@Geit, I have a question about ABS. My wife lost the air concentrator for her hair dryer. She asked if I could print a new one. I quickly designed one and printed it with Hello3D PETG Carbon black filament. It printed beautifully; I mean really beautiful. As I’ve noted before about this filament, it’s difficult to even see any layer lines. However, I warned her that it may not be able to withstand the hair dryer’s temperature. And that turns out to be the case. I tried it for about a minute this morning and it softened quite a bit. Obviously, I don’t want her using it for her hair. I don’t want to take a chance that it will emit nasty fumes for her to breathe in.
So, my question is: do you think ABS would work for this application? Could it withstand the temperature?
Well, it starts to get a little soft at around 100 to 105°C. This does not mean it instantly fails at that temperature. If so we would just use 100°C to print ABS. We usually are at least 120°C hotter than that.
It starts to get a little soft. If you make the nozzle walls of a decent size it could work as it softens on the inside first, while the outside acts as a heat sink. I would give it a try with a 1-1.5mm wall size and a solid wall.
I could imagine that the usage time is not even the worst case. I think it is the moment when you turn it off. The heated air is stuck in the nozzle. Even with my hair dryer, I use the cold mode for a few seconds, before hanging it back to the wall. Usually happens automatically as the cold mode is beyond off. So I switch from 3 to cold, back to off.
It is an interesting project, you have the model and a reason to do some practical printing. What can go wrong?
It did soften quite a bit, especially the outlet part. I hadn’t thought about using the cold air setting. My concern was that it might release fumes while hot. With her compromised immune system, I don’t want my wife breathing any filament fumes.
The design took very little time: a couple of lofts, and shells, and it was done.
