Note: The front door position has been reversed since the pictures were taken.
The Ender 3 puts 3D printers in an entirely new price range. Who could have imagined you could buy a fully functional 3D printer for under $200? Give the low prices, we never intended to make an enclosure for this printer, but to our surprise, someone went ahead and actually paid us in advance for the darn thing.
Even though we don't expect to sell a whole lot of these, it got a lot of extra features anyway. First, the power supply unit was moved outside, and the enclosure comes with the cables to make that happen. As clever as the port designs are on our other enclosures, moving the power supply is the best option, made possible by Creality's wise choice of connector cables.
The second extra this has is a set of swinging side doors to make it easy to get at the extruder. The front door had to be moved as well since for some reason Creality put the control panel on the extreme right. Note that based on customer feedback the door now opens from the right, which is different from what’s depicted in the pictures.
Advantages of adding a 3DUPfitters enclosure:
- Better quality prints because the ambient temperature is controlled
- Keeps the power supply cool while the interior is hot enough for consistent prints with advanced material
- More flexibility to print different types of filaments, including ABS
- Optional fume filter or vent to the outside (both sold separately)
- Thick 6mm acrylic doors and 3mm sides
The enclosure works by retaining the heat from the bed to bring the ambient temperature up high enough so that ABS and other filaments that expand when they cool are stabilized. If your main concern is the smell of melting plastic, it can be mitigated using an optional carbon filter. But if you are more interested in improving overall indoor air quality, a better solution is to vent to the outside via a hose. (not included). If you just want the highest possible enclosure temperature just put on the included air vent cover and it'll heat up as hot as possible.
How it's Built
All of the plastic parts are 3D printed in ABS to withstand the heat from the enclosure. The panels are cut on a US-made industrial laser and then flat packed for your assembly. All you need to put it together is a hex wrench and a small Phillips head screwdriver. (not included.)
Includes
- Outside dimensions 22" (Depth), 19" (Width), 19" (Height).
- Fits the Creality Ender 3 and Ender 3 Pro.
- Acrylic spool holder
- 6mm acrylic front panel with frame, doors, injection-molded hinges, magnetic latch, custom-designed latch mount in ABS, steel strike plates, and matching screws.
- 3mm acrylic sides and top with access ports for cables and filament.
- There is no bottom. The enclosure is designed to sit on a flat surface that acts as a bottom.
- 5V 60x60mm fan. (3D print a cover if you don't wish to vent.)
- 140 screws, nuts, bolts, all connecting plastic pieces, and miscellaneous parts.
Sold Separately
The Ender 3 Enclosure Installation Manual is quite helpful.
