heated printbed of the DICE sealed

Written by René. Posted in blog - english

Because the DICE is disassembled at the moment, I seized the moment and sealed the heated printbed with silicone. This is possible because I designed a relatively "special" printbed: 8mm thick, precisionmilled, warmcasted aluminum and PEI-coated.

Unlike standard rolled aluminum sheet, this warmcasted aluminum has virtually no internal stress, which ensures that it does not bend when heated. In this thick plate is enough space for a 5mm deep recess into which the 60W silicone heater fits perfectly:

Since the wires of the heater are led out on the side of the plate, this opening must be closed prior to pouring the liquid silicone in. Perfect for this task: Sugru! This is something like silicone clay. If you processed it, it feels like modeling clay, after hardening it is stuck, flexible and electrically insulating. In addition, it is up to 180°C heat-resistant, more than enough for the heated bed. If you want to know more, here's a nicely made promotional video: youtube/sugru

So I mixed 24 ml silicone: 12ml silicone-base and 12ml crosslinkers and then filled up the recess. The amount is sufficient to fill the it flush with the edge and because of the Sugru-plug nothing oozes. Perfect!

Finally, the bed needed to get aligned as horizontally as possible, so that the silicone is going to harden perfectly flat. Done!

Tags: DICE, Silikon