Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem  

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

I think that is pretty normal.  The stepper motors make that noise.  I've heard it is more noticeable when it is micro-stepping.  There are videos on YouTube where people have used stepper motors to play music.

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

Those are pretty typical printer noises. As @egar notes, the steppers make those robotic sounds. What is unusual is for those noises to be particularly loud. When that happens, it's usually not the printer, but the vibrations from the printer being picked up by the surface it's sitting on and resonating. This can cause even minor vibrations to sound throughout an entire building. Try setting the printer on a solid surface like the floor and see if the noise level is reduced. Is so, consider putting the printer on a more solid surface, or putting something like a paver stone underneath it. I've got some notes on the topic here.

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

Path to noise reduction starts with squash ball feet.  Want to get to ultra quiet?  Switch out your steppers to Moon's - I did it last weekend and the motor noise is almost gone (only changed x and y)

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

@dan-rogers

I've heard that the Moon steppers are not only quieter, but produce a smoother finish (less VFA (can't remember what that stands for)) on the parts.  Have you also seen an improvement in print surface?

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

Thats great  to know, thanks. I was a bit worried since I never heard a printer making those noises in any videos.

Those upgrades sound fantastic, I'll look into that once I got a handle on the vanilla prusa c:

Cheers

Mydayyy

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

@egar

I went with the drop in replacement moons - they do make a small diff so far - but I didn't change out the extruder motor - so not seeing full data as far as VFA goes.  The ones that step at .09 mm instead of .18 mm (which is the drop in step size) I hear do much smoother - and you only have to make an update to firmware with a terminal program to do it.  I took the easy path - and the motor noise is sooo much quieter - at slow speeds they are silent.  

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

@dan-rogers

Sounds interesting Dan

Probably the only thing I don't like about the MK3S+ so far is the motor noise.  But if that's the worse thing that happens then its really not that bad I suppose 🙂

Might consider that at some point once I am 100% used to the printer as it is.

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

I wouldn't do it if you aren't chasing VFA's.  I'm still looking for what improvements if any I have made to print quality.  It can be hard to tell when it's pretty darned good to start with.

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

TBH Dan, no complaints so far.  And very much taking the approach of leaving it if its running. My bed had a variance of around .2mm, but switched on 7x7 and it is running perfectly. (Ordered M3 Nyloc nuts, but wont be using them unless I need to)

Ran about 6 small test prints, many first layer tests a 12.5 hour print yesterday, and 32% into a 22hr print today, and so far apart from needing to fine tune the first layer it hasn't missed a beat.

Loving my MK3 so far 😀 

RE: Printer literally sounds like a dial up modem

@mydayyy

Before you change any parts do as @bobstro suggests and try moving the printer to a different surface.  Working on a PC with a couple of fans working I often have to look to see whether my printer is running 2 meters away: unless that is I am using the last few turns on a spool when the weight drop allows some Y motor resonance.  Unfortunately the resonance isn't enough to act as an imminent run out warning unless I am close

Cheerio,.