3DPrintClean Introduces Third Version of Air-Filtering 3D Printer Enclosure

Two years ago, we first learned about 3DPrintClean, a 3D printer enclosure that not only contains the potentially harmful particles given off by 3D printers, but filters the air while the printer runs. While the product fell just short of meeting its Kickstarter goal in 2016, its creator, James Nordstrom, brought it to market anyway, and it’s been a success, selling hundreds of models and being further developed into a Model 2 production run.

Now 3DPrintClean has reached out to let us know that they’re releasing a Model 3 version of the 3DPrintClean enclosure. The company has built up a very solid customer base including several schools, universities, libraries and other institutions that have a highly vested interest in keeping the air as safe and healthy as possible, as well as companies and agencies ranging from Samsung to John Deere to the Federal Aviation Administration. I’ve said it before – one of the biggest keys to a company’s success is ability to listen to its customers, and the 3DPrintClean team has shown that they value their customers’ opinions highly with the new features they’re introducing with the Model 3.

“With hundreds of Model 2 enclosures in the field we have engineered the Model 3 series to include many requests from Model 2 customers,” 3DPrintClean Director of Sales & Marketing Mark Hulswit told 3DPrint.com. “We listened, we learned, we engineered. Our Model 3 series offers a complete solution for the education, public library, corporate and government markets. Enclosing the 3D printer allows for a controlled printing environment resulting in superior prints without exposing UFP’s or VOC’s to the room. It also allows for two lines of defense against a possible printer fire with our thermal cut off and automated fire suppression system feature.”

The Model 3’s filter is much larger than the Model 2’s – 30 times larger, in fact, at 19 x 19″. The filter’s life cycle is also dramatically longer, at a full 365 days – the Model 2’s life cycle was only 90 days. It now offers numerous features that the previous models didn’t have, including:

• Touchscreen monitors for internal temperature, humidity, and thermal cut off temperature, as well as a filter change notification
• An optional stand
• Dehumidifier cabinet for PLA
• Dehumidifier cartridge for PLA
• Built-in WiFi
• Studio lighting
• USB pass-through connection
• Thermal cut-off feature that shuts down power if the printer gets too hot

Clean room honeycomb flooring has replaced the old wood flooring, and the enclosure door now features five-layer silicone rubber door seals instead of the brush seal that the Model 2 had. The Model 3 also offers dual and quad filament spool options. Above all, the Model 3, like its predecessors, was designed for safety – that’s the purpose of the entire product line, after all, to make 3D printing as safe as possible. The newest model still boasts an automatic fire suppression feature that, in the however-unlikely case of a printer fire, fills the enclosure with a fire suppressant powder like that used in a fire extinguisher.

The 3DPrintClean enclosure uses 5.5 pounds of activated carbon to filter out all of the potentially harmful UFP and VOC emissions given off during a print job – and the Model 3 series now has a redesigned air flow system that increases efficiency for fast, safe, clean printing.

There are actually two different types of enclosures in the series: the Model 660, with dimensions of 800 x 950 x 810 mm, and the Model 870, at 1020 x 950 x 1020 mm. The 660 will cost you $2,395, while the 870 is priced at $2,695. Stands, cabinets, fire suppression, spool holders and other accessories are sold separately. Discuss in the 3DPrintClean forum at 3DPB.com.