3D Printing: Efficient and easy way to thermally insulate the heat block of the hotend?
Channel: Roel Van de Paar
Date: 2019-06-27

3D Printing: Efficient and easy way to thermally insulate the heat block of the hotend?


The Question: Sparked by 3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1245/running-12v-on-
a-24v-heater-cartridge, I wanted to discuss the most efficient and also the
easiest ways of thermally insulating the heat block of the hotend.
I have seen numbersixreprap.blogspot.fr/2013/10/does-insulating-heater-
block-make.html with a very conclusive resumee about its usefulness.
In the links of the named article, bukobot.com/hot-end-thermal-
management, however without giving quantitative results.
Additionally, I know that in the guys over in the german reprap forum produce
their own forums.reprap.org/read.php?252,584458. As I understand there
is a large spread between people's reports, from 'almost negligible' as
insulator (but helpful for other things) to very useful. No quantification,
though. Also, these seem to come with a certain amount of effort to produce.
Are there additional solutions and/or comparisons between solutions?

Solutions: Please watch the whole video to see all solutions, in order of how many people found them helpful

== This solution helped 9 people ==
The "quick and dirty" approach is to just slap a bunch of Kapton tape on there.
The more the better! (Until you need to dismantle for maintenance, anyway.)
I find pre-cut ceramic tape + kapton tape "blankets" to be easy and effective.
E3Dv6 and Replicator 1/2 style hot blocks should be compatible. Or you can cut
your own using a sharp hobby knife.
www.fargo3dprinting.com/products/
makerbot-replicator-2-ceramic-insulation-tape/
The main downside is that they don't insulate two sides of the hot block. But
covering the top and bottom provides much of the practical benefit, and you can
always add a few more wraps of Kapton tape to cover up the rest of the
surfaces.
Another good option that has recently started to become popular is fiberglass
heat shield tape. It has a silicone adhesive, woven fiberglass mat, and shiny
aluminum surface. (The reflective surface reduces heat radiation.) It's often
used in automotive applications around mufflers and the like. You can cut it up
into little rectangles for each side of the hot block, or wrap the block
similar to Kapton.
shop.raffle.ch/shop/insulation_material/
Main issue is quality -- not all brands have adhesive that will hold up to high
temp printing. It may smell when initially "burned in" due to the adhesive
cooking a bit. I also find that you need a couple layers to get as much
insulation as the ceramic+kapton blanket when there's a lot of airflow around
the hot block.

With thanks & praise to God, and with thanks to the many people who have made this project possible! | Content (except music & images) licensed under cc by-sa 3.0 | Music: www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music | Images: stocksnap.io/license & others | With thanks to user StevenR01 (askubuntu.com/users/7760), user Ryan Carlyle (askubuntu.com/users/298), user Rolf (askubuntu.com/users/9014), user PuterPro (askubuntu.com/users/7456), user kamuro (askubuntu.com/users/168), user Greenonline (askubuntu.com/users/4762), and the Stack Exchange Network (3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/1247). Trademarks are property of their respective owners. Disclaimer: All information is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. You are responsible for your own actions. Please contact me if anything is amiss at Roel D.OT VandePaar A.T gmail.com.