To me, the probably most annoying thing about 3D printing are heat up times.

3D Printing
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To me, the probably most annoying thing about 3D printing are heat up times. I’ve been using a MK3 hot bed@12V with a glass plate so far and it’s a pain having to sit there for ~15 minutes until the hot bed is at 70°C and the print finally starts. Whenever something goes wrong with the first layer and I have to abort the print early on, it takes like another 10 minutes for the heat bed to get back to temperature. So, so frustrating!

Well, I decided to fix this and here’s what I came up with after doing some research here (thanks!) and elsewhere - a low cost mains voltage heated bed for less than 30€ total (most parts ordered from china).

MK3 style aluminum plate ~7€
200W, 220V, 200x200mm silicone heater with built in thermistor ~7€
SSR ~5€
Fuse and fuse holder ~5€
Enclosure for the SSR, fuse holder ~1€

Optional:
203x203mm sheet of BuildTak ~10€

I haven’t installed it yet, but in a quick test run it went from 27°C to over 80°C in less than two minutes, so it should work just fine. Can’t wait to try it…

[10 new items · Album by Martin Klein] Mains voltage heated bed
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I have same setup, but 400w heater and PEI coated aluminium plate. Heats in 45 seconds to 70 degrees, which I use for PLA. Works like a charm!

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Wow. I keep hearing more and more about this abysmal times. I never experienced this, even with my crappy hot end from Hictop. My e3dv6 reaches temp in under a min. My bed in like under 2 mins. Maybe time to get better power supply, increase voltage or something.

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@Felix_Garcia_Chaco - increasing the voltage, isn’t that what’s being done? I mean yes, 24v does help, and will get you to 100-110 (maximum with a 360w PSU) in about 5-7 mins, but with a mains heater, you’re looking at being able to get your bed to 150 (or more) so you can print those plastics that have stupidly high glass transition temps and avoid the warping with the addition of faster heatup times.

As a note, I have a 6061 ally plate and 200w heater on the way to do exactly the same thing and will probably look at topping it with PEI.

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quick update:

I finally got 'round to installing and PID tuning the heat bed - what can I say? It works so much better than before. Heats up from 20°C to 70°C in less than 90 seconds. Failed first layers are a thing of the past. Best upgrade I made so far.

Sure I could have gone for a thicker milled bed, PEI coated, more wattage… but… wait…

Hmmm… :wink:

Does it ever END??? DAMN! :):):slight_smile:

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@Martin_Klein - it does when you have 5 printers to maintain. However, I just iterate on the FB2020 design when I come to convert the Chinese Prusas :stuck_out_tongue: