How much "air / cooling" is really needed for the controller

[sonarok 0]

hi everyone,

my ultimaker is now working multiple hours each day since around 2-3 month and i'm very happy with it after alot improvemnts on the head, extruder, fan parts, etc. (currently i can print during the whole night without any issues and perfect results)

the last thing that i want to improve is the cooling on the bottom for the stepper motor controllers. Currently there is a extrem noisy fan. I already have a fitting design for 2x 40x40mm silence fans that can be mounted easly on the wooden cover that is mounted on the electronic board.

Now i'm asking myself if 2x 7m^3/h airflow is enough to cool the small heatspreats on the board. the only thing i can say so far is that the new fandesign blows with around 50% of the air that the orginal fan provides.

I'm a bit afraid of just changing this part and waiting if something fails or everything still works fine because this could maybe damage the controllers if they overheat?

would be great if someone could provide me some more information how much cooling is really needed to save the controllers from any damage

[Daid 304]

If the stepper drivers overheat they shut off (and cool down quickly, and start up again). So you will get stuttering movement if you don't provide enough cooling.

If you have an UltiController, don't forget to get proper cooling to the 12V regulator.

Oh, and, YAY for a solution to remove the noise from the electronics fan!

[sonarok 0]

hi daid,

thanks for your fast reply!

ok that sounds good for the controllers. i completly forgot about the 12V convertes... they are also a bit behind the controllers, i will need to check if the airflow still reach them... otherwise i will change my cover design into 2x50mm fans that will provide 2x 16m^3/h instead of only 2x 7m^3 this will be a bit louder the the 40mm solution but will provide the same amount of air like the original fan but without the heavy noise...

maybe it helps to get some heatspreats on the 12V converters with the current 40mm soltuion, will come back as soon as i have tested everything and also upload my solution to thingiverse! thanks alot

[hedis 0]

My 12v regulator is burning hot!

I'll add a heatsink to it when I get some spare time. So I think it's important to cool that little guy!

[sonarok 0]

hi again,

my first version is ready now and i'm already using it. Did a complete redesign to guide the also to the 12V convertes, will test now how good this one is working, till now 2h prints worked fine without any issues

=>

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:28498

 

[IRobertI 516]

Nice one. Personally I'm not all that bothered by my fan as I seem to have gotten lucky and have a, relatively, quiet one. I have been toying with the idea of cutting a big hole in the bottom of the machine to mount a big and slow (and thus quiet) 120mm fan on the inside of the machine blowing down (with a screen over it of course to catch debris). I haven't had the heart to cut into the machine yet though

But hey, if this works that might be a better alternative. A lot cleaner at the very least.

[ian 32]

wonderful project idea !!

my compliments ! will give this one a go this week.

thanks.

Ian