Chamber Heat Insulation for Qidi Q2

One of the main functions of Qidi Q2 is the chamber heating. However practically the heating efficiency is fairly low due to its thin plastic panels. Thus it also consumes a lot of electricity because of this especially if you have a long time printing task with engineering materials. Qidi officially does not recommend to heatup the chamber by only using the chamber heater especially for higher temperature application. You have to turn on both the chamber heater and heated bed(>100°C) together to be able to reach the 65°C and it is very slow to heatup. The initial preparation stage of printing is painful indeed.

Modification Results

I have applied the insulation to the interior of chamber which I am personally quite satisfied with the result. FYI, for purely testing purposes, on my heat insulated Q2, it now takes about 25~30 minutes to heatup the chamber to 65°C from 25°C by using chamber heater only, which originally it'll take at least an hour, or just simply shutdown with a heating error message due to its “verify_heater” setting. During practical printing, which both chamber heater and heated bed are turned on, the heatup time is now noticeably shorten about 30~50% in general. 

Also, the original outer surface of the machine is going to be too hot to touch if you are printing at 65°C chamber temperature. With the heat insulation, the side panels are now warm and touchable, which means it indeed reduces thermal dissipation significantly, thereby also achieving the goal of lowering power consumption. 

Basically, this DIY upgration is highly recommended if you print with engineering materials often.  Otherwise, it might not be your option since it's not really a easy task for the whole installation though. And it does require some craft skills. :)

BOM

The insulation material I am using is 3mm thick "Aluminum Foil Faced Ceramic Fiber Cotton Blanket with Adhesive-bonded". The Ceramic Fiber Cotton also known as Aluminum Silicate Fiber Cotton. It's widely used in industrial heat insulation applications. However, you could also use other materials such as EPP(Expanded Polypropylene) etc. Higher expanding rate is recommended for better heat insulation. 

Aluminum Foil (with fiberglass enhenced) Tape (38mm wide) is used for all taping in my case.

Ø4x2mm N52 Magnets x4 & Cutting Blades(or thin iron sheet), for exhaust vent cover modification.

Some zip-tie and glue may be also needed.

IMPORTANT NOTES

The Ceramic Fiber Blanket's is recommended, however its fiber dust is very hazardous. Make sure you are well protected in order to work on it. Rubber gloves, glasses and breathing mask are needed! It's also recommended to seal the edges of the sheet after you have applied it to prevent the fiber dust from spreading. EPP is much safer to work with. However the EPP doesn't usually come with Aluminum Foil and Adhesive-bonded face. And its heat isulation effect is somewhat weaker than Ceramic Fiber. Also the Ceramic Fiber is much better on hot resistant since the temperature underneath the chamber heater can easily go more than 100~120°C and higher, and EPP or other Polymer type foams would release harmful things under high temperature. 

Another important aspect is the thickness of the insulation sheet or blanket. It has to be less than 3~4mm thick! As the internal space that allows us to apply the insulation is very tight. I bought 3mm thick, however it's measured about 3~3.8mm since the Ceramic Fiber Blanket can't be made very accurate on thickness.

Installation Tips

First of all, you have to take off the two side panels for this modification.

For the left insulation, you can directly mount the chamber heater on top of the insulation. However for the right side, you'll need to cut off the insulation sheet according to the shape of the Aux. fan (only the squared base of the fan assembly ) due to the very tight space between the fan and the bed platform. Make sure you have checked the distance between the bed platform and the fans on both sides before you turn on your machine.

Important note for the left heat insulation:

Make sure you have well electrical isolation after the left heat insulation has been installed, since the Host(Upper) MCU board is right on top of the Aluminum Foil Tape which we are using for taping. I would suggest to use electrical insulating barley paper (or fish paper?). However, I didn't use it in my showcase since I have relocated the Host(upper) MCU Board, see my another mods. 

To apply the rear insulation, you'll have to cut off the silicone wiper tray for two teeth wide, as it'll interfere with the insulation. But don't worry, this two teeth wide surface is never used for hotend wiping anyway since the toolhead can't move to that far end.

Other than the regular tools such as rulers, scissors and cutters etc. I also used hole puncher (9mm) which allows me to easily cut the holes for the fan mounting posts on the blanket. Those holes were neither pre-punched nor marked on CADs. I simply put the sheet on the panel and align it to the right position, then I press on the sheet where the posts are underneath. Then I have the marks where I can punch holes.

Tools

Tools I was using for your reference. 4mm drill bit and Electric hand drill are not in the picture. 

My protection measurements.

Dimension Diagrams

I am pasting the dimension diagrams here for easy access. You can also download the CAD files and ZIP file as well. The dimension unit is in mm.

Showcases and Instructions

Pictures of my installation for your reference.  

Front and bottom view

Top front view

Front view

Right side view. For the right side, you'll need to cut off the insulation sheet according to the shape of the Aux. fan (only the squared base of the fan assembly) due to the very tight space between the fan and the bed platform.

Left side view. My left side insulation is in one full piece(same dimensions as the right insulation) since I have relocated the Host(upper) MCU Board, see my another mods. For the left insulation, you can directly mount the chamber heater on top of the insulation.

Rear view

Cover for exhaust vent.

Four Ø4x2mm N52 magnets are used to hold the cover.  4mm drill bit is needed to enlarge the original holes. And super glue was applied to secure the magnets.

Four piece of cutting blades were taped in position which matchs the magnets on the exhaust vent door. 

To apply the rear insulation, you'll have to cut off the silicone wiper tray for two teeth wide, as it'll interfere with the insulation. But don't worry, this two teeth wide surface is never used for hotend wiping anyway since the toolhead can't move to that far end.

G-Code FYI

As to the Klipper G-code for the chamber heating, here are my settings and tweaks for your reference.

Enjoy!