Stepper Motors in Enclosure?

General LulzBot TAZ
1

I played around with hot boxing my printer during some large prints. I found that the enclosure did not really help with the print lifting/warping but I hope it is because enclosure was makeshift (honestly I’m still having a hard time getting large prints to stick at the corners, even with brim).

During my experiments I found that the stepper motors became ridiculously hot to touch. I burnt my hand. Is this ok for them? Are they designed to handle the extra heat of an enclosure? I know a lot of people build enclosures, has anyone had any issues with the stepper motors in them?

I know I need to vent the electrical box or install it on the outside of the enclosure. I was leaning towards moving it to the outside of the enclosure but this becomes a pain if i ever needed to remove the enclosure, I may end up just venting it instead.

2

i know some folks have mounted heat sinks and fans on their steppers… depending on the part being printed they could need cooling.

3

Stepper motors can handle alot of heat. The bearings can eventually fail somewhat quicker than they would otherwise in those conditions, and the plastic mounts the motors are attached to should be a concern since they might melt, but otherwise the motors are probably going to be ok, and if they aren’t they are fairly inexpensive to replace. You can plaster the outside with tons of heatsyncs if it will help.

The electronics and the stepper controllers are an entirely different issue. If those get too warm you will get wierd jerky prints and melted expensive components.