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Silencing the A3S (and A5)

CedricCedric Posts: 11Member
edited April 2018 in Modifications & Upgrades
My main problem with my A3S is the noise the "always on" fan makes.

Is there a simple way to replace it with something else (without going into the full mod of larger fans, custom nose, etc) ?

Is there a way to turn it off ? or use a single fan (the extruder fan only) ?

What does it do that's so important and that the other fan does not ?
Post edited by Samuel Pinches on

Comments

  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    edited March 2018
    Yes - there is a spare PWM control port on the motherboard. You can connect the second fan into the extruder 1 port (next to the extruder 0 port), and this port can be controlled via gcode. I think M106 P1 S255 will work...

    There is an option in the firmware to have a temperature controlled cooling fan - you can set it to only run whenever the nozzle is above 40C, for example.
    Thanked by 1Cedric
    Post edited by Samuel Pinches on
  • CedricCedric Posts: 11Member
    That is more than great !!!
    Thanks.

    Having this thing make less noise is also a huge factor in the wife acceptance.


    Once I open it, probably to put both new drivers & a raspi & a power supply in it, I'll look at that.


  • dominickano18dominickano18 Posts: 7Member
    Sam, where in the firmware is the option to have a temp. Controlled cooling fan?
  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    In configuration_adv.h:


    Thanked by 1dominickano18
  • dominickano18dominickano18 Posts: 7Member
    Sam, what do I set the pin to enable the auto temp cooling fan function?
  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    You will need to decide how you will wire up the new fan. At the moment it is hard wired into the 24V supply. You need to rewire it to go to the spare mosfet on the main motherboard, which I think is pin #7. From there you should be able to control that fan with gcode “m106 p1 s255”. Check that works first. Then you can enable auto cooling here by changing -1 to 7 for extruder 0.
    Thanked by 1dominickano18
  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    edited March 2018
    On the A5 I’m pretty sure the pins on the MKS Gen L board are wired up as

    Pin 10: Extruder heater 0
    Pin 9: Part cooling Fan
    Pin 8: Bed Heater
    Pin 7: Optional Extruder heater 1

    Thanked by 1dominickano18
    Post edited by Samuel Pinches on
  • pripirpripir Posts: 2Member
    In the next custom firmware, I want the extruder cooling fan to be auto. Now, when the printer turns on, the fan runs at full speed and continues to run until the printer turns off even after printing is finished. It is really noisy.
  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    edited April 2018
    Well, we can control the speed of the bottom cooling fan with firmware  - but unless you rewire your printer the way it is wired from the factory, the top fan is connected directly to the power supply.

    You can add a gcode command to your end-gcode script in your slicer to turn the bottom fan off after printing. However but without the hardware modifications we discuss in this thread we can’t change the top fan.
    Post edited by Samuel Pinches on
  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    If you add some machine oil or sewing machine oil to the fan, this can help to
    lubricate the bearing and reduce the rattle noise.
  • pripirpripir Posts: 2Member
    Thank you Sam
    The top fan are directly connected to the power supply.
    I will open the case and try rewiring.
  • jollypikejollypike Posts: 12Member
    Hi,

    I’m new to this printer, though not to cooling. I believe there are some quieter 24V fans appearing on the market such as these from Fractal Desin:

    http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/casefans/silent-series-r3/silent-series-r3-50mm

    Also I believe Noctua have just released some quiet 24V fans.

    Theres also some anti vibration mounts that might help.

    All this would allow a swap to a quieter fan whilst keeping the basic design ethos.

    Hope that helps.

    Jason.
  • dominickano18dominickano18 Posts: 7Member
    Sam, I have the extruder fan connected to E1 pin (purple pin) on the motherboard and I tired gcode M106 P1 S255 but it doesn't turn on the extruder fan. Am I doing something wrong? Any thoughts?
  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    edited April 2018
    Hi Dominic, I'm sorry it sounds like you might have it connected in the wrong spot. The purple connector is for the second hotend thermistor. You need to connect the fan to the heater output for the second hotend. This is marked "HE1" on the bed, it has two pins in the large green connector.


    Post edited by Samuel Pinches on
  • dominickano18dominickano18 Posts: 7Member
    That makes sense! It works now! Thank you very much!
    Thanked by 1Samuel Pinches
  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    Sweet :-) Glad to hear it.
  • dominickano18dominickano18 Posts: 7Member
    Now on the marlin firmware do i change extruder 0 or extrude 1 from -1 to 7?

  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    Extruder 0 is your  real extruder, Extruder 1 is the one you want to change. I haven't done this exact mod myself, so I am not sure of all the details.
  • dominickano18dominickano18 Posts: 7Member
    Ok I'll change extruder 1 to 7 and ill let you know how it works.
  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
     No wait, you want to keep it at -1, the section about extruder cooling control is in the configuration_adv file. 
  • AETEKAETEK Posts: 106🌟 Super Member 🌟
    Hi, I had the same idea before I went to my 555 hardware solution. I could not compile the firmware after the necessary adjustments. Marlin has reported errors. Has anyone already had success with this method?
  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    Feel free to post a zip of your marlin folder and/or errors from the Arduino IDE.
  • AETEKAETEK Posts: 106🌟 Super Member 🌟
    Hello,
    I have just made adjustments to the Marlin firmware, inspired by this thread. Now I do not get any compiler errors anymore. I'll check if it works, the next time I open the printer to install the new TMC2208 driver. For now my 555 hardware solution is working very well. Here is the current status:

    File: Configuration_adv.h

     * Extruder cooling fans
     *
     * Extruder auto fans automatically turn on when their extruders'
     * temperatures go above EXTRUDER_AUTO_FAN_TEMPERATURE.
     *
     * Your board's pins file specifies the recommended pins. Override those here
     * or set to -1 to disable completely.
     *
     * Multiple extruders can be assigned to the same pin in which case
     * the fan will turn on when any selected extruder is above the threshold.
     */
    #define E0_AUTO_FAN_PIN 7  // AE Use Mainboard "HE1" Connector to control E0 Extruder Fan ("HE1" eq. Pin 7)  
    #define E1_AUTO_FAN_PIN 7  // Multiple extruders can be assigned to the same pin in which case the fan will turn on when any selected extruder is above the threshold.            
    #define E2_AUTO_FAN_PIN -1
    #define E3_AUTO_FAN_PIN -1
    #define E4_AUTO_FAN_PIN -1
    #define EXTRUDER_AUTO_FAN_TEMPERATURE 50 // Switch on Coolend Fan(s) if Temp is >=50C
    #define EXTRUDER_AUTO_FAN_SPEED   128    // Select Fan Speed. Range 0...255 (128= Half speed, 255=Full speed)

  • Samuel PinchesSamuel Pinches Posts: 2,997Administrator
    Great, nice work!
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