to think about how a printer is built and how it functions. statistically there are tons of printers out there and only a few ever been on âfireâ. it would be difficult for the printer to catch fire in the normal fire sense. smoke yes, it is not that hard. so before anything else make sure your power supply and connectors are up to the task. then make sure your wires are correct size and from time to time check them for issues. most of the printers firmware has safety with regards to extruder and bed temperatures but they may get confused with the thermistor failing to stay in the right place - so make sure your firmware does not disable min max and other temperature safety options. my advice would be: use a good quality control board, good quality wires, good quality heat bed and extruder(s). and if possible avoid using flammable hair spray and such.
Depends on your environment its in.
Also how concerned you are.
If your printing on a styrofoam table for example, put it on something like a vermiculite board.
Then the only other risk is up, have a low and flammable ceiling, maybe a styrofoam room, look at that next!
The more flammable your environment the more you need to prepare.
You might need to do a full sealed fireproof enclosure, you might need very little.
all metal printer, 30w or less heater core, narrow section of steel or brass tubing the filament runs through with the spool behind a fire resistant wall of material from the printer. the metal tubing will cut off the oxygen supply and lower the burning filament temperature to below self ignition. that would need to be tested by lighting filament and seeing if it can burn through, my guess is even just 4-5 inches of like 3mm ID metal tubing is going to quench a filament wicking fire.
all that on a cheap stone tile surface with raised edges to contain any melting running filament, granite slabs are fairly cheap. A metal hood to contain flames, like over a stove, would be needed if the ceiling is easily ignited material.
should be a fairly fireproof system in that the heater core can go nuts and even ignite the filament and print but itâs not getting to the spool which is a tank of gas. as long as whatever is on the printbed can burn down all its fuel, it can catch fire but it canât spread the fire.
not ideal, just an example what one could do to ensure that if there is a fire it cannot spread, basically a âfire pitâ for your printer with a fire cutoff before the spool.
another ideaâŚ
Steel drum, printer inside, lid with a stove duct to the outside. Ideally connecting to a chimney or existing stove duct. My apartment has a duct for a gas stove to let heat into a central chimney for all the apartments, I could use that maybe, it works to vent smoke from broiling meat and 500f.
Or, if you have one, put the printer in your fireplace. Clean the fireplace first!
I am wondering if a restaurant kitchen has a lot of related experience. I think maybe a person that has installed a bunch of hoods and fire suppressors and smoke ducts in commercial kitchens might have some really good solutions and product knowledge for this issue.
You specifically asked how to stop a fire from spreading: Something like one of these located above the printer would help: http://www.havenfiresafety.com/