Sometimes, a hack solves a big problem. Sometimes, it’s just to deal with something that kind of bugs you. This hack from [Dillan Stock] is in the latter category, replacing an ugly, redundant downspout with an elegant 3D printed pipe.
As [Dillan] so introspectively notes, this was not something that absolutely required a 3D print, but “when all you have a hammer, everything is a nail, and 3D printing is [his] hammer.” We can respect that, especially when he hammers out such a lovely print.
By modeling this section of his house in Fusion 360, he could produce an elegantly swooping loft to combine the outflow into one downspout. Of course the assembly was too big to print at once, but any plumber will tell you that ABS welds are waterproof. Paint and primer gets it to match the house and hopefully hold up to the punishing Australian sun.
The video, embedded below, is a good watch and a reminder than not every project has to be some grand accomplishment. Sometimes, it can be as simple as keeping you from getting annoyed when you step into your backyard.
We’ve seen rainwater collection hacks before; some of them a lot less orthodox. Of course when printing with ABS like this, one should always keep in mind the ever-escalating safety concerns with the material.
Good idea but biofouling is going to be an issue.
I did something similar: previous house owner had put the wrong sink countertop on a cabinet, so the sink tailstock came out in line with the cabinet drawers. They’d put in some of that bellows flex tubing to move it over in a very short space, and that biofouled like mad. I printed something in PETG that had a smooth, but still fairly sharp, turn to line it up with where I wanted it, and that was better but still fouled pretty badly, and the difference was that the original plastic cleaned easily, the gross stuff didn’t stick to it, but the PETG had enough surface porosity that it was just about impossible to really clean it. I think it needed to be internally coated, maybe with epoxy, and I think that might help this project as well.
I made a down pipe to water butt diverter with built in filter. Printer in PETG and installed with no paint. It must be 4 years old and still functioning well. I’ve not removed it for cleaning to check for fouling but it can’t be bad as it flows fast. I suspect the lack of significant fouling is due to the large diameter of the pipe and the water velocity. The flow hits the filter “gills” at a shallow angle and creats a self cleaning effect. Debris is washed down past the diverter. I suspect the slow velocity and sharp bends of the sink waste example will always foul the layer lines but the large sweeping curves of the rain pipe downspout will flush clean enough.
I would think something more UV resistant like ASA would be wiser for this kind of application. Doesn’t ABS get brittle with long term UV exposure?
Probably partly why he primed and painted it
I’m more concerned that heavy rains will overwhelm the singular downpipe and pour over the edge of the gutters
That looks like a roughly 4″×2″ tube — assuming it feeds into a 4″ diameter drain, you’d probably need something close to a monsoon to overflow it. Though I suppose it really depends how much roof area is draining into those gutters.
Love the design, nice job
Removing annoyance from your daily life, especially things that piss you off daily (rightly or wrongly) every time you see it / it hits you in the shin when you leave in the dark, is absolutely the best use case for 3D printing. probably.
nicely done.
Compared to a flexible tube, this design is:
Better looking
Less prone to clogging
Restricts the flow less, so likely has a higher capacity
Actually fits in the space between the wall and post without being distorted
Keeps the maker amused and occupied
Not pointless. Just not what you would do. Not the same thing.
as someone who does a lot of 3d printing, comments regularly that you shoulda used bulk material with just 3d-printed brackets, and also just did the gutters on my house a year ago…i am here to do the thing, like a wind up doll with a preprogrammed dance.
gutters aren’t that complicated. you don’t need any 3d printing. i’m wishing the best to this, and maybe it’s anchored well enough that even as it becomes brittle it won’t tend to fail. but it sure smells like it will fail.
i’m not sure what kind of metal that square downspouting is, but usually it’s aluminum. even steel that thin is easy to cut. it’s so easy to work with. you can cut it to whatever angles you want. you can put a bit of sheet metal like flashing in between. you can fold the flashing into whatever shape you want. you can attach them to eachother with rivets, and/or a superlative glue like lexel.
iow, you can use all components that are actually chemically and mechanically stable. products that are meant to be used outside.
anyways, i did have this exact problem…my downspouts went to separate trenches so to save a trench i had two come together in almost exactly this way. i just used a short segment of straight, a factory-built bent segment, and a bit of flashing to make the bracket where it connected to the existing vertical pipe. it will last forever.
knowing it will last forever, when it comes to something like this, is worth more than having a hack that for all you know might get lucky and survive more than a year or two
i think the ethos i’m trying to get across is that if you’re doing gutters, it’s a good idea to think like a gutter guy.
When the only tool you have is a 3d printer…
…you job is to go buy basic hand tools.
A hammer, CORDED drill, drill/driver bits, miter saw/box, and hacksaw can be had for <$50 TOTAL.
I know this because I have this argument ALL THE TIME, and I literally bought them to give to someone as a “congratulations you are an adult” gift less than a month ago.
In this case, also some metal snips.
I genuinely don’t understand people who have zero tools.
I used to know plenty of them.
You don’t need to know how to rebuild an engine.
But calling you landlord and waiting 3 days to fix a door knob that is loose is STUPID.
(Yes. This happens…)
Unless the point of an exercise is to solve a problem without the correct tools, then you use the correct tools.
tangent :)
i’ve always been a corded drill supremacist, basically because when i was learning tools i discovered that every cordless drill has a dead (nicad) battery pack on it. add in the cost and i hate cordless tools. and so i understood like tradesmen would use cordless tools because it’s worth the overhead to them to maintain a fleet of charged batteries but everyone else it’s just a hassle. when i want a cordless saw i use a hand saw.
but specifically for gutters, i didn’t want to futz with cords while spending my day going up and down the ladder. so i bought the harbor freight cordless drill which has a frighteningly low cost and a lithium pack that effectively doesn’t self-discharge. i’m not exactly a convert but honestly i do kind of like my first cordless drill :)