Buck converters: Quieten your 3D printer with a Noctua fan & directly power your Pi

[@TeachingTech]

Some good discussion in the comments from some knowledgeable people. Here are some additional (and clarifying) thoughts: 1. Yes, you should shut down the pi first before killing the printer power. Forgot to film this, but it is best practise. 2. Despite the fact that I have shown ways of using less than 24V fans on a 24V system, and the fact that the developers of Marlin have acknowledged this as a solution and included it in their firmware. You are better off just using a 24V blower for part cooling. This is why my shopping links below are for 24V blowers. 3. The Noctua 40x10 fan I used flows less air than the cheaper fan that came with the printer. I have had zero issues so far with prints since fitting it, perhaps this is because I have a Hero Me duct fitted, which when I tested it seems to have a better seal around the hot end heat sink. A larger 40x20mm Noctua fan is linked below, and for only a dollar more, is definitely a safer bet to prevent heat creep and potential clogs. 4. The gauge of the wire I used was overkill. I mentioned this in the video and had a note in the description. That's what I had at the time, it still works, just harder to make the Dupont connectors neatly. 5. Some people in the know have commented that the capacitor is not a great idea. I tend to agree, and I don't recommend it, when enabling soft_PWM fixed the whine anyway.

[@jamesg.4384]

The linked Noctua 40x20 is a 5v fan. Unfortunately, Noctua doesn't make a 24v fan in either the 40mm or 50mm size range.

[@ozzracer]

Teaching Tech I see you mention a4x10pwm on the list but you used a4x10 flx Noctua .The difference matters or not?

[@TeachingTech]

James that is to use with the buck converter.

[@TeachingTech]

Ozzy since they are running at 100% permanently I don't believe it matters.

[@rentaspoon219]

www.overclockers.co.uk/noctua-nf-a4x20-flx-5000rpm-fan-40mm-fg-05w-nc.html For other people's reference. It's a shame they don't have room for 80mm fans be quiet pure rock fans are amazing

[@markwood9751]

Here is a tip for soldering those XT60 connectors... Plug them together before soldering, this stops the pins pulling out of line when the plastic gets soft during soldering ;)

[@Loz348]

and it stops the plastic deforming making them tight to get back together. if they heat up and cool down together they will fit better together its an RC thing

[@dexter323i]

@Teaching Tech First, thank you so much for all your help! Your videos so much detailed and helpful! I made this silent upgrade on my Ender-3, and found a much much better solution for 12V part cooling fan. Here's the deal: (On SKR Mini E3 boards, but guess it is the same on factory Ender mobo) The part cooling fan output is strange. The positive terminal is a CONSTANT 24V, and the ground is connected/disconnected via the PWM! It is crazy! So grab your DCDC step-down converter, connect it's positive input to the mobo fan 24V output, but you need to connect the DCDC ground input to a constant ground! Like on the power supply. Limit down the converter to 12V, then connect your 12V fan in the following way: The fan's 12V wire goes to step-down converter positive output, but the fan's ground is goes to the mobo fan ground. In this way the fan gets a constant 12V from the converter, and a PWM ground from the motherboard. It works! You change the fan speed on the printer between 0% and 100%, and the voltage on the fan changes between 0V and 12V. When you drive your fan 100% then there's no PWM sound at all. No need to change anything in the FW.

[@AM-pi7jy]

This is very interesting! It would make things so much easier! Have you tested this on SKR Mini E3 V2 as well?

[@jasonbruce2730]

Just getting around to the video, but I can confirm (from right around the 5:00 min mark, the BTT SKR v1.3 does NOT have enough current to run the RPi running from one of the Max_Endstops (I measured about 1.9A from the X_Max) and Octoprint just wouldnt load. Great video, keep em up Mike.

[@davidhuffman4013]

great video, if you turn the crimp connectors over in your tool for the Dupont kit you will find that it crimps better and you are less likely to have one of the upright legs get damaged.

[@AngryRamboShow]

I got a pack of those LM2596 buck converters off of amazon awhile back. Pretty useful little modules. How I tend to solder my power wires on them is to first put a small bead of solder on all four of the pads, then all you have to do is heat up the bead and pad and press the appropriate wire lead into the melted solder. I also tend to give the lead of the wire a touch from the well tinned iron to get the solder to stick around it; that helps with welding the lead to the pad and making a sturdy connection.

[@TeachingTech]

Great info, thanks for sharing.

[@cube.in.]

That software fan solution is a great idea. Thanks. I have to say. The first time i have stumbled upon you, i didn't like your videos (7 printable upgrades for ender 3, Four ways to beat moire on your 3D printer). Since then your content got much better (How to tune your slicing settings video has helped me quite a bit). Keep up the good work.

[@tomaszbiskup891]

Its not. The meter averages 50% duty pwm to 12V but you still getting impulses of 24V just with 50% duty cycle. You need LC filter to smooth it out.

[@tomaszbiskup891]

Another thing is You coud do everything with just 1 buck converter to 12V. Every fan/heater is ground(-) switched with n-mosfet so you can put the positive (+) side of the fans to the 12v output of the Buck converter

[@SianaGearz]

@@tomaszbiskup891 don't see that you necessarily need to filter the signal. The electronics of these fans is universal between 12V and 24V, what happens if you connect a 12V to 24V, is that they will run way too fast, too loud, and will dissipate more heat on the motor windings than they can survive for any length of time. If you can just limit the amount of energy absorbed even just by crude PWM, it's fine.

[@tomaszbiskup891]

@@SianaGearz I agree with You about motors but maybe some of the Hall sensor in fan cant handle higher voltages. When you change duty cycle You control the amout of energy to the fan and inertia average speed of blades. But its wrong to say that PWM regulate Voltage. 50% PWM of 24v its not really 12V especially when You put capacitor on the output.

[@cube.in.]

Problem with buck converter is that you you lose speed control. Right now i have all my fans on one buck converter and i am looking for a solution for speed control and looks simple and functional enough. Btw. Can you guys check your ender 3 power supply fan? Mine was rated for 12V and connected to 24V rail. It has worked 6 months like that (also solved with buck convertor).

[@martinsendejas5650]

The downside of using the controller box power supply is that you will not have an independent power supply for the pi. By having a separate power supply if you're using a relay to shut off the power in the event of thermal runaway you will still be able to monitor the Webcam feed to ensure that you don't have to call someone locally to put it out or contact the fire dept. I have a fire detection unit connected to pi as a safety also. Hope this helps.

[@nathanielcutajar]

Not to mention, if you want to work on the raspberry pi only (like updating / adding packages, doing changes on octoprint, uploading files, etc...) you'd need to turn on the printer also, which is a waste of power and noise

[@allwoundup3574]

Just plug the pi into a different power supply? It's not like you're permanently modifying the board.

[@PedroRego31]

Do you read minds?? I just bought a Noctua fan and was thinking: " Damn, it would be awesome if TT made a video about Installing the fan and the step down". Thank you a lot

[@DennisMurphey]

I was searching for power regulators and found this video. I had been watching your Videos for weeks as I just bought a CR 10S Pro. I use it to print 3D parts for my Model Train. Currently a Smoke Generator using a Fan to puff every stroke of the steam engine. When I saw your face and heard your voice I was shocked, but you used the Buck Convertor exactly the way I need to for my Smoke Heater Coil and MIni DC Can motor. I watched the video and yes I need quieter fans too. But then I saw the links OMG! about $1 is all I need to fix my problem. Now I can build the 6 Smoke Kits for my Train buddies and allow then to simply bring track voltage up to the smoke and the Buck Convertor will keep the heater coil at the correct temperature and not melt my 3D printer housing!!!!! It was an awesome night, thank you so much. And I love the 10S Pro my first smoke housing off of it was like jewelry.

[@calmdymon]

I bought 5V fans, they are cheaper and connected them all to 5v port , job done , no need any voltage coverter !!! double savings on money , and time ,and no adding extra unnecessary components !

[@coffinsnail6930]

Personally i would not heat shrink the converter because the componets will generate heat and heat shrink will keep it in. Id print a box for it that allows for air to get in and out.

[@j3k2006]

good advice

[@ster9765]

I like this, post it on thingiverse

[@jasonm2477]

if it is an actual buck converter it should be over 90% efficient and will generate very little heat

[@elvinhaak]

@@jasonm2477 Yes but still... a Raspberry-pi can use up to 2.5 Amps, if you have a nice camera, small display and some lights added to it, it will be well over 3 Amps. Cheap buck converters don't work that efficient if they are used close to their max. continuous use, so say about 80% efficient, 20% loss (I did actually measure on converters like shown in the video). 3 Amps is 15 Watts at 5 V, so you will using about .3 Watts in the buck-converter and it will be getting pretty warm after a while. Of course these higher loads are only if you are printing fast with camera and display on but without cooling this is a bit much. That said, I have one hooked up in heatshrink and I noticed that it painful to my hands so I changed it to a more open aproach later and started calculating just then...

[@gaby1491]

@@jasonm2477 other youtubers have shown the efficiency to be on average 75%

[@aaronbyrne-colgan186]

Exactly what I was looking for! My Ender 3's mainboard fan just started making a horrible racket a few days ago. Gonna swap it out now for some Noctuas

[@SteinerSE]

After watching your previous guides I decided to go with the EZABL rather than the BTouch, while looking at the TH3D site I found an additional item that I don't think you've mentioned, their Raspberry Pi direct wire power adapter (that will power both a Pi and their EZABL directly from the power supply). Thank you for for this video as I've been wondering how to use Noctua fans.

[@CuguTuxo]

I think shutting down the printer power supply by octopi controlled relay may be better and definitely the ultimate quiet (and power saving) solution. You can buy it super cheap and use octoprint plugin for smart control. Yes, you have to power up octopi separately but it is not much of an issue since it runs great on any 2.1A phone USB charger.

[@HenkFueltank]

even better, get a Sonoff (IoT relay) from your favourite chinese supplier and use octopi to power on/off your printer (don't forget to read up about safety!)

[@jazekerxx7535]

you definitly can remove the coil whine with a capacitor. you just need a bigger one. i have tested it and the lower pwm you want to use without coil whine the bigger the capacitor has to be. but at really low pwm it takes some time before the fan starts to spin.

[@Damjanhd]

You should use thinner wire, because consumption of rapsberry pi is not that high. And when you setup voltage you should set higher not lower, to 5.2v. Instead of using buck converter for fan you can use a about 50 ohms 1w resistror, it depends on how much speed you want.

[@5Komma5]

Not sure if I'd consider a gas flame "mild heat" :)

[@marcdraco2189]

I cringed a bit too! A micro soldering torch is far more accurate source of heat.

[@sonofguns1016]

I often use a blow torch, much faster

[@chloemcholoe3280]

I'd make it a little higher like 5.1-5.2 even. At least usually works. because when drawing large amounts of current and using long wires the voltage tends to drop. and the raspberry Pi tends to like higher voltages by a little (you get that annoying voltage drop error icon otherwise)

[@redstarsrbija]

You want to use a CERAMIC smoothing capacitor. Electrolytic wont smooth the harmonic frequencies in the PWM signal 'fast enough'.

[@airheadbit1984]

You need an LC filter - look it up

[@SteinerSE]

Maybe add the appropriate type/gauge wire to the shopping list too?

[@toofpyk3923]

Yes! I have been trolling around Amazon and cannot find a wire with both leads in one sheath. (I have seen in other videos that 16 AWG is used)

[@omnicitadel]

@@toofpyk3923 found this... www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Nimbus-Conductor-CMP-Rated-Speaker/dp/B017SDE0KM/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=16+gauge+double+insulated&qid=1595382078&sr=8-5 labeled as speaker wire...

[@seagullhunterfpv]

Great tips, I've got two voltage regulators on my Ender 3, one to power a 92mm Zalman fan that I used to replace the PSU fan and one to power a 12V LED strip. I wouldn't used one for the Pi simply because I'd have to keep the Ender 3 on all the time as cutting the power to Pi without shutdown will undoubtedly cause OS corruption due to the nature of Linux. I definitely want to update my Hotend fan and main board fan now though, so much quieter and I've already got dampeners fitted. One thing worth mentioning is that there's a slightly neater way of wiring the voltage regulators than using a double XT60 connector. If you open the PSU and remove the plastic cover on the bottom there are a few spare terminals available on the terminal block which output 24V. I just crimped some connectors to the positive and negative wires that go to the regulator and connected them directly to the spare PSU terminals.

[@TeachingTech]

Great tip, I didn't think to check the PSU connectors.

[@seagullhunterfpv]

@@TeachingTech thanks for the reply. Yeah I've found it pretty neat like that. Currently got an led strip set up around the frame that comes from a voltage regulator that's connected to the terminal connectors. Makes it look a bit more stock I think

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

Man, I have almost as much $ in parts planned for my Ender as the printer itself cost and haven't even taken delivery. 😨😁😂

[@TeachingTech]

That's half of the fun :)

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

@@TeachingTech TH3D released a vid taking exception to your suggestion to use the 4010 fan due to heat creep on longer prints. He didn't say anything about the 4020 other than he doesn't stock Noctua at all. He might not have read through where you corrected some details in the comments. I guess this field is like cars; no 2 behave the same and what works for 1 may not work for another. Thanks for your productions, I've learned a lot in a short time.

[@ThomasWilliamsjr1]

I've close to doubled the cost of my ender with the additions. mine is a week old now, and I don't regret a thing!

[@jasonlarnach6770]

Yep, 300 on printer 300 on mods. Funsies!

[@BlackopsSOG1]

at this point youd be better off buying a prusa to save you time. unless the project is what you’re after

[@SteinerSE]

New thought, instead of the 1 to 2 XT60, why not use the extra terminals on the PSU and add 2 more leads out for 3 24v XT60's (or whatever connector preferred) available for extras? (Going from the Ender 3 both new and old PSU seems to have 3 sets of terminal outs). Love all your guides btw!

[@TeachingTech]

That's a great suggestion, I hadn't thought of looking under the PSU cover for spare terminals.

[@olafschermann1592]

I placed a buck converter for 12V into the PSU. And to avoid troubles i made 24V-XT60 and 12V-XT30

[@yogimarkmac]

Can probably de-rate that output a bit after wrapping it in a cozy plastic blanket to decrease heat radiation.

[@AstralJaeger]

A 220uF Cap is way to big in my opinion, you'd need something like a RC fitler to really improve that.

[@yogimarkmac]

I'd start with a 0.1uF ceramic, I doubt that you need a polarized cap. Interesting experiment #437.

[@johnhelyar1366]

Hi there hope you can help i have changed my hot end fan to the same one in your video and used the same buck converter and that side of it is now working great. but now my part cooling fan seems to make this strange buzzing pulsing sound that changes with speed but almost goes when at full speed are you able to help with this. I have a Ender 3v2 with a 4.2.7 Silent board Cheers in advance

[@markcoren2842]

Wow what perfect timing! Working out the details of this upgrade was going to be my weekend project this week. Now I may be able to get everything in time to do the actual upgrade by Sunday. Thanks for another great video!

[@billsolomon1]

Do you ever sleep? Great video, a little over my head! But I do understand what you did. Thanks!

[@Tony49Romas]

Is it possible to regulate the voltage of the hotend fan throught firmware? From 24V to 12V

[@buder5116]

i was about to say pwm when reduced make alot of noisy but nice to see you can change the frequancy to make it quieter :D 9:06 for the code timestamp for me :D

[@JasonZnack]

Very nice install job as usual. Excellent tutorial.

[@RideableEntertainment]

Hey Michael, I am not sure if I got this right: At 5:17 min you talk about avoiding buck converters completely. Does this mean I can simply power my Raspberry pi 3 from the Ender 3 mainboard with a simple 2 wire connector (using your wire diagram at 5:31 min)? That would be absolutely awesome! Or did I get this wrong? Greetings from Germany Michael

[@sevenr34]

as always your videos are well laid out,we appreciate all the time and effort you put into it.couldnt imagine the amount of research time.i have a similar system in the work using a little bigger regulator with voltage display.youve done a nice job.keep the vids coming.

[@Jon.Kyle.Art.]

What size wire do you recommend for the wiring the Pi to the PSU? I've seen people use 12, 16, 18 AWG. Is there a difference between these, or is it negligible for the printer and pi combo? Thank you for all your hard work!

[@cammac0711]

Would love to know this too!

[@MichaelChaconchacon]

What gauge did you end up going with?

[@Jon.Kyle.Art.]

@@MichaelChaconchacon ended up buying 18 awg

[@MichaelChaconchacon]

@@Jon.Kyle.Art. thanks!

[@haqeeqee]

Hi. What gauge wire did you use?

[@bojunxu123]

About the black noctua fans shown in your video, can you make a video showing us how to paint it if that's what you did?

[@MileHighs]

Do you have a link to the wire you’re using?

[@JakeW50]

biggest thing for ender 3 owners is get a silent board from creality, it works amazingly. took my ender 3 which sounded like soviet aviation technology and now all i can really hear is the fans, im shocked by how well it works, itll only set you back about $30 aswell

[@ignassungaila5781]

why not use the free connections on the psu tho?

[@AlexSwan]

I did wire up the cooling fan exactly like you showed, a Noctua 12V fan, and the buck converter is putting out 12V when the fan is set to 100% (255). However on lower speeds the voltage is too low then and the fan won’t start spinning. Even on 20% the voltage isn’t enough. How did you get around that?

[@blutorlz3]

I wonder if the newer boards have a 5v line that could be directly wired to a pi, similar to what is shown at 5:38?

[@razstec]

How can i check a xt60 splitter? Already burn One board because a defective splitter 🙁

[@first-thoughtgiver-of-will2456]

You look like Jordan Reye's Australian cousin. Awesome videos.

[@trohn_javolta8485]

I noticed that the mainboard fan also isn't exactly quiet plus the hole in the lid is smaller than the fan. So I'm gonna print a new lid and put another noctua fan in as mainboard fan. I also want this fan to be powered off the hotend cooling fan so it will run all the time (standard fan connector only runs if part cooling fan is running). Can anyone tell me if I could just hook it up to the buck converter in addition to the hotend cooling fan? If so how would one best split the female dupont connector?

[@Cergorach]

I also think that the partcooling fan is going to be the lowdest part of the printer after replacing the main cooling fan with a noctua. I'm considering replacing it with a 2x 40mm noctua setup with an appropriate airduct. But that's some heavy investments in noctua fans...

[@TeachingTech]

In Aus they are stupid expensive, I understand.

[@stevenbrown7413]

I tried using the motherboard connectors on the ender 3 to power my pi3 b+, while it did supply power it only got so far into the boot up process before cutting out and then it would keep on trying and failing in a loop. I just dont think there is enough juice to power it.

[@Cidriel]

thanks for putting this out there. I was about to test it with my pi3 B+ too but the minimum power requirements do seem rather high from stock and Michael shows a pi2 B in the video. I may try this with my 3B (not +) as I have many power draw options disabled there such as the HDMI, bluetooth, and I even have a USB cord that I have removed the power lead from so that it can transmit data to the onboard SD card from octoprint but it does not actually provide any power to the ender 3's main board.

[@MartinPaoloni]

How about using two 12v fans in series for the part cooling? That should work also. Thanks for the video!

[@ramtek2702]

The primary purpose of a buck converter is not as a voltage regulator but rather a voltage multiplier. Of course a voltage regulator is employed for the new voltage.

[@gaby1491]

have the LM2596 gotten super hot? i read on the manufacturers page that they require a heat sink for anything over 2 amps.

[@richard9478]

Everyone else seems to be having better luck at finding a decent step down converter it seems. I've tried both a DFRobot DFR0205 (5V @ 5A max) and Hobbywing UBEC 2-6S (5V @ 3A max), and they both report under-volt warnings in the boot up log on my RasPi 3B+ w/ display + cam. Neither actually caused any issue when printing (I ran with each model for a week or so), but went back to the official power supply just to be safe.

[@conceptualme]

Neither of those options look like the step down converters that are used for this application.. I don't see any way to vary the output on the DFRobot, and the Hobbywing is an entirely different product (WAY overkill for this). Search Amazon for "LM2596" - that's the chip that is used in these step down converters. You shouldn't be paying ~$50 for ONE converter, $10 will get you a pack of 6 of what you need.

[@richard9478]

@@conceptualme Thanks for the response. I did eventually got the Hobbywing one working with help from another forum; turns out the wire I was using in one section was too thin (swapped it out with 20 AWG wire and it was all good)

[@HometownUnicorn]

What theme do you have on your octoprint here?

[@kendallpadgett8228]

Would 22 gauge wire be ok for everything in this video?

[@JohnKrieger]

Best vid yet!

[@SteinerSE]

One thought, what do you think about (if possible) hacking a micro usb cable so it connects to the buck in the other end instead of having a regular USB connector there? (Thus using it to feed the Pi normally)

[@SteinerSE]

Think I found the answer. This should do the trick, just attack the GND and +5v cables and connect to the buck. www.amazon.com/VizGiz-Connector-MicroUSB-Replacement-Raspberry/dp/B07BMLMZ72/

[@No1sonuk]

If the hot end fan is on all the time, why connect it via the main board? Why not do what you did with the Pi and connect the converter direct to the main supply?

[@ArcanePath360]

To control my 40mm board fan on my A8 I just spliced the negative side with a trimpot before going to the supply. Although it's 12V with a 12V fan and I'm only stepping it down a little bit as it was a bit noisy on full power. I guess you needed the buck because 24V down to 12V is a bit of a heat dissipation issue?

[@Naemion]

Great video, but creality printers now have a shared 24v+ to the heater and both fans. They control the pwm using the 0V- line that runs back to the board on each component. If you know what could be done about that I'd be highly interested!

[@zierbeek]

Would you still recommend using the Noctua fans compared to sound fans where you would not need buck converters?

[@jasonchan9125]

Hi, thanks for your great videos. I just bought my first 3d printer which is the Ender - 3 pro, and I have been following your videos along to get into this hobby. I am wondering now, if I can use the damper on the pro version as well since the gear on the step motors can't be pulled out. Have you tried installing dampers on the pro version yet?(Sorry, its a little bit off topic)

[@TeachingTech]

My version went straight on, but I'm increasingly reading about users in the same situation as you. Hopefully my next Creality printer has this so I can investigate.

[@jameswoodhull7045]

This was great. could you do a video on converting the Anycubic Viper to Marlin 2.0 please? I haven't been able to find one. Or convert it to the BTT SKR1.4 Turbo as I have a spare board. Thanks any keep up the good work!

[@ThePurplePupUwU]

Quick suggestion is when your soldering a xt60 have the other end of the plug in do you don't warp the plastic

[@RyunForsman]

Just a heads up, the affiliate link for the Noctua fan is a PWM 4 wire fan. Didn't realize it until it got here. If anyone else gets that fan, the yellow wire is the 12V.

[@nickm324]

I have added buck converter as exactly described in this video even setting the voltage to just under 5v. I have an LCD attached to my Pi and I am getting the lighting bolt on the screen indicating it is under powered. Should the buck converter be bumped up a little more to compensate for the LCD display? Didnt have this issue when the Pi was directly plugged into a power supply.

[@TeachingTech]

Bump it up to 5.2V and see how it goes. Make sure that your buck converter is rated for 3 amps like the ones I used.

[@nickm324]

@@TeachingTech Yes its rated at 3 amps, so I bumped it up to 5.2 and it took care of the issue. Thank you. I was going to do that before you responded but wasnt sure if it would damage the Pi or not. All good now. Thanks for your great tutorials!

[@duff1856]

Any chance you could give us an update on how long you ran that 12V fan at 24V 50% PWM? Did it last or burn up pretty quickly.

[@richardgardiner8015]

Apologies if this has been asked before, but isn't it also an option to take a ring crimped lead from the spare terminals on the power supply and takign that to the buck convertors. This is instead of modifying the original XT60 connector? less joints, and simpler connections...

[@Claymanfilms]

My buck converter IN sides fuse blew when I turned my printer? What would cause this?

[@DarrenPauli]

Hey Michael, thanks for the vid mate! Any idea how to wire up a 12v mobo fan to avoid PWM killing the buck converter? Got a skr mini v3 on an ender 3

[@corychavez8038]

Thanks for the informative video!! Along these lines I was thinking of adding 2 Noctua fans, one for my hot end and the other for my electronics. With that said instead of using a buck converter, my idea was to use 2 NF-A4x10 FLX 12v fans and run them in series off of the hot end connection. This should drop the voltage down for both fans to 12v and have them both running 24x7, which is what I want vice the electronics fan being tied to the parts cooling fan. Is this a realistic solution, or is there something that I am not considering that will cause me problems down the road?

[@Robertotvl]

Did this work for your printer? I am also considering to put 2 40x20mm noctua fans in series

[@thomasjohnson9864]

used your marlin bl touch vid followed every stept , yours no errors mine errors and can't figure how to start over

[@travisr.3667]

Can I just use a XT60 splitter instead of the double adapter? Accomplishes the same thing yeah?

[@petermoore9504]

You shouldn't put electrolytic capacitors across motors because of the back emf. 0.1uf ceramics are usually recommended. I'm not sure about brushless motors though, they would end up too far upstream of the motor itself.

[@NuttyforNissan]

.1 ceramic is for electrical noise not audible noise.

[@Jadeeye76]

Awesome video can you please help install noctua fans for resin 3d printers? I have phrozen mighty 4k, 8k, mini 8k.

[@fredphilip822]

Thank you, it's a very valuable information you provided here. I tried to install the power supply for the RPi from the PSU of my Ender 3 but run into problems with the buck converter (LM 2596). After wiring, the input side shows a voltage of 24V. On the output side, measured on the connector points (no wiring there yet) it shows always 0V whatever the position of the 'adjustment' screw is. I turned it clockwise and also counter-clockwise. The multi-meter always shows a voltage of zero. I tried 2 different LM2597, in both cases the output is zero. Any advise what I may do wrong? Thanks

[@Sttreg]

THe tip you mentionned, about taking the main board's alimentation,would that be good if I were to install LEDs? They require 12V and I have the BTT skr v1.2

[@darrenhowell-bray]

How do I find out if the creality 4.2.7 silent motherboard I have installed has a voltage regulator onboard please? This is so I can power a Raspberry Pi direct without the need for additional buck converters as shown in the video, thanks.

[@sidekick3rida]

why'd you set the buck converter to just under 5v instead of exactly 5v?

[@elimin8or23]

Anyone have recommendations for what wire size/type to use for the buck? I’m thinking 16 on the in side and 24 on the out?

[@gastonacosta3347]

Hi! Thanks for the video, what fan duct are you using here?

[@sammaelst7971]

Where to Find the Relay Someone mentioned to me a YYG-2 Relay but wich Voltage? 24, 12 or 5v ? The PSU is 24 the Pi is 5v Wich one to use? I AM LOST XD

[@Quintanater]

What’s the highest voltage I should set buck converter for hotbed noctua fan 40x10?

[@slayervictor]

Whats your print speed on the ender 3?

[@TeachingTech]

Base speed is 70 mm per second.

[@slayervictor]

@@TeachingTech alright, thank you!

[@Kevin-gh1cn]

What would you think about a USB power hub being installed and powered by the Ender 3 power supply? I was thinking this would be good for powering the pi as well as other devices like USB flexible LED lights for lighting the build plate.

[@AhCup]

Is it possible to substitute the blower fan to a cooling fan type? How about the power supply fan? Any cheap alternative to Noctua that cost less?

[@SianaGearz]

Basically all PC fans from dedicated manufacturers have fairly comparable noise characteristics when running at the same speed, and with this kind of build you have a voltage controller at hand anyway to set the speed, but on the whole, Noctua tends to win, though i guess the difference is larger at larger sizes. If you're running the Noctua at a reduced voltage, they can run at 3700rpm while producing 13dBA of noise and having 6.6m^3/h throughput. The Blacknoise NB-BlackSilentFan XM2 running at its full nominal voltage of 12V will do 3800rpm, 14dBA, and 6.7 m^3/h. Scythe Mini Kaze is 3500rpm, 14dBA and 7m^3/h. Noctua at full 12V voltage delivers 4500rpm, 18dBA and 8.3m^3, while a cheap Xilence XPF40.W will do 4500rpm, 19dBA, and allegedly 11.7 m^3/h, though the specs on Xilence tend to be a bit... should i say, unrealistically optimistic regarding both noise and throughput. Gelid Silent4 is 4200rpm, 19dBA and 7.65 m^3/h. Scythe Mini Kaze Ultra is 3500rpm, 20dBA and 8m^3/h, but it's double thickness, 20mm instead of 10mm. Actually if you have any random 40mm fan, even stock one, maybe try reducing its voltage at first, you might come not quite close to these highly engineered ones, but somewhat close, even a small reduction can bring it down from obnoxious to less objectionable. I think the Noctua mod reduces airflow compared to stock, but perhaps it doesn't matter that much or the cooling disadvantage can be compensated elsewhere, by for example improving thermal coupling to heatsink. Oh and please don't replace the centrifugal fan with an axial one, it doesn't work very well.

[@AhCup]

@@SianaGearz Thank you for your detailed replay. I take it as that's no silent options for the centrifugal fan?

[@SianaGearz]

@@AhCup The problem is that you ideally need a centrifugal fan for part cooling. You get up to maybe 2mmH2O pressure off these axial fans, usually much less. The radial fans have about 10-15mmH2O. You need that pressure to get through the cooling nozzle constriction without losing all the airflow. Part cooling designs with axial fans don't work nearly as well, and many are outright asinine because the designer didn't understand that you should avoid narrow pathways and restrictions in these, while cramped designs with centrifugal fans are perfectly fine. As to whether there are better alternatives among centrifugal fans, i never had enough of them in my hands to say, but the premier manufacturers in this area are Sunon and Delta, and the rest are more or less bad knockoffs of those... so maybe worth browsing their catalogues, if nothing remarkably perfect comes up, then that's about it. Maybe you can live with less airflow and attenuating existing centrifugal fans can do fine. Maybe a design is possible where you use two fans one each side and attenuate them both. I did however see someone publish a design for an attachment for axial fans which increases their static pressure quite a bit, looks like a set of stationary fan blades, but i haven't tried, have no opinion on it.

[@pargoff]

So if I have an Ender 3 pro, I can run the pi directly from the main board, right?

[@RideableEntertainment]

I was wondering about the same question. @ min he desicusses something like this. Did you find an answer to this question or tried it out personally?

[@goatmaster3387]

I run my Pi off a 20k USB backup battery pack. I was afraid that auto resume would fail off pi was reset. Is that not the case?

[@olafschermann1592]

Which fans are PWM and which are on/off? Hotend/partcooling/mainboard/psu ?

[@shadowreaperjb]

Should you not use one of the other available power sources on the supple rather than splitting the boards supply

[@bakaneko718]

i started prepping for this. hoping for no "magic smoke"

[@carterhewlett]

Are you using Dupont connectors for speed and convenience in case you want to swap the fans out or something? Why do you go for Dupont connects instead of just soldering together? Thanks in advance

[@corychavez8038]

I have a question, could you use the 5v/ground pins off of the raspberry pi 3 b+ to power a 5v Noctua fan for your hotend cooling fan?

[@TeachingTech]

The fans draw very little current so I don't see why not.

[@elvinhaak]

@@TeachingTech But why? Better directly loop them from your input from the buck-converter. |f something goes wrong you won't fry the pi-board in that case. By the way, you can use the output-pins of the pi to switch the fan when needed from your pi. Could even do a temperature-sensing and pwm with a little routine; running the fan low-level and not when not printing (after a while to cool down).

[@gaby1491]

yes

[@namenloser9069]

how do i check if my PSU is Capable of powering Motherboard AND Raspberry pi at once? is there a Video or something that explain that topic further?

[@unrealscenics4702]

If I was to change both hotend and board fans for noctua would I need two buck converters?

[@Ostiasalsa]

Just to get this clear, can i just set the max PWM for fans under 24v and not use the buck converter? or is that just for the sake of understanding that the default 100% means 24v?

[@rklauco]

Idea is OK, but I have a small suggestion - don't use the same type of connector for 24V and 5V. You will only mistake them once :( She 2.5A is not too much for general connectors - and the best idea is to solder there directly the MicroUSB cable for the Pi.

[@rklauco]

Plus on the step-down for the fan, you can use the smallest and dirt cheap buck converter - it consumes so little power that even the smallest one is far sufficient ;)

[@zangetsu2k8]

sooo, without looking I bought the 40x20mm noctua fans for computer case and fan shroud of the ender 3, not seeing that it was 5v. I compared it with the 40x10mm 12v noctua fan and the 5v version has better airflow on the specs, so I'll just set the buck converter to 5v, would this still be okay for the fan shroud of the hot end? I don't have a fancy heat camera.

[@fleischer444]

Does the converter get hot inside the shrink tube? I bet you could 3d print a nice case for the Buck instead that had a better heat displacement.

[@SteinerSE]

www.thingiverse.com/thing:3164882

[@thomasmunyon8071]

I saw a video that stated to cut a USB cord and to solder it to the buck converter, then to plug it in to the "J1 Power In" on the Raspberry Pi (The power source would be a Y spliter from the XT60 cable from your main power source). Is that acceptable to have the "J1 power in" USB hookup from the buck convertor?

[@emiliofuenzalida5978]

hi im wanting to upgrade my ender 3 v2 with Noctua fans, but im concern about my hot end over heating