Would a 10 amp power supply be sufficient?

For a printer with no heat-bed, 2x NEMA 17 steppers, 2x nema14 steppers, an extruder, and some fans, would a 10A power supply such as this one work?:

[www.amazon.com]

The nema14 are 500ma each and the nema 17 are 1.7A each. A hot end with 40 watt 12v cartridge heater uses 5 amps, so that is 9.4A if I did the math right. Does that leave enough margin to use a 10 amp supply?

Cutting it a little close IMHO. First the stated output may or may not be correct, electronics vary, quality control varies and ratings are often hedged.

Then you have to consider how much you are actually drawing in amperage and if you close to the rated output you are probably straining that power supply and causing it to degrade faster than intended.

It's best in my mind to at least double the amperage you need. That gives you a bit more headroom for tolerances and specifications not being exactly right.

That PSU should be more than adequate. The current taken by the stepper drivers from 12V will be much lower than the rated current of the motor, because of the chopper drive. How much lower depends on the resistance of the motor windings. In any case, it is unlikely that you will be running the 1.7A motors at more than 1.2A. A 40W 12V cartridge heater takes 3.3A @ 12V, not 5A.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Thank you. I will use a 15A power supply to be safe.

By way of comparison, I've built a bunch of printers with 4 NEMA 17's (0.4A / 12v) and a 40W, 24v heater cartridge. I've been using 65w, 19v laptop supplies which have plenty of power. Using the heater cartridge at the reduced voltage only draws about 25w and the motors altogether draw about 20w. (As DC42 points out, the motors don't actually draw their rated current.) It really doesn't take much power to run a 3D printer - until, of course, you add a heated bed.

Calculating the actual motor current draw beforehand, however, can get a little tricky, so without having the opportunity to test the actual current draw, it's safer to oversize your supply.

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LoboCNC
By way of comparison, I've built a bunch of printers with 4 NEMA 17's (0.4A / 12v) and a 40W, 24v heater cartridge. I've been using 65w, 19v laptop supplies which have plenty of power. Using the heater cartridge at the reduced voltage only draws about 25w and the motors altogether draw about 20w. (As DC42 points out, the motors don't actually draw their rated current.) It really doesn't take much power to run a 3D printer - until, of course, you add a heated bed.

My delta uses a 12V 100W (so 8.3A) LED power supply. The heated bed is mains powered. I was intending to upgrade the PSU to 120W or higher when I convert to to dual extrusion. However, the thermal break on the E3Dv6 is so efficient that it needs only a 25W heater, which means that a 100W PSU may still be enough when using dual E3Dv6 hot ends..

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

btw the output cable on the PSU you linked to at Amazon looks rather thin for carrying 10A. Also I am not at all sure that the type of output connector it uses would be safe for 10A.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I just coverted to 14 Ga. for power and heatbed. It made quite a difference. Make sure you use multistrand wire.

I ended up going with a 30A atx psu, so that of I want to add a heated bed or another extruder someday I can.

The power supply works, and I have built the printer to the point that I could start moving the x and y from repetier-host. With everything connected, the nema14 stepper get extremely hot and they are quite loud when moved. I have turned down the potentiometers but to no avail. Any suggestions?

What is the specification of your Nema 14 motors?

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

These are the motors I am using:

[www.pololu.com]

Sadly, those motors are not a good choice. The resistance (and hence voltage rating, and inductance) is too high and the current rating too low. However, you should be able to get them working reasonably if you turn the potentiometers down further to run them at about 400mA.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

I turned down the potentiometer so that the voltage from the second pin to the potentiometer head was around 175mV. The motors are much cooler and quiteter and seem to be working now. Thanks