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Comment by latchkey | Hacker News Reader

Box around the printer with a vent/fan blowing outside. It'll be negative pressure in the box, so everything should just vent out. Even if you can just crack a window and get the airflow going out the window... you can push a flexible tube far out onto your balcony...

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This is the best way. Inline duct fan and a flex hose running out of your window (you can print an adapter/connector to fit perfectly). It works very well even if your enclosure is not airtight (and it shouldn't be when printing PLA since you want a constant stream of air getting inside for cooling) - just let negative pressure do its thing.

It may seem super silly or I'm just somehow dumb, but the "run a hose to your balcony" is the difficult part for me. That means having a door open for 10+ hours at a time, which is a climate control challenge for the room.

That's why I figured: Why not put the entire enclosure on the balcony, and then heat-humidity control the inside of it? Sure, more complex system and higher power draw, ... but maybe there's whole kits for this? Like, for keeping a 3D printer in a windy shed?

6" wide piece of cardboard that is floor to ceiling of the balcony door. Put it on the side where the door locks. Cut a hole near the bottom of it and stick the flexible tubing through it. Now you can shut the door and hold the cardboard in, while still maintaining the climate control.

You can use something thicker than cardboard like the plastic version of cardboard... google: 'Corrugated Plastic Polycarbonate Acrylic Sheets'.

I was also thinking that you can even extend a pole out your balcony and attach the tube to that. This way, the air makes it far enough out that it won't even blow back.

I appreciate this, the challenge is that the wife won't let me get away with that level of jank (the balcony door opens into the living room) ... :-)

In the next life I'll get a house and build it around the 3D printer.

You can do it non-jank. I just realized there are products for this (mostly around portable AC exhaust vents). Google 'sliding door vent kit'.

https://www.amazon.com/sliding-door-vent-kit/s?k=sliding+doo...

> In the next life I'll get a house and build it around the 3D printer.

Or just 3d print a new wife? (joking)

That does look not-so-bad, but ... unfortunately we also don't have a sliding door. Nor sliding windows. Germany goes for those mechanically complicated multi-direction tilt/swing hinges instead. They're super mental (and metal), and break my aspirations.

I know, I'm not an easy customer.

> Or just 3d print a new wife? (joking)

I've seen too many terrible Benchys in reviews to fall for this one!

Some balcony doors aren't sliding but instead swing open, so that makes it more difficult as well.

> Why not put the entire enclosure on the balcony, and then heat-humidity control the inside of it?

How flammable is the insulation on your balcony? If you DIY it, then the danger of burning down your house might be bigger than the health risks of occasionally printing PLA in the living room.

Another option could be a used incubator, but an incubator big enough for a printer will probably cost more than the printer...

Kind of depends on ventilation setup in your house, some houses/condos are built to draw air through windows and out through fans with high static pressures, in which case trying to vent out don't work that well.

I tried it with SLA printer and it just filled the room with resin stinks for days. It really depends...

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