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I just finished the sunroof drain corner...I did the RH one, but it could be mirrored for the LH side. My Fusion360 skills are rudimentary, so apologies about the quality of that bit. I think my "spout" is a little shorter than the original, mainly because I added a block around it to help keep the tube circular during the printing process (I cut the block off after I was done removing supports, as seen in photos below.) I made the walls 2mm thick and the tube walls 1.5mm thick, so should hopefully be strong than the original. Whether PLA will stand up to living in the roof of a car is maybe another thing, guess I'll find out.
I printed this on my Prusa MK3S, and, in theory, I can post the files to prusaprinters.org without having to create Yet Another Account somewhere, but my output file was an STL and said website won't take that format. What's the most helpful format for everyone? I'll put the STL on my blog and post a link here, for the time being, when I can get to it. It took about four hours to print, using the 3-D printing utility now included with Windows 10.
(The one in my car broke not due to age, but because the original casting was paper thin on the upper tube wall.)
This thread is awesome first off. I'm actually working on replacement hooks for the sunroof shades. As far as printing those sunroof drains in PLA, I'm not sure it'll hold up. I print A LOT, I mean A LOT of stuff. I've found PLA to print super easy but it doesn't take much heat to make it deform. I printed a couple of things for my drone and sitting outside in the heat, in the shade, it turned to play doh. I use ABS for everything now. But Thingiverse is a good place to post files if you have an account.
Yeah, you're definitely right, Greg. I just did some quickie heat testing, and I'm going to have to get a spool of ABS, the PLA deformed pretty readily at what I would consider pretty modest heat. I'm really new to 3D printing and this is actually the first useful thing I've modeled. I want to make the spigot longer, I'll share the STL when I'm done with that.
I have built an enclosure for my main printer to print ABS better with it. I really like using ABS. And for the things I make, (Etsy shop) it definitely sands easier and is more workable than PLA. I'd love to get that file when you're done! And good luck!
This a good point that I forgot to raise. I’m spoiled and both of my machines run ABS so I tend to forget about PLA! A quick primer for those of you who are new to 3D printing:
Most 3D printers that you will come across will use either Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) or Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic. PLA is cheaper and easier to work with so its very likely the machines you will encounter at a library or at home are running PLA. The problem with PLA is that it’s biodegradable (it’s actually derived from corn) which is not something you typically want on a truck! The UV rays from the sun will break the lactic acid chains apart and your part will get very weak. The solution is to spray your finished part with some sort of UV blocking varnish or paint it, that way the harmful rays are blocked and your part will last WAY longer.
ABS is an engineering plastic so it’s much tougher (Legos are made from ABS) and a lot of the plastics already on your truck are ABS, look for it stamped in to a panel next time you have to take one off. After prolonged exposure to UV it will fade but will maintain its structure, so it holds up much better. Depending on the application you still may want to treat it with spray lacquer or paint to maintain its color.
I ended up printing this using PETG, since I sit right next to my printer and have neither time nor energy to enclose/hood/move/throw out the darn thing at the moment.
This is "published" to thingiverse, but I'm new there, so have to wait 24 hours or something. This will be its eventual URL:
