Can you prevent fan failure
Hello,
For those of you who have had fan failures.
-Was the failure due to wiring issues
-Actual fan going bad
-- Any warning signs
--- Fan bearings making noise
--- Irregular humming pattern
--- How many hours or spools of filament used before the failure
The fan is a part that has a lifetime just like tires on a car. Should I just replace the fan after printing X number of spools of filament?
Also, are two fans better than one?
- If a failure occurs you get some kind of warning and can take action.
- Using a second fan like the original. It would be place on the exhaust port where the pinda is located.
- Could you power two fans from the same power lines since fans don't consume two much power
-- could you power the second fan off of the power from the heater
I have been running the MK2 every day. It sounds recovering from a fan failure could take days to resolve, maybe longer if you have to order parts.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
People ask me for printer recommendations from time to time.
I cannot in good conscience recommend any of these small-time, small-think FDM printers because they just don't take things like this seriously.
Until all of these open loops are closed, none of these printers are ready for consumption.
On the extruder end, my impression is the cold part of the hotend should never exceed 50C or so.
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Bimetal-Temperature-Control-Thermostat/dp/B00978PGQO/
Cold part of the hotend passes 50C, cartridge power is cut off. Period.
On the heated bed, I don't plan on ever running the bed hotter than 100C.
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-KSD9700-Bimetal-Thermostat-Temperature/dp/B0084CCVT4/
Heated bed goes past 110C, heated bed power is cut off. Period.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
I would never allowed pass utility power (230V) anywhere further than into PSU.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
I had no warning when the cooling fan went out. The only indicator I had was something stopped printing. And I couldnt remove the filiment because it hardened inside the heatsink.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
Heater cartridge is only 12V. This seems like a simple to implement protection from hot end fan failure.
Maybe E3D should consider building this in to their next hot end design.
It would save a lot of aggravation with just a $2 part.
I think I'll ebay some of these and do a little experimentation.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
Heater cartridge is only 12V. This seems like a simple to implement protection from hot end fan failure.
Just remember those switches are rated to 5A only. It might be enough for hotend but definitely not for heatbed.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
Power supply units use a simple thermal fuse.
One idea is to make the heater block power pass through a thermal fuse that is attached to the heat sink. If the fan goes out then the thermal fuse will trip and prevent filament from getting to hot in the cold end.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
Heater cartridge is only 12V. This seems like a simple to implement protection from hot end fan failure.
Just remember those switches are rated to 5A only. It might be enough for hotend but definitely not for heatbed.
Right, that example unit might not work for the heatbed.
Fortunately there's a lot more space to work with on the bed so you can fit a larger unit if you want.
The problem is there was no provision for any such attachments on the heatbed.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
It's a bit harsh to say that these products aren't ready for consumption.
This is still largely a tinkerers / hobbyist level piece of kit.
Mine broke (fan) on day one but it's a very cheap and easy repair. I would argue if you aren't capable of swapping out a small 12v fan then realistically this isn't for you anyway. These aren't Canon/HP/Epson fully developed solutions. A fan replacement is probably one of the least taxing issues you will come across as a 3D printer owner. I virtually had to replace and rebuild every single component of my first printer. The MK2 I purchased as a kit and it went together as easy as pie and for the most part works as it should.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
It's a bit harsh to say that these products aren't ready for consumption.
This is still largely a tinkerers / hobbyist level piece of kit.
Mine broke (fan) on day one but it's a very cheap and easy repair. I would argue if you aren't capable of swapping out a small 12v fan then realistically this isn't for you anyway. These aren't Canon/HP/Epson fully developed solutions. A fan replacement is probably one of the least taxing issues you will come across as a 3D printer owner. I virtually had to replace and rebuild every single component of my first printer. The MK2 I purchased as a kit and it went together as easy as pie and for the most part works as it should.
I'm almost certain that I laid out reasonable criteria for whether or not the printer is ready for consumption, which you seemingly didn't pick up on. I didn't just blindly say, "It's not ready for consumption", I said it wasn't ready for consumption for a fairly specific reason.
Nevertheless...
Ohhhh, so it's a hobbyist level printer. That changes everything! Well why didn't anyone say so?
No, literally, why didn't anyone say so?
I searched Prusa's site, and excluding the forums where you guys bandy about the term as a dodge, the term "hobbyist" only appears ONCE, and that's in the Creative Commons license (not written by PR).
Normally I think running around slapping meaningless labels on stuff is, well, meaningless, but you've piqued my curiosity now.
What exactly is a "hobbyist"? Am I a hobbyist? I guess I'm going to need one of you more advanced and more technical users to tell me what I am so that I may know my place.
Is a "hobbyist" someone that looks at a problem, shrugs his shoulders, and ignores it? Is that what is expected of us?
Is a "hobbyist" someone that looks at a problem and thinks he can "fix it" by buying a more expensive version of the same goddamn thing? (Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.) Because I myself have a label for that, but it's not "hobbyist".
Please, someone tell me the meaning and value of this "hobbyist" label.
Re: Can you prevent fan failure
Pedantic twat.
The point is that if anybody buys a 3D printer without doing research I'd suggest needs to take a look at themselves. These things aren't cheap like a £50 inkjet from PCworld. Apart form the printers that cost > £1000 (or double that) you will still have en element of tinkering required. Splicing 2 wires on a £5 fan should not be beyond the reach of anyone who intends to design and or print models using multiple materials with what one would consider to be an unlimited amount of settings. If you go in blind and don't understand that you have to tinker and maintain kit like this then buyer beware.
I would also maintain that the purpose of forums such as this and help groups like the MK2 Slack group are there to walk the nervous through the majority of issues you might come across.
On the grander scheme of things setting up your pinda probe, replacing a PEI sheet etc. are way more of a challenge than swapping out a 12v fan.