MakerGear Forum

It would be nice if they had a revision list somewhere (just so we could keep up with the upgrades ) but I wouldn't blame them I wouldn't be surprised if the stock fans are marked 24v on them somewhere. You have to be careful modding things the same as others because Makergear is making updates at such a fast rate all the time.

dramsey wrote:use 'em with an inline resistor to drop the voltage

A better choice is a $1 step-down converter from eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... c&LH_BIN=1

Feed it 24 V, turn the trimpot for 12 V out, and your fans will be happy forever ...

@sthone: You're doubtless right about the fans being marked. It just never occurred to me to look.

@ednisley: Thanks for the eBay link to the converters. I've ordered a pack of 'em and they should do the trick.

dramsey wrote:@sthone: You're doubtless right about the fans being marked. It just never occurred to me to look.

@ednisley: Thanks for the eBay link to the converters. I've ordered a pack of 'em and they should do the trick.

Turn the trimpot for 8v out (they are Noctoas after all)

BTW, after setting my multimeter to the proper range, I verified that the power to the Rambo fan on my M2 is indeed 24V.

I purchased my machine in February of this year, and it has 24V fans. I would like quieter options, especially for the motherboard box. It appears that 12V is the standard. Any recommendations for 24V versions?

You can simply unplug the small fan in the box containing the controller; it's not really needed. I've been running without mine for months.

If you have an older M2, this fan is apparently wired in series with the extruder fan-- the small one that blows on the extruder gear, not the large bed fan. If unplugging either fan causes the other one to stop, then you have a slightly older machine.

Noctua fans seem to be the ones of choice-- I replaced the power supply fan with a Noctua (fortunately it uses 12v fans) and it made a big difference.

It's very hard to find 24v fans in 40mm, so most people simply go to eBay and buy "buck coverters" (do a search on the term) from China. These tiny, dirt-cheap circuit boards smoothly adjust an input DC voltage to another voltage, say 24v to 12v, adjusted via a tiny screw. Buy a 12v, 40mm Noctua, solder it to the output side of the buck converter, cut the cable to the existing fan, and solder its ends to the input. Use the screw on the board to adjust either to a measure 12v, or simply to set the fan speed to your liking.

dramsey wrote:If you have an older M2, this fan is apparently wired in series with the extruder fan-- the small one that blows on the extruder gear, not the large bed fan. If unplugging either fan causes the other one to stop, then you have a slightly older machine.

It's very hard to find 24v fans in 40mm, so most people simply go to eBay and buy "buck coverters" (do a search on the term) from China. These tiny, dirt-cheap circuit boards smoothly adjust an input DC voltage to another voltage, say 24v to 12v, adjusted via a tiny screw. Buy a 12v, 40mm Noctua, solder it to the output side of the buck converter, cut the cable to the existing fan, and solder its ends to the input. Use the screw on the board to adjust either to a measure 12v, or simply to set the fan speed to your liking.

The printer was purchased new in Feb. of 2016. Ideally, I would like to find quiet 24V fans as replacements, as opposed to going through the trouble of adapting the setup for 12V fans. The fans seem even louder since installing nema 17 dampers. If 24V fans are not the norm for 40mm, what if anything would be the benefit of utilizing them? I have looked at a number of sites, and am having trouble finding them.

RJD wrote:The printer was purchased new in Feb. of 2016. Ideally, I would like to find quiet 24V fans as replacements, as opposed to going through the trouble of adapting the setup for 12V fans.

Wouldn't we all...

RJD wrote:If 24V fans are not the norm for 40mm, what if anything would be the benefit of utilizing them? I have looked at a number of sites, and am having trouble finding them.

Dunno what to tell you, hoss. For whatever reason, Makergear used 24v fans. They're uncommon in the consumer space although you can buy them at Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... lsrc=aw.ds

...or at JameCo http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... Avz-8P8HAQ

...or from Mouser Electronics http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Del ... AmbC8P8HAQ, etc.

The trouble is that you won't know if these are any quieter than the stock fans until you receive them and wire them up. The Noctua fans that are popular as retrofits are known quantities and are very quiet, which I suppose accounts for the fact that folks are willing to go to extra trouble to use them.

All this said, here's what I did to quiet the fans on my machine:

1. Replace the power supply fan with a 60mm Noctua fan. I used this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

2. Unplug the fan inside the Rambo controller housing. You don't need it.

3. Remove the fan guards from the extruder and bed fans. This makes them a LOT quieter.

There, you're done. The only other thing you can do that will make a significant difference is to install NEMA 17 dampers on the X and Y axis stepper motors.

Many here on the forum are using the noctura fans. I know they are being used because there quiet. My question is what is there life like? These are not inexpensive fans.

Question 2. Is there a problem with using a buck converter on the 60 mm fan that cools the part and using a 12v noctura there as well. I assume you would loose the ability to change the speed but ever since I converted to 24v the amount of effective adjustment is minimal and I just use it on or off.