Steppers too loud: Dual voltage MK2.5 - 12V heater & bed, 24V Einsy + Steppers (MK3 firmware)
Hello everyone,
I followed Metacollin's guide for upgrading my MK2.5 with Einsy Rambo and am currently running latest stock MK3 firmware. I bought a small Meanwell 24V 1.5A switching power supply (LRS-35-24) and wired it to the power inputs on the Einsy board. I am still running my 12V heatbed and 12V heater cartridge off of my old power supply per Metacollin's instructions. Almost everything works fine - printer does not even complain that the power panic board is not present and after manualy setting my live-Z distance, the printer no longer complains about not going through the wizard first and I can print without any issues (Of course my Z axis is little bit shorter than it should be but I honestly never exceeded maybe half of the Z-axis.)
I have only one problem - the printer is still pretty loud. I have a genuine MK3 at work and it is undeniably quieter. Some of the noise I can isolate to the power supply, but the majority is definitely caused by the stepper motors.
Am I doing something wrong? I tried to adjust the voltage to 27V for the steppers, but nothing really changed... Is it possible the stepper motors are different between MK2(.5)S and MK3.
I look forward to any feedback!
RE: Steppers too loud: Dual voltage MK2.5 - 12V heater & bed, 24V Einsy + Steppers (MK3 firmware)
I really wish there was more info on this because I sleep in the same room as my printer and really want it too make less noise
RE: Steppers too loud: Dual voltage MK2.5 - 12V heater & bed, 24V Einsy + Steppers (MK3 firmware)
@shane-b2
Hello shane-b2,
I did some comparison with our school MK3 and my MK2.5 modded with Einsy Rambo is louder on fast long diagonal infill as well as large solid layers that are not printed at 20% speed as the first one. But otherwise the printer is very quiet. I think the noise might have something to do with the heatbed being mounted only at 4 points instead of 9 like in case of MK3, so it has more freedom to resonate. I am running latest MK3 firmware - I could not pass XYZ calibration so far (so no skew correction) but am fairly confident in my build being square. The fast loud printing can be alleviated by minor slowing down of the printer. I did not prepare a specific profile with these lower speeds, since the noise is not that much of an issue (it is still much quieter than before), so this was observed by general slowing down of the printer by rotating the selection wheel to about 75% speed. I also replaced my Y-axis rods - the old ones were heavily scored (but that was entirely my fault). The new rods and bearings also helped somewhat with the noise.
The LRS-35-24 output current was not sufficient for reliable operation. Sometimes the printer would reboot in the middle of the printing or after starting printing skirt after priming. It turns out that had to do with too many movements being initiated simultaneously - X and Y axis and extruder pushing hard. I upgraded to LRS-75-24 (3,2A output) and have currently issue free operation with this power supply powering the stepper motors and Einsy.
Overall I am quite happy with the result. When printing small prints such as low poly animals, where the printer has no chance of accelerating to its top speeds, you can pretty much only hear the noctua + part cooling fan.
If you have any questions, I'll try to answer.
RE: Steppers too loud: Dual voltage MK2.5 - 12V heater & bed, 24V Einsy + Steppers (MK3 firmware)
If I swap in the Einsy Rambo I might try and use a 12v to 24v converter for the stepper part and still use only one PSU .
but besides getting 24v for the steppers its all plug in play and flash firmware pretty much ?
I might add the power panic option also because you can get a knock off pretty cheap and the ability to continue a print after a power loss would be amazing
RE: Steppers too loud: Dual voltage MK2.5 - 12V heater & bed, 24V Einsy + Steppers (MK3 firmware)
@shane-b2
You also need another print fan. You can either buy it as a replacement part for MK3 from Prusa or find it elsewhere online.