RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
I plan to use a little switching power supply module to get 12V (I have a whole bag of those) and I'll connect that to the Power In on the mainboard - no connectors needed, except the ones on the board side. For those, I have the proper crimping parts lying around. 🙂
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
For PWM control of the fan I now use this: https://github.com/JeremyLaurenson/octoprint-emc2101
For powering the fan I use the same 5V/3A phone charger that also powers my LEDs in the enclosure and a step-up module to 12V.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
I went the cheap and easy route:
got a 24V fan and glued a 45°C thermal switch to the inside of the metal case.
Everything is within the case, the printer is silent after powering on or a while after a print, but everything is cooled while printing.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
I thought about adding some kind of ESPHome-based controller, but I decided against it. It's OK for me if the fan is running whenever the printer is on, so I can skip the complex components.
As far as the power supply goes: I'll just add it to the mainboard's 24V input. I have two types of suitable step-down modules in Stock - I'll first test if the small one gets too hot, and if it does, I'll use the big one. Should be easy enough to wire up, I'll only have to find a good place to put the module.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
I went the cheap and easy route:
got a 24V fan and glued a 45°C thermal switch to the inside of the metal case.
Everything is within the case, the printer is silent after powering on or a while after a print, but everything is cooled while printing.
I would normally have done the same, but the only 24V fans I have in stock are 120mm Sunons - and those sound like starting jet planes, so I wanted to avoid using them. 😀
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
Maybe I will share my story. I bought mk3s+ very long time ago and I kept it in my wardrobe in my room. I had many prints, some of which lasted up to 12hrs no problems. Last year in October the mk4 upgrade parts arrived and I upgraded. Since then also no problems to longer prints. I was running fw v5.1.2 and then 5.1.3 once it came out. No issues. I even added sound dampening foam inside the wardrobe to make it more quiet. It also did make it more air tight - not sealed off but the air is definitely still inside.
Last week I received mmu3 upgrade parts. Side note - I removed mmu2s during mk4 upgrade. First thing I did was to check the firmware updates and I noticed v6 was finally released. I flashed that and started mmu2s disassembly. My mmu3 order included plastic parts so I was surprised that they were not all required parts. So I started printing what I was missing. First print went ok as usual but the second failed on overheating warning. The print was started right after the first one finished, and was supposed to take 40mins. PETG, 90deg bed temp.
The warning itself was not like the one in OP - just a simple message saying buddy board temp is too high and may lead to failures. The printer pauses the print (I don't know for how long, didn't bother to check). I opened the door, resumed and moved on. Then after few more prints I kept the door closed and the issue came back.
I found this thread and also chatted with support about it. Turns out my sensors report board having 90deg, MCU around 81 and sometimes board temp and bed temp are reporting 'not registered'. The support said there is high chance v5 just did not have such warning message and to take the printer out of the enclosure and retry. It is a complicated procedure for me so I am postponing it.
Then I thought, maybe this is fw issue. So I rolled back to 5.1.2 (to my surprise touch support stayed on) and board temps on 40min print is now down to 70C now. I also put super cheap chinese temp sensor inside and it reports 32C ambient in the enclosure (not sure if can be trusted).
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
The fan on the electronics case will lower the board temperature by about 20 °C. After having found the excellent Nevermore Mini filter project for my Prusa Enclosure (who else is still waiting for the release of the Smart Box for the enclosure from Prusa?) I printed a lot of ASA during the last weeks with my MK4 (FW 6.0.0, non-IS profile), nozzle 270 °C and bed temp at 110 °C. Many of the prints were over the 10 hour mark. The board temperature stayed right below 60 °C the whole time, ambient temp in the enclosure rose to between 35 and 40 °C and all the prints were successful, no hiccups from the printer like reboots or error screens. With the non-IS profile my MK4 has been as reliable as my MK3S+ for some time now.
RE:
I have to try it out then. Although my biggest issue is to get the fresh air inside the wardrobe without introducing the drafts. Someone else mentioned some solutions for that. I'll have to experiment.
I left my printer (now v5.1.3) on, idle, for the night. Board temp 40 without printing. And enclosure temp 28.8. So even at idle the electronics produce considerable heat.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
OK, I wired everything up and mounted the Mod on my MK4:
I used a cheap step-down module for the 12V fan and connected it to the power input of the mainboard, so the fan will run all the time when the printer is on. Noise-wise that's no problem, the fan is basically silent.
Now for the results. Before mounting the fan, I printed a benchy in PC Blend CF. This print with my standard slicer settings took about 1.5 hours, and at the end of the print the MCU temperature was 74°C. After mounting the fan, I reprinted the exact same gcode, and at the end of the print my temperature was 54°C, so there definitely is a big improvement, even when printing in a closed enclosure with a really hot (115°C) print bed.
So far, I have not mounted any heatsinks and the thermal pads are still in place. I have ordered some heatsinks because I wanted to see if that improves the situation even more, but if it doesn't, I am totally happy with the current state of things.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
Wow that is amazingly simple thing to do. Kudos!
So the 3rd pin from the fan is unused and the fun runs at full speed?
Can you give me details on that step down so I can order one? I am bad at electronics
I'm am back on v6 fw and whole day printing gets my board to 74C. With open doors and windows (outside temp 15C and inside enclosure 28) So for the peace of mind I am keen on installing extra cooling.
RE:
Yes, even at full speed the Noctua fan is really quiet.
I found the part that Zappes used on Amazon: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0BN1N88F6
I want to add a fan to my Mikrotik Switch and I want to try using this for that.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
Just remember that the step-down converter is adjustable. You have to set the output voltage by fiddling with the little screw - and from my experience with these parts in a quadcopter, I really recommend securing that screw with a drop of glue afterwards…
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
Thanks. The fans arrived yesterday but the pcbs will take few more days to reach me. Meanwhile I also updated mmu2s to mmu3 and started printing the buffer parts (I opted for a very long print 24h version)
And at first it was ok, then I hit overheating issue again despite moving the printer to a different location (by the window). Drafts came. I lowered the bed temp to prevent overheating and that + a draft from the window = model started warping (PETG) And then 90% of the print done the mmu3 decided to have a brain fart of sorts and got stuck in the middle of filament changing loop.... After 2hrs on support chat where they didn't actually help I sacrificed the print, rebooted printer and all is fine again.
So that bit of rant aside - I am now starting the print of the board cover with the fan mount and hoping the pcbs arrive fast.
As for securing the screw with a glue - might be a good idea. I think in the end I ordered a bit different stepdown - the one where you have to unsolder jumpers to change the V and I think 12V is the default so I dont have to do anything. Also for other ppl - noctua does make 24V but smallest I found is 10cm which is roughly the same width as the board box.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
I settled on the 80 mm 12 V Noctua because of that restriction and because Noctua fans are very quiet. At first I powered mine with this contraption which is generally useful for makers if you already have Makita batteries:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4920686
There are similar battery adapters for other brands.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
Thanks. I have worx battery 20V but its probably ok to wait just a few days. Package is in transit.
I have and value noctua fans for the dB levels as well. In my first post here I wanted to swap 40mm fan on nextruder for 60mm noiseblocker one. But still need to source the proper molex click-mate connector somehow.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
Just a little update from my side: I sliced a Benchy for PCCF that would print for 01:45h. I printed that with the original electronics box lid, and the MCU temperature rose to 74°C rather fast and stayed stable at that level. Then I let the printer cool down to room temperature, installed the new lid with 80mm Noctua and printed the same gcode again. This time the temperature topped out at 54°C, which is quite the improvement.
Note that I only replaced the lid so far. I have ordered some heatsinks that I'll put on the MCU and the stepper drivers, but I haven't had time to install them yet.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
I don't think the MCU will get that hot or too hot in general. I went for the chips that have the thermopads under them. Those are the stepper drivers and the mosfet for the bed and I put heatsinks on them. But my sensor values for board temperature reduction with the fan match yours so the effect of the heatsinks is perhaps not that big?
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
I assume that the heatsinks aren't that important as the fan cools the back side of the box, and that's we have those thermal pads, anyway. At some point in time I'll remove those pads, though, to get rid of the heat from the heatbed grilling my chips - and then heat sinks will become very important.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
I ordered MP1584EN converter but no matter how I turn the screw it reads 0.2V - I am questioning my soldering skills at this point. And looking to order another one.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
On the Amazon page I saw the following text in the description: "Do not use no load or light load." I think that means you have to measure with a load on the output when you adjust the voltage.