Egej Vencelj Senior software engineer

Projects / 3D printing at home

3D printing at home

I print a lot as a hobby, mostly fixes, holders and fittings for around the house. The latest is a drain fitting for our heat pump, two pieces from one print and designed in code.

Pick a part. Cut it in half to see inside it. The litter scoop also pulls apart from its handle.
Fig. 1 Pick a part. Cut it in half to see inside it. The litter scoop also pulls apart from its handle.

Our heat pump's outdoor unit stands in the attic. When it heats and defrosts, water runs out of one 42 mm hole in its base pan. I wanted a fitting that seals that hole and takes a hose.

The drain fitting. It pushes into the hole from below, an O-ring seals it, and a twist of a small tab locks it. The body and its lock ring are two pieces from one print, printed in place without supports, and the fitting comes out again by hand. It comes as an elbow, a straight fitting and a blanking cap.

Designed in code. The fitting is a Python CAD script, written by coding agents to my brief. A print check in the script fails any part that would need supports. This is the sixth version: earlier ones broke on install or when pulled out, and each fix went into the script.

My own parts. Many of my prints are other people's models. My own I draw in Onshape, among them a doorbell cover, a deck holder, a clip for a playmat tube and feet for a friend's shop. The two-part litter scoop went through about a dozen versions, and the 3D viewer shows it too.