It appears there is now another 3D printer that can cause fires.
Several posts online now report fires starting with the Qidi Plus 4 3D printer, an enclosed device that includes an active chamber heater.
A dramatic post on Reddit describes a huge fire that destroyed the poster’s home, with one of several images of the results shown at the top.
It seems that the fire may have been started when the solid-state relay (SSR) in the build chamber shorted out. Speculation is that the SSR configuration in the build chamber may not be correctly designed, which can lead to extreme temperatures and subsequent fires.
This is a very serious problem, and Qidi should consider recalling all these machines immediately. It sounds like it cannot be fixed with software or firmware, and likely requires hardware changes.
That’s an expensive proposition for a 3D printer manufacturer: recalling, repairing, and re-issuing potentially thousands of machines will be quite expensive.
However, recalls of this type have been done before. Bambu Lab did one last year when it was discovered the build plate power cable on the A1 3D printer could be broken if the machine were tipped over. Bambu Lab somehow scraped the money together and provided the necessary upgrades to A1 operators. Now there’s no concern about A1s, which continue to be sold.
That’s the proper way to address a situation like this. The wrong way is to follow ANET’s example from many years ago. That company produced a model, the A8, which initially did not include proper thermal runaway circuitry. As a result, there were multiple fires, and in at least one case, someone died.
ANET made the changes, but did not do so fast enough, and was never able to overcome their reputation. Even after they fixed the machines, few people would purchase their products. Today I’m not even sure if the company is operating, and we haven’t heard from them for years.
What is Qidi doing to address the situation? It appears there is some kind of SSR upgrade, but clearly it did not work in the case of the Reddit poster. In fact, after posting the report of the fire on the Qidi subreddit, the poster was permanently banned for breaking the community’s rules, without proper explanation or response to the report of the fire.
Later, the poster reported they had been contacted by Qidi, but with a seemingly routine “open a trouble ticket” process.
That is definitely NOT how to respond to this issue. Given the fate of ANET, and the success of Bambu Lab’s recall, I expect Qidi to be all hands on deck to very quickly respond to the situation. They should:
- Halt sales and shipments of the device immediately.
- Advise Qidi Plus 4 operators to shut down the machines until further notice.
- Review the fire incident and similar situations.
- Review the design of the components that caused the fire.
- Develop an action plan to rectify the situation, which could involve repairs or replacements.
It’s important to “be public” about the situation, because any moves in the other direction will inevitably lead to a loss of trust in the company. That could be fatal in the long run, as it is extremely difficult to restore a damaged reputation.
Let’s see what Qidi does next.
Via Reddit
