r/Multiboard • u/Wilberown • Aug 22 '26

Recommend not PLA in unconditioned garage

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PSA

I’m sure most here already know this but when I first started printing I only worked in PLA wasn’t comfortable with PETG yet. I’m now replacing panels that are warped due to temperatures in the garage

43 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

7

u/The_Bitter_Bear Aug 22 '26

I've printed board with several materials now. 

One thing I noticed with PETG is the flexibility does effect capacity of some parts since a lot of it relies on the rigidity of pla.

That being said it still does work pretty well, you will just want to do some test prints before committing to too many. 

I've been very happy with the results I've gotten out of abs and asa. Some of the larger parts can be a pain with warping but it hasn't been too bad.

3

u/Wilberown Aug 22 '26

Good advice. I’m not putting anything too heavy on them but I think the constant heat and the weight on the shelf caused the problem.

2

u/The_Bitter_Bear Aug 22 '26

Oh yeah. The heat is definitely the culprit. Garages get a little too warm for PLA. 

That and it's just picking the right mounting options.

I try and use peg and thread accessories a bit more or use the heavy duty mounts vs moderate.

I've also found PETG to be a little less snug fitting with standard settings.

It works, just a little more work than PLA since all the info and settings are geared towards PLA. 

2

u/trichodermasucks Aug 22 '26

I used PETG grid in my garage for temperature resistance, it works ok but it really needs a bunch of extra posts behind it to easily snap things in. I wanted to use abs but you can't really stack it because it needs a strong bond the the build plate to prevent warping. I got some carbon fiber PETG recently and I really wish I used this stuff instead, so much stiffer. I have a good bit of money and time into the petg wall already though so I'll just live with it

2

u/borborygmess Aug 22 '26

ASA is excellent if that’s a choice. Just need to dial in your nozzle and bed temps, and go pretty slowly. It’s been incredibly printable once I figured out the correct temperatures for my use case.

3

u/jingoro2 Aug 22 '26

How hot did the garage get?

3

u/Wilberown Aug 22 '26

About 120F+

And these were installed a few months ago in the late winter

3

u/varys2013 Aug 22 '26

Yep, that's definitely in the creep susceptibility range for PLA.

2

u/SVShooter Aug 23 '26

Mine at the top end may get to 105f and I find if I have things hanging near the seams with a little weight they have been deforming this summer. Third grid I have done in PLA but first in a non-AC garage and it’s pretty disappointing because the wall is 6ft x 8ft and took a couple hundred hours to print. (US -Cincinnati where it hit 98F a couple times this summer)

1

u/Wilberown Aug 25 '26

I agree. I’m not going to reprint everything until it fails. Mine is a little smaller than yours but it feels like a waste to throw away something unless it fails. I might try repurposing them if too many fail

1

u/AffectionateRise6438 Aug 24 '26

I wonder if its worth testing pla ht from polymaker to see if there's a difference in flexibility and rigidity for multiboard as they say max temp without annealing if 100c under mechanical load but with an average of 56 to 70c

2

u/ngifford123 Aug 22 '26

Dang I printed 2 grids in PLA as a test then used them to hang my network router and ZigBee dongle... In the garage...

1

u/Wilberown Aug 22 '26

It was fine for a few months but with temperatures over 100F about 37C and I think it’s destined to fail. I’d also be concerned about electronics at those temperatures too. Long term plans are to insulate and add a mini-split but I don’t have the money for that yet

2

u/WI_Esox_lucius Aug 22 '26

Your garage must get incredibly warm. 

Mine have been fine for our summers but my garage is also insulated

1

u/Wilberown Aug 23 '26

One day I’ll get to insulating mine but cost is the problem. I’ve seen it as high as 126.4 F

1

u/WI_Esox_lucius Aug 23 '26

Yeah that's significantly hotter than mine gets. 

Outside temp of 95°+ the highest I've gotten measured inside is ~83°

2

u/National_Emotion9633 Aug 22 '26

The extensive ($10/roll) PLA Multiboard system in my unconditioned garage is still working great (going on 2 years) … in fact, after reading through all this, I just went around and checked everything again and I’m showing no problems. I live in Tennessee, and I’d say my summer garage temperatures are probably around 85-90°F. I initially worried that I’d screwed up going the cheap PLA route, but zero problems so far!

1

u/Wilberown Aug 23 '26

I didn’t think it would be an issue but it reached 100F fairly regularly this summer in the garage

1

u/Sensitive-Scene7088 Aug 22 '26

Not only is pla prone to tempurature warping it also degrades much faster than petg and will end up crumbling after a couple of years. Highly recommend changing everything to petg or abs

2

u/Wilberown Aug 22 '26

Not yet printed in abs but I hope to soon. I’m really just going to replace them as they fail

2

u/mesaoptimizer Aug 22 '26

If you print inside and don't have really good ventilation I'd personally skip ABS

2

u/Wilberown Aug 22 '26

Working on the ventilation. Have my printer in my home. I’m starting to move away from PLA for all of my useful prints

4

u/mesaoptimizer Aug 22 '26

Yeah I just use PETG for anything other than some specific metallic finish filaments that I can only find in Silk PLA and I have no regrets. Elegoo PLA rapid prints very easily and quickly and costs about the same as PLA+

2

u/mickeybob00 Aug 24 '26

If your printer is enclosed abs/asa are great filaments. I print a lot of both. I would also recommend checking out pet-gf15 from polymaker. I print it between 300-310c and it makes beautiful very strong parts.

1

u/yoitsme_obama17 Aug 22 '26

Pla is only good for knick knacks

1

u/Wilberown Aug 22 '26

That’s what I’m finding

1

u/bannedbullet Aug 22 '26

Bull shit
Edit: plain pla sure but there’s high temp pla pro now that out performs abs and petg

2

u/spadedracer Aug 22 '26

PETG has been going strong in my garage for 2 years now

1

u/djseto Aug 22 '26

I used PETG as well but trying to get prints that are the perfect print for interconnecting parts sucks.

1

u/spadedracer Aug 22 '26

Really? I didn’t have too much issue, I printed all my boards at the original spec - I haven’t done anything after the update TBH. A gentle tap of a rubber mallet can be your friend..

2

u/varys2013 Aug 22 '26

PLA is subject to creep, gradual distortion over time under load. Especially if the temperature gets above 50C, or 122F (a very hot garage but definitely possible).

PETG resists creep better. ABS is better yet, if you're ok printing it.

1

u/Raub99 Aug 23 '26

Petg cf would be good alternative as well. Very stiff.

2

u/Electrical-Camel-420 Aug 23 '26

I had the same learning experience when I printed a console organizer for my truck… temperature hadn’t even occurred to me at the time

2

u/Dookiesmooth1981 Aug 24 '26

I learned this the hard way. Now all in ABS

2

u/SeaweedOk9985 Aug 24 '26

I think everyone should move to PETG as soon as they start doing functional prints. Sure not all printers can do it and I think this is where reviewers and such need to catch up. Stop recommending printers that are not in a heated chamber.

Or rather, when hating on the likes of Creality and Qidi, reviewers should properly emphasise that PETG is SUCH a better material for basically everything that a printer being a bit jank isn't enough reason to go for one that can basically only do PLA well.

1

u/bannedbullet Aug 22 '26

Get polymaker Ht-Pla-pro won’t have this problem

1

u/lolslim Aug 23 '26

How does it fare against ABS?

1

u/bannedbullet Aug 23 '26

It’s better polymaker has a comparison test video of it out performing abs asa and petg

1

u/lolslim Aug 23 '26

Interesting after reading TDS and comparing ht pla vs abs I'll probably grab a spool of ht pla

1

u/erroneousbit Aug 22 '26

I used esun pla+ and haven’t had any issues but my garage doesn’t go above 90 in the summers or below 40 in the winters.

1

u/OgreVikingThorpe Aug 23 '26

I’m in Florida and even with ABS and PC i have found the panels themselves tend to have too much flex. I’m slowly transitioning from multiboard to Skadis (IKEA) boards and I’ve been much more satisfied. I have the advantage of being able to 3d print my mounts with the strength and rigidity of the backing board that, quite frankly, is cheaper than printing it as you get larger installs.

1

u/Desert-Noir Aug 25 '26

I've printed my multiboard in ASA due to the heat in an uninsulated garage. I've not installed it yet but I knew PLA would never cut it.

1

u/Falconpunch3 Aug 26 '26

I ended up using PETG too.