RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
I think there is no need to move the heated air from the board to the outside of the enclosure. A fan on the electronics case is enough. My 80 mm fan is probably already overkill for this. A smaller fan like a 40 mm would probably be enough for this. The important thing is to move the air over the chips on the xBuddy board, as well as putting cooling fins on the stepper driver chips. I have been using my fan mod for about a year and a half now. During that time I have printed a lot of ASA and some PC-CF parts. The overheating error has never occurred again and the board temp is about 20 °C lower than without the fan.
Also I would not like to create a fixed mechanical connection between the printer and the enclosure. The printer could shake loose during operation and will create resonances with the enclosure, I think.
RE:
The reason I decided to lead the hot air outside is because the cool air comes from the outside. I wanted to isolate the airflow in order to avoid unnecessary drafts in the enclosure. I have had some issues with larger ASA prints so I did not want to add any additional airmovement in the enclosure.
A 80mm fan would be overkill for my setup and would not even fit ;). One of my goals for this project was to not permanently modify the enclosure. The existing holes on the backplate of the PSU are not large enough to allow enough airflow for more than a 40mm fan.
Btw: This is not a fixed mechanical connection. It is quite flexible due to @cyberpunks “Flexible segmented vacuum hose 40mm” parts ( https://www.printables.com/model/107125-flexible-segmented-vacuum-hose-40mm-fits-dn40-pipe ). The printer can be moved several cm with this coolingsystem attached without any issues. His flex parts are present on both intake and exhaust. I can even detach the printer from the enclosure without using any tools thanks to this.
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
The thing that restricts further movement are the original enclosures paddings at the bottom. I can even detach the printer from the enclosure using only one hand =)
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
In case you did not read the whole thread: I created a cover for the xBuddy case that will fit an 80 mm fan. I chose that one because it is really quiet. Smaller fans are often louder and have a shorter lifetime. It uses only between 0.5 and 1 W.
Your solution needs a lot(!!!) more filament than printing a new cover for the xBuddy cover which weighs in at about 25 g. And as I said, I have this in production for quite some time now and ran into no problems at all.
A 80mm fan would be overkill for my setup and would not even fit ;).
RE:
You are right! My chimney uses a lot of filament. I can’t say exactly how much because I have made quite a few testprints in order to get satisfying sizes and connections between the parts. I guess you would have to calculate to use slightly above 1kg of PETG for all of the parts. 😰
I have found my enclosure temp to be at least 10C higher than the room temp after some printingtime with PETG.. even more with ASA. I have come to understand that this is the norm. I am guessing that your fan has to work harder for less cooling (wear and tear, power consumption) then mine..
I also buy your argument that smaller fans are more fragile. However I have been using two of exactly the same fans (Noctua NF-A4x20 FLX, 12V 4pin) in a hot 24P PoE+ swith 24/7 for 4 1/2 years now. I replaced the original fans because these where a lot more quiet (12,2 - 14,9 dBA). I was also thinking of using 80mm fans for the xBuddy cooling, but I did not want to drill holes in the enclosure.
If I understand you right your only reason to start the thread was the overheating errors. It seems like your solution accomplishes just that. 👍
I would argue that heat is the worst enemy of electrical components, and that you could expect them to last longer when you keep them as cool as possible. I guess that is just as import for me as not getting errors. I am a gardenguy and print a lot of ASA (UV).
Your cooling fins are interesting to me. Which heat-conductive glue and fins are you using exactly?
I ran my coolingfans at full speed during an ASA print (20C roomtemp, 110C heatbed temp.) today in order to stress test my setup..
RE: Possible overheating of the MK4 electronics case inside an enclosure with summer temperatures?
Link to the glue I used: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00XQ9AZ8Y
Cooler fins: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B09XB5RNDG
I had that set of fins already and used the sizes that matched the chips.