Ambient Temperature Range for Printer Storage/Usage

Question

I've just joined the 3D Printing world and am patiently waiting for my printer to come in next week. I've been thinking about keeping my printer in the garage so that it stays out of the way of every day life.

Since I am in the Midwest, I was wondering if this is the best plan. Is it okay to store and use my printer when the ambient temperature can get as low as 10 °F (about -12 °C) and as high as 120 °F (about 50 °C)? Would the cold affect my prints substantially, mainly using PLA, PETG and some TPU? Would larger prints, spanning days, affect the filament on the spool?

Note that I am solely talking about the printer. I plan on keeping the filaments inside the house so they won't be bothered by the temp extremes.

My google searches came up with nothing and I didn't find anything on the supplier from which I purchased my printer. I doubt that it matters, but in case it does, my printer is the Creality CR-10S

Answer 1

Printers are electrical machines. They don't like water, so they also don't like condensation in them. If you can keep your garage dry and prevent a sheet of metal inside it from rusting, then your printer might survive the problems the shifting temperatures induce by condensing water vapor on the electronics.

Another thing to consider is, that at negative degrees Celsius, your printer might trigger a mintemp error, as the minimum temperature allowable is usually defined as 0 °C or higher. On the other hand, low temperatures might allow to bridge further than other days, as the cold air absorbs the heat from the prints faster. It could cause other problems like clogging or under extrusion due to low temperature though.

High summer temperatures might impact the print quality, causing quite some extra sagging.

The Filament on the machine in a garage might be impacted because of the humidity changes, but might be mitigated with a drybox.