Outdoor enclosure for PMS5003 Particulate Matter Sensor

I needed an enclosure for the the PMS5003 Particle sensor that would meet my needs:

• slanted roof so rain/moisture rolls off
• mesh covered inlets to prevent critters from making a home inside

• anchor points for screwing into a pole / wall
  Inspired by this.

  A more comprehensive write-up about integrating the sensor in to a weather station is here.

  The mesh filters are standard 19mm / .75 inch tobacco pipe filters available from any tobacco shop or amazon/ebay...etc. They're optional and can be secured with a bit of super-glue.

  There are three parts to print:

• the main body

• the base

• the 'roof'
  The roof is optional but suggested for outdoor deployments.
  Two M3 screws between 6 and 12mm should be used to secure the base to the main body. I had best results with 10mm. The holes do not have any threading and are intentionally undersized a bit so the screw becomes self-tapping. For best results, use a lighter or similar to heat the screw up a bit before inserting to properly melt the plastic and form proper threads. This will also make it possible to use M4 or screws that are similar size.

  Glue can work if you've got no screws handy but that'll make things a bit harder to service.

  The base does have a small hole for cable egress which should should be sealed up with a bit of caulk or similar.

  Designed in Fusion360. Exported the three STL files and STEP files.

  While designing the enclosure, I used this PMS5003 model from Leclercq Gregory.

Print instructions

Category: DIY Summary

I needed an enclosure for the the PMS5003 Particle sensor that would meet my needs:

• slanted roof so rain/moisture rolls off
• mesh covered inlets to prevent critters from making a home inside

• anchor points for screwing into a pole / wall
  Inspired by this.

  A more comprehensive write-up about integrating the sensor in to a weather station is here.

  The mesh filters are standard 19mm / .75 inch tobacco pipe filters available from any tobacco shop or amazon/ebay...etc. They're optional and can be secured with a bit of super-glue.

  There are three parts to print:

• the main body

• the base

• the 'roof'
  The roof is optional but suggested for outdoor deployments.
  Two M3 screws between 6 and 12mm should be used to secure the base to the main body. I had best results with 10mm. The holes do not have any threading and are intentionally undersized a bit so the screw becomes self-tapping. For best results, use a lighter or similar to heat the screw up a bit before inserting to properly melt the plastic and form proper threads. This will also make it possible to use M4 or screws that are similar size.

  Glue can work if you've got no screws handy but that'll make things a bit harder to service.

  The base does have a small hole for cable egress which should should be sealed up with a bit of caulk or similar.

  Designed in Fusion360. Exported the three STL files and STEP files.

  While designing the enclosure, I used this PMS5003 model from Leclercq Gregory.

  Print Settings

Printer Brand: MK3

Printer: Prusa i3

Rafts: No

Supports: No

Notes:

The suggested print orientation is shown in on of the attached photos. No raft/support is needed when printing this way.

The enclosure features a few small protrusions that are meant to grip the sensor with a friction fit so there's no significant penalty for printing on sloppy or fast settings. I used ABS for outdoor durability, but any material will work.

If deploying outdoors, you'll want to make sure that your infill and layer adhesion are set so the enclosure has no way for moisture ingress. To help with this, there is an optional triangle shaped component that can be glued to the roof to make sure water rolls off.