Hello all, I am moving the controller on the XXL. The controller will sit in a 11"x7"x4" ABS box. The box will be sealed beside a few rubber grummets. I plan to add an air flow 3" fan to push in fresh air. Is there any problem having the fan inside?
The fan I have is made to go inside but I can easily fit it to go outside.
Same for the power supply
Thanks!
I would say don’t bother with the fan, if you are going to have a fan it means you have planned to have an air intake somewhere in that ABS box, just keep that opening with no fan…
Thanks Julien, I was on the fence on that one. Having a fan prevent overheating the board but it also create more air flow to introduce fine particules of saw dust. So no fan and plenty of air intake.
On my (older) Shapeoko the controller has thermal paste underneath each stepper driver, so the entire rail ends up being a giant thermal sink, so there is very little to no risk of overheating. You should get away with no air intake at all, if you are in the same situation (I’m being cautious in my statement here, because more recent Shapeokos seem to have their controller on stands / no thermal paste, I’m not sure)
Being paranoid, I added mini heat sinks (similar to the ones that go on Rasperry Pi chips) on top of each stepper driver, but that was likely overkill/unnecessary.
The latter board and compact enclosure I got with my BitRunner on my SO3 XXL, as well as the one on my Pro came with thermal pads that connected to the metal case.
When I upgraded to BitSetter I got a new controller and enclosure and you have to remove the big alum heatsink and put a little one on with thermal tape. Since Carbide designed the system I guess they thought the big heat sink was redundant. Heat is the enemy of electronics. I dont think recirculating hot air would do any good without fresh air. They do make prefilters for muffin fans.
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.