Reminder ABS & PLA, plastics in general burn!

I’ve been seeing a lot of Candle holders, and other things that will be close to fire lately, an ashtray was even featured this week. Be careful with these things. Take a piece of your filament outside and hold a lighter to it for a few seconds before you consider putting a 3D printed thing anywhere near a heat source. All of the filaments I use burn very easily, and once they catch fire rivers of burning molten plastic drip off them too.

This public service announcement has been brought to you by the number 3 and the letter F.

Dan.

Haha shame that so many designs revolve around placing candles in them. A good alternative is a dollar store flameless electric candle. Some of them even flicker!

1 Like

One has to be careful with PLA filaments and designs that use light bulbs. May not actually burn the filament but a light bulb (lamps, xmas lights etc) can generate enough heat to melt or warp the design if too close.

2 Likes

Then what would be a good alternative light source for placing in printed models? Thanks

I generally use LED bulbs. They have gotten MUCH cheaper than they used to be and don’t get hot at all. I also tend to print in ABS, Nylon, or PET which all get soft at much higher temperature than PLA when it’s going to be exposed to direct sunlight or a mild heat source. This reduces the change that it will deform over time.

Make it with glow in the dark filament and it’ll give off it’s own light :wink:

1 Like

yes, you are right. Since the high temperature could make the filaments melt.

It doesn’t just melt it catches fire and it burns and produces lots of black smoke. Take a pieces of filament outside and light it with a lighter, it catches fire just as easily as a candle would. And then it melts while it’s burning so you get a burning puddle…

I think this will clear things up…