Heater Installation

I install the moai heater. hard to extend the hole, I cut the cord in the middle and put a connector.
Heater works properly.

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Oh is that where it’s meant to go? I’ve got mine in the build chamber. Maybe this would be better

Heater goes in the build chamber, not on the bottom where the electronics are. you will damage it with too much heat. :slight_smile:
The application of the heater is to heat the resin, not the electronics.


yes, i move to top plate:wink:

Would be nice for Peopoly to mention where it is supposed to go tbh. It looks as though it can be screwed down on the left side, but I’m unsure so I’ve left it loose.

The commercial temperature range (lowest of the common specifications) for electronics is 0-85C. If we are only heating the build chamber to 30, I think it is unlikely to damage the electronics even though they often exceed the ambient. If the print takes an extended time, the entire build chamber will be affected anyway.

I have been more concerned about contaminating the resin with the fan blowing dust etc around. I guess users have found this also not to be a problem though.

i reply this thread a little late but i’m glad you guys can help each other out.
The heater goes to the bottom left side of the build chamber, @johnchen was partly right about where the heater should go. putting the heater in the electronics chamber will cause the dust to fly around, potentially stick in the galvo mirror.
@bendouglas86 the heater installation guide will be posted soon
@polygo @bendouglas86 like from the pucture later posted, you can turn it upside down, drill a hole and screw it to the metal plate if you want

I’m a new Moai owner and just received my heater today. Since there’s still no official install guide (still coming “soon” @peopolysupport?) , I thought this post would answer my questions but it seems I have a different heater than pictured.

My heater is fully enclosed and has the power and switch built in to the housing. It can only fit into the build chamber in one dimension. If the mounting holes in the chamber are intended to line up to the heater, they don’t.

Does anyone else have this style of heater and can confirm their orientation? This is the best I can manage, but it seems pretty clumsy. Even if/when I drill a hole in the side panel, there doesn’t seem to be a good way to manage the power cable.

Thoughts?

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Sorry for the delay of the guide, the guide is done, just haven’t posted on yet, in the mean time i still answer any users who ask for a guide. @peopoly
This heater is the new model, updated. We have a post on the FB page if you haven’t noticed
The previous heater have to had a hole in the back panel, but this model is on the side panel, you have the orientation correct.

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You’ve changed the design of the heater!!!??!!

Got an email from Peopoly the it was released and ordered straight away. Now I see you’ve completely changed the design of it with power directly from the printer, so I guess it comes off and on when you turn the printer off and on and its also got its own on/off switch. Would have been nice to have know that you were going to change it so quickly. I feel I have bought a bodge job version of it that was rushed out.

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Yes we did

the heater is a separate piece, so it turns on and off separately, not with the machine

Could you please post the installation guide??

posted, sorry for the delay

Here is a link to the wiki page.
http://wiki.peopoly.net/doku.php?id=moai%3Aheater&fbclid=IwAR1E9JnOk3JD5MWRwkr84V87wlB5QvvvsrpiJmxXivfwIL5ZOfKg2_sm2qA

Having issues with the original heater unit, feel I’ve been done by ordering as soon as I got the email and getting one of the test units which they have since updated to a better unit. It simply doesn’t heat up the chamber. It has been pre-heating for over 4hrs now and it hasn’t got above 26ºC. Ambient room temp is 22ºC. There are clearly reasons why the original heater was changed as it seems to have a bigger heat sink on the newer version and therefore heats the chamber quicker.

Going to get in touch directly and ask for a replacement.

BR

KS

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email support for that, KS

I have build another type of heater for the Moai.
I didn’t like the idea of a fan in the build chamber and I think a fan is not needed to distribute heat.
Instead i went for the approach of natural convection using the chimney effect.

I also didn’t like the fact that a low voltage heater needs it’s own power supply that has to be fitted in the compartment where the electronics and the mirrors are.

So i decided to use a silicone 220V 200 watts 200x200 mm heater like this one:

I have put this silicone heater on the back of an aluminum plate of 310 x 220 mm and fixed this plate to the left extruded aluminum profiles of the Moai (see image below). So this (heated) aluminum plate has now become the left wall of the build chamber, thus warming up the build chamber without the use of a fan and without the need of an extra power supply.

I have limited the temperature of the aluminum convector plate with one thermostat (tucked away inside the build chamber in my case, because it does not have to be adjusted after initial setup) and I have limited the temperature of the build chamber with another thermostat. This second build chamber temperature thermostat was mounted in the top lid of the Moai so that is can easily be adjusted.
Both thermostats are connected in series with the silicone heater.

The build chamber temperature thermostat was build into the top lid of the printer like this (its sensor is hung half-way the height of the build chamber):

The thermostat i used was this one:

I have limited the max temperature of the aluminum convector to 70°C to avoid overheating and to have a fast response time. With that setting the build chamber heats up to 35°C within 10 minutes. The temperature of the build chamber has an overshoot of 2°C.

Both thermostats need 12V to operate, so I had to include a step-down converter to convert the Moai’s 24V to 12V. I have used the following step-down converter that i have put into the compartment underneath the vat.

The heater works totally independent from the Moai and it has its own (fused) 220V inlet (with switch) that i have build into the left side panel of the Moai like this:

This 220V inlet can be found here:

The total cost of this heater setup is around $25.

This heater setup work very well for me. After buying the FEP VAT i did not get any successful prints out of my Moai anymore, but after installing this heater, every print succeeds!

Ode to the Moai printer and Happy printing!
Tinkerman

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The photo suggesting the location of the hole for the wiring is not very clear. Could you please explain where you guys feel the best place for the hole should be drilled? Also, should the power supply be inside, or outside the printer? Thanks!

since the new model has the cable up front, it would be better to have the hole drilled on the side panels, the AC converter should be outside

I thought so. I was just hesitant to do so. It seemed sacrilegious to deface the giant black monument. My wife says it reminds her of the thing at the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

I don’t want to release the power!!!

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