Remember SAFETY FIRST! DO NOT print in wet conditions.

Background

Printer used: Creality LD-002H

When I first got a resin printer, I tried my best to run it in the house, but it made some of my family feel physically ill. I tried moving the printer to a separate part of the house with the windows open, but we could never keep the whole house from filling with resin printer fumes.

I decided I didn’t want my printer sitting dormant. I embarked on a journey to figure out how to print successfully outdoors. It was surprisingly much easier than I anticipated! There are some things you’ll want to know though, so I’ve put them here to help any other creators looking to do the same thing.

Setting Up for Printing

You can find a video of my initial setup here on my YouTube channel. I have done quite a bit more with the setup since then, so the information I give below may differ slightly from what you see in the video.

Key Takeaways:

• Printing outdoors can be done and done well.

• DO NOT print in the rain or in an environment where water is likely to be present. This is a safety hazard.

• Careful planning is required to print outdoors to ensure you have acceptable weather conditions.

Blocking Out the Sun

If you’re not familiar with resin printing, objects are only partially cured during the printing process. Following a print, the model needs to be washed and cured in UV light.

The problem with printing outdoors is that the sun produces A LOT of UV light. This can quickly ruin a vat of resin, so measures must be taken to block out the sun from the printing chamber.

In my case, I just used a paper lawn bag to wrap the chamber the lid, and another bag slipped over the top. I also add a trash bag just in case, if I fear there may be a chance of precipitation.

Monitoring the Prints and Collecting Data

I used a Raspberry Pi (a tiny computer) to monitor the chamber of the print. I set it up to record data a few times every hour. That data included a short video, and the internal chamber temperature

You can learn more about this device here:

https://github.com/DavidMiles1925/printer_camera

Temperature

One of the things my monitoring device did was log the temperature in the chamber. I printed towards the end of summer when temperatures ranged from as low as 55°F at night, to as high as 90°F during the day.

Here are some general things I observed:

• The heat generated by the printer itself will keep the chamber 10-15°F warmer than the ambient air temperature.

• In direct sunlight the chamber can reach temperatures 50-60°F warmer than the ambient air temperature.

• In direct sunlight the chamber warmed approximately 6°F per hour.

• Despite the temperature fluctuating greatly during the printing, the prints still turned out great!

Video Recordings

Another thing my monitoring device did for me was capture short videos in intervals.

The videos served three purposes:

1. Accessing the videos while the printer is running allows me to check for failures.

2. Accessing the videos after a failed print allows me to better analyze what went wrong.

3. The videos can be put together to make a cool timelapse.

My Thoughts

Printing outdoors can certainly be done, and I’ve had a lot of success doing it. However, it takes an extra level of care and dedication to the process. If you like resin printing, but can’t do it indoors for whatever reason, then this is something you might consider.

Biggest reasons my prints failed:

1. Dew forming on the inside of my chamber caused the resin to be contaminated.

How to solve: Avoid printing on nights when the temperature will drop significantly, and the air humidity is high. Also, ensure that your chamber is sealed as well as possible to keep airflow (beyond the system’s regulation) to a minimum.

2. Physical contamination of my resin.

How to solve: Don’t uncover the resin outside, even at night. It took only seconds for my resin to end up with a bug and tiny seeds in it.

I hope this helps someone out, thanks for reading!