The M2 24V upgrade

[Tim]

At some point I decided to wait on the 24V upgrade until the dust settled down.

However, in the end, some of the discussions about the upgrade were left hanging, with some of the questions unanswered.

The good news is that the upgrade page still shows the upgrade selling for the same price, although it was originally advertised as an introductory offer.

So, here are the unanswered questions:

(1) Does the upgrade now come with 24V fans, or not? Are new M2s shipping with 24V fans? Am I correct in my understanding that if I switch to the 24V upgrade and use 24V fans, then my existing wiring harness will work without modification? If MakerGear is not shipping 24V fans, what's a good model to get?

(2) Is there a part number for the automotive fuse socket that replaces the 12V circuit breaker on the old Rambo board, and does it have a footprint that will allow me to swap out the circuit breaker and replace it with the fuse socket? What's the rating on the fuse?

(3) Does the firmware on the Rambo need to be updated?

(4) Is the V4 extruder coming soon (i.e., before I break my existing 12V extruder!), and if so, will it be 24V-only, thus forcing me to get an upgrade if I have not done so before? If not, and I continue to use the 12V setup, will I become a pariah in the M2 community because everything I say comes with the caveat that it may not apply to everyone else because I'm the only person left using a 12V setup?

(5) A complete set of instructions for the upgrade was promised, but I never heard anything more. Was it ever completed and made available? If so, is it comprehensive?

If I can get at least the first three questions answered to my satisfaction, I would go ahead and order the upgrade and finally get a few extra extruders instead of being scared to try new filament types for fear of hosing my old but reliable hardware.

[Tim]

Hello out there? Am I all alone? Nobody else upgrading? No support? No instructions? No 24V fans?

[Toby]

Sorry don't have much to contribute here since all I know about is 24V v3b M2 straight from Makergear. But as for the fans, the current arrangement is to have two 12V 40mm ball bearing fans in series for the electronics and the hot end, and one 24v 50mm ball bearing fan to cool the bed.

I assume that's what ends up in your upgrade kit, but to be honest I'm a bit hazy about even that.

[jimc]

tim i think rick is the one with the answer which is why you havent gotten one from us. im sure rick doesnt read all these posts every day. why not just send him a direct email. probably your best bet.

[jsc]

Tim, I don't know if you've seen this thread, but it may be helpful to answer some of your questions. Especially starting around Feb 12, the posts from Gregg Bone. https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic ... 5-false%5D

[Tim]

Yes, I've seen that thread---you'll note that I made a couple of posts to it. That thread was where most of these questions originated, but few of them got answered.

So it sounds like MakerGear is still shipping the 12V 40mm fans in series. The (slight) problem with that is that if I convert to the 24V supply, then I have to rewire the fans from parallel to serial. Which is no big deal. But Dale mentioned a 24V Delta fan. . . a model number would be useful, and a source (hello Dale?), and that seems a bit simpler than the rewiring job. And if anybody has the make and model of the 50mm fan, that would be useful to know. I suppose they are all about the same. I've had crappy fans on computer towers and other equipment, though, so it would be nice to have something known to be good and reliable.

[jimc]

Tim i could be wrong but i swear rick posted somewhere that he was now isung 24v ball bearing fans.

[Toby]

So it sounds like MakerGear is still shipping the 12V 40mm fans in series. The (slight) problem with that is that if I convert to the 24V supply, then I have to rewire the fans from parallel to serial. Which is no big deal.

That's why I said my understanding was hazy on the upgrades. This is how they ship new systems, but jim could be right and it's all 24v for upgrades. I know Makergear has said "We'll ship you the right fans" which always puzzled me because I thought there was just one type of fan for each function and the only question was whether or not it was an improved ball-bearing type or not. But if they use a different voltage for the upgrade kit it would make sense.

This is kind of silly for us to be talking about though, especially me since I don't even have an ugrade kit- Rick's the one who will give you the answers

[jsc]

Regarding fans, I use one of these 24V 40mm fans as the bed fan, and recommend it: http://parts.arrow.com/item/detail/delt ... 24shb#GE2e

They are $10 fans being sold for $1.50. Great stats. Limited stock, and shipping will take back some of the savings, but still a good deal. You can use one as the extruder fan without switching your harness, but be aware they are crazy loud. They are PWMable, hard or soft.

[Tim]

Well, that's one data point, anyway. Thanks. "Crazy loud" might be a problem, though, since my M2 is only about 4 feet away from where I work at the computer. I already have problems with the crazy loud fans in my HP/Agilent power supplies, but I don't use those too often.