After watching [Uncle Jessy’s] video about soy-based 3D printing resin from Elegoo and their miniature air purifiers, we couldn’t decide if the resin doesn’t smell as bad as some other resins or if the air purifier works wonders. Maybe it is a bit of both.
We’ve used Eryone super low odor resin and it has less smell than, say, paint. It sounds like the Elegoo is similar. However, we are always suspicious of claims that any resin is really made with natural ingredients. As [Brent], who apparently has a PhD in chemistry, pointed out, AnyCubic Eco resin makes similar claims but is likely only partially made from soy. Sure, a little less than half is soy-based, but then there’s the other half. Still, we suppose it is better than nothing. That video (also below) is worth watching if you ever wondered why resin solidifies under UV light or what a monomer is.
We’ve had our eye on the little mini air purifiers ourselves, wondering how they’ll do with extracting laser cutter fumes. They are small and quiet and full of messy charcoal filters, so maybe they’ll work out. We’ll let you know.
As for the resin printer, they seem to work without issue, although placing them can be a challenge. If the lid to your printer is hinged, you may need a bracket and [Jessy] found that you don’t want them too close to the Z axis.
If you want to use stinky resin, we have some suggestions for how to deal with it. If you haven’t started printing in resin yet, let us help you.
I’d suggest trying to minimise the use of IPA in the printing process, as that’s now generally the smelliest element of the lot. Most recent resins don’t have that strong a smell – it’s not a pleasant smell, but compared to IPA it’s not nearly as overpowering.
I’ve been trying out Dipropylene Glycol Methyl Ether – it seems to be pretty good at rinsing off prints and is a lot less volatile. This does mean that any residual solvent doesn’t just evaporate off quickly, but the smell is much more tolerable.
Note – Uncle Jessy showed trying to cure out dissolved resin from IPA and getting a jelly – DPM will do the same – I think it’s just a factor of having enough solid resin produced by curing sitting in the water so that it forms a jelly. Having been watching something about aerogels I did wonder whether you could create an aerogel from these resin jellies and how they’d compare to standard recipes for making them?
I really wonder about the actual use of these charcoal “filters”, they seem little more than homeopathic solutions to me… I use one when soldering, but more as a way to redirect flux fumes out of my eyes.
As for “purifying” the air, I would interpret any claim of this as dubious, filtration, and purification, is a notoriously complex issue, and in the case of machines for home use we don’t really have any real data… Like everyone I run my a FDM printer and their microparticles, a CNC machine and its MDF dust and formol, and fiber dust…
How bad those are compared to fuming cooking oil and the likes, I can only wonder.
Charcoal filters can be very very effective, though there are limits to how much they can hold. So I’d not be surprised if that block depicted really does work quite well, but probably not for long.
Those tiny thin ‘carbon’ mesh strapped to a PC fan for soldering I doubt really achieve anything much in the filtering capacity, but by rapidly distributing the fumes its going to be good for you, as most of it will not get breathed in.
Hey, something I know a little bit about.
Activated charcoal has an absurd surface area; up to 2000m^2 per gram. It really can absorb a lot of odor, or hold catalysts in the catalytic converter in automobiles, or absorb toxins if swallowed. That last is a medical use for actual poison treatment, not the “detox yourself by putting this in your shoes” crap.
Guess there was an upside of growing up near a Mead-Westvaco plant.
Would a thinner vat help in cutting down on the amount of resin available to outgas?
https://3dprintknowledge.com/how-resin-3d-printers-work-a-guide-for-beginners/
it´s just a active charcoal filter, And it´s not big.
Extracting laser cutter fumes with that ? No. Fumes are fine particles + gasses. You´d want to go the full way with ESP + HEPA + charcoal.
My current design is: first a foam filter to eliminate the biggest particles, then an electrostatic precipitator to remove most of the fumes, an HEPA (H13) filter that will care of the rest of the particles, and a charcoal filter (granules) that will take care of any volatile compounds and toxic gasses, including the ozone generated by the ESP.
And a lot of pressure, particle and gas sensors to assess the quality of the filtration and when the filters will needs a cleanup / change
“However, we are always suspicious of claims that any resin is really made with natural ingredients. ”
Do you actually know what the word resin means? Here’s a dictionary definition.
>> a sticky flammable organic substance, insoluble in water, exuded by some trees and other plants (notably fir and pine).
Sure, modern synthetic resins have co-opted the name, but by definition a resin is a natural substance. Wikipedia is much more diplomatic saying it is a natural or synthetic substance. So, yes, plenty of “resins” are really made with natural ingredients.
Kind of like saying there’s food, and then there’s Twinkies.
Thanks, I was going to post something similar.
Even resin made from oil is, because oil is a “natural substance”, made with natural ingredients. The statement is kind of pointless.
The problem I am seeing is that all those claims that aim at replacing oil as the major component of (“artificial”) resin end up using materials with a different kind of bad ecological footprint. It’s not like soy is “a good thing”, considering how the rain forest in Sotuh America is being treated for it.
Soy beans are pretty common up here in the US.
Japan has a few, too.
Is it as bad as natto, traditional Japanese fermented soybeans known for its powerful smell?