I quess I can post here my shitty creationg despite it’s most likely worst enclosure here.
It’s used just for the lipo battery with padding around it. Non-removable. Printed from PETG. Walls are only 2mm thick (wanted to print it fast). Also I forgot to raise the temperature on the printer for stronger (and uglier) print. It held surprisingly well. However once I started testing my board on rough roads and throwing it on the ground, it failed.
Wall thickness of 2mm was probably enough, because I think that once small cracks start to from, it would fail even if thicker. What would improve the strength of the enclosure would be to cover it with some glue.
As per @mishrasubhransu 's request here’s my experience with 3dprinted enclosures-
The 1st board I ever had a 3d printed enclosure on was this guy-
It was a heavily modified version of an enclosure I found on thingiverse. It was printed at around 20-35% infill (can’t remember exactly what what infill used) and was printed from inland pla. It eventually started cracking around the screw holes and if I would do it again I would print it in 100% infill and increase the thickness of the enclosure itself.
This was my second board with a 3d printed enclosure-
This enclosure was designed by @Toughook and i modified it to be just a bit smaller in the width. It was printed in 100% infill from esun pla+/pro and was then sanded,sprayed with filler-primer and painted with rustolium textured spray paint. The board that it’s on is still used daily and the enclosure is holding up great!
here is the 3rd board have built with a 3d printed enclosure-
This was enclosure was a custom design! It has 6mm thick walls all around so it should be super tough! It was printed in 100% infill from esun pla+/pro (my favorite all around filiment). It was then sanded, sprayed with filler-primer and painted with rustolium truck bed liner spray. The board that it’s on was just recently completed so I don’t have a verdict on how durable it is just yet but I suspect it will hold up just fine!
This is the third enclosure I have designed and printed. It fits the contour of a sector nine shoots 33” deck. This was printed, merged together, skinned inside and out with fiberglass.
Here’s what I learned over the last few 3D printed enclosures.
PLA+, PETG and ABS all cracked around the mounting bolts on prior split enclosures that supported the weight of the battery. If your components are mounted to the deck, you’ll take a ton of stress off the enclosure vs having things in the enclosures.
Take off youR 0.4 nozzle and put on a 0.6-1.0 nozzle. Layer height 0.3-0.4.
Most enclosures are poorly designed for 3D printing. All vanguard style split enclosures should have the cavity of the enclosure printed separate from the mounting ring. This substantially reduces print time and removes the need for supports. Then the mounting ring can be glued to the cavity. Bonus if you taper the sides of the enclosure so the ring essentially press fits on. I ran like this for a while on the previous enclosure without issues.
Fiberglass- laying up FG cloth by hand at home is pretty simple. A single layer inside or out of your enclosure is a substantial improvement in strength. Even just coating with epoxy makes a big difference. 3D printing alone most of the time falls short of the durability I need, a little FG fixes that with minimal work or cost.
Also, I used to print enclosures with around 5mm thickness. Now I’m printing them with 2.5-3mm thickness which saves time and then fiberglass handles the strength once all together.
Here’s the enclosure I just finished. I’ll measure and post the files if anyone wants. Sector nine 33 in deck to fit 10S3P. The divots in the design were only 1.5 mm deep, they’re visible and came out great. Will make them 2.5 next time
It’s hard to know. PLA and FG will flex very differently. I don’t use PLA at all anymore. PLA+ is just as easy to print and way all around.
It’s definitely a big improvement. I would make sure the flange is thick and more importantly, where it transfers into the main body of the enclosure is well filleted. Use metal washers and foam gaskets, don’t overtighten.
