Trying to find a quieter 24v PSU

I have managed to get the mechanism of my CoreXY printer nice and quiet through the use of 0.9 stepper motors and so on, but this has emphasised the noise that my 24v PSU makes - it's really annoying. The PSU is the usual Chinese LED type, 24v at 15A, and it works really well apart from the fan noise.

Are there any reasonably priced PSUs available with that sort of rating, that don't make so much noise?

The only alternative is to take the casing off (the PSU is in an enclosure so risk is very low) and directing a bigger, slower fan at the hot bits. Alternatively I could use a quiet axial fan and duct the air to the right place. But really I'd like a simple off-the-shelf solution, if there's one available.

Any suggestions?

Are you powering the bed heater with it? If not, the MeanWell LRS-200-24, good for 8.8A is fanless and cheap. [www.ebay.com]

I've put two of them into printers so far and they've been very reliable. MeanWell's stuff usually has multiple safety certifications which means they have some protection circuits that have been demonstrated to be functional.

Those so-called "LED power supplies" sold on ebay are junk. I'm pretty sure the fan is there to tell you that the supply is about to fail, because back when I used to use them, if the fan turned on the supply was usually dead a few minutes later.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

I've been reasonably successful with a couple of the LED power supplies, but I never take them to their limit - they usually run way below their max loading. The 12v one on my Prusa i3 has been re-cased with an 8" computer case fan (and that IS noisy!) and runs at about 12A. The 24v one is currently running at about 10A or so. In both cases their fans run continuously - maybe that's why they've lasted OK.

I'll look into the MeanWell range - I am powering the heatbed from the PSU (I'm just upgrading it to 200W, so that will need around 8.5A on its own), so I guess that load, plus around 2.5A for the hot-end and a few Amps for everything else means that I will need around 12A, maybe a little more for comfort. This nudges the limit on the old PSU, so maybe I do need to look for something better!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/2017 01:59PM by David J.

I've sent you a PM on what I'm using.

My case is a bit different in that I'm using separate PSUs for the hotend and the bed. My 300x300 bed draws quite a bit during initial warming but stays at a comfortable draw of ~4A once it reaches temperature. If i was using a single 24V PSU I might be able to get away with it since the hotend doesn't heat until the bed reached initial temperature.

I have a LRS-200-24 and doesn't get too hot, but everything on for me doesn't pull more than 120W.

I got mine from RS online in the UK. They have most of the Meanwell range listed under the RS-PRO brand. This looks bit of a steal for the price if it supplies enough amps for you.

If you're using mains/line for the bed a laptop style fanless psu is plenty for hotends/fans/motors 120w should do it 150w if you want a little headroom. I've two machines with laptop type PSUs for everything except the bed and they function very well. On my kossel Xl I printed a top cover for the psu with a lot of holes in it as it's sits in the electronics compartment under the bed, which is cooled by 2x 50mm fans separately.

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Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

Quote
DjDemonD
If you're using mains/line for the bed a laptop style fanless psu is plenty for hotends/fans/motors 120w should do it 150w if you want a little headroom. I've two machines with laptop type PSUs for everything except the bed and they function very well. On my kossel Xl I printed a top cover for the psu with a lot of holes in it as it's sits in the electronics compartment under the bed, which is cooled by 2x 50mm fans separately.

My new hotbed is 200W on its own, without considering the hotend and other requirements! I'm going to need at least a 360W supply, preferably a little higher.

I do have an absolutely silent XBox PSU that I tried to use for supplying a printer - it was fine until the 120W Mk3 heatbed turned on, at which point the protection circuits tripped and the PSU shut down. The total current was just over the PSU's capabilities. I might still use that for something else though.

Well then you do have an option.

Use the Xbox psu for everything except the bed.
Get a 200w 24v psu for the bed these are usually fanless.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2017 03:49AM by DjDemonD.

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Simon Khoury

Co-founder of [www.precisionpiezo.co.uk] Accurate, repeatable, versatile Z-Probes
Published:Inventions

Quote
DjDemonD
Well then you do have an option.

Use the Xbox psu for everything except the bed.
Get a 200w 24v psu for the bed these are usually fanless.

It's a thought - but the XBox psu is 12v, and everything in my machine is 24v... it's an avenue worth exploring though.

Of course, I could abandon the 24v bed heater and go to a 240v mains-powered one via an SSR, allowing me to use a much smaller non-fan PSU but that would be a whole lot more complication to ensure that it's safe. A lot more money too...

I might just try the 'quiet snail blower' route, to replace the PSU's noisy and inefficient fan. If that doesn't work out I'll try the mains-powered route.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2017 10:26AM by David J.