Man, if only I had this video a year ago when I did almost exactly all of this. Gave me the confidence to build my own hypercube after it though, so it all worked out. Great work and video, as usual.
Great video. I found a large percentage of the hotend and part cooling fans noise comes from the "grill" made of from just holes in the cover. I cut mine out to just an open circle and the high pitched portions of the fan noises were gone. If people are worried about young fingers in the fan, an after market or better yet, 3d printed fan grill will solve that.
fact is we need step by step and also any problems that may come up along the way. only thing more you can get is maybe how to troubleshoot things. but that's not Chris's department lol. keep up the good content.
Man this is fantastic, kudos to you. The ball-bearings on my hotend fan have kicked the bucket and it is annoying as hell. I wanted to install a new fan but couldn't be bothered to check what I need to take apart. Seeing how I only need to loosen 4 screws and now being able to just order the fan in advance (knowing exactly what I need) finally gave me the incentive to get going. A billion thanks, man.
Picked up a Mega S a few weeks ago for a first printer and I've been happy so far. After the first day using it I had to upgrade the hotend fan, that thing was so annoying. Definitely considering doing the stepper motors in the future as well. Thanks for the video and detailed instructions for the upgrades.
@@ChrisRiley agree bro, you can make this anycubic almost as good if not better than a Prusa, without spending all that money at once. Awesome video very helpful
Seriously a lifesaver Chris. I was daunted by these upgrades and while I did need to reference some other guides for splicing pin connectors, your guide was the only reason I didn't ask a friend in the more knowhow to complete it for me. Thank you very much.
Thank you for making conclusion and timestamping it. I like to skip to conclusion to narrow down my options, before I go and watch every video of my final choices. Then I usually do the same with a few other reviewers to get different perspectives on the same thing.
Another excellent video Chris! I have had an i3 Mega S for several months now and switched it over to Klipper with Mainsail os and with input shaping and pressure advance I am astonished at the improved quality of prints, even over the good prints in stock mode. Unfortunately it is still noisy so your video is very much appreciated.
Few years late to this party, I am currently working on one of these for a family member, and I found this video to be quite interesting, he might want me to do these upgrades for him. I don't want to do firmware because of the touch screen, I can do Marlin all day long for a normal LCD with the rotary encoder easily enough.
Yeah, the firmware always seems to break the touch screens, but I have seen some ports of Marlin that help some. github.com/davidramiro/Marlin-Ai3M-2.0.x
@@ChrisRiley I did one on the Anet A8 when I converted it to an SKR 1.3 with one of those little screens that emulates Marlin's screen or could be a touch screen from BTT. But that's been a few years.
Modified mine so much. Replaced drivers, fans, new e3d hot end with direct drive, new bed surface, modified marlin firmware, wlan connectivity, automatic bed leveling, new z axis connectors, replaced ball bearings x, y axis with sliding ones, new filament holder on top with bearings. Should have bought a Prusa printer in the first place :)
Solid. Did this on my Mega X. First how to I’ve found that shows how to swap the motor wire mounts on the board 🤘🏽Bonus if you slap on a dual drive extruder while doing the steppers you won’t need to swap the extruder wires at the board.
I just watched 21 seconds of this video. You turned it on and I heard something noisy. I recognize that sound from my 24V power supply fan lol. Im gonna keep watching now...guess thats the problem
Bought the parts you recommended and used this video a few more times when I forgot fan direction. Swapped everything and this printer is unbelievably quiet now, thanks again. I didn’t use those blue heat sinks, I put the old lower profile ones on so the fan fit correctly. Hopefully they will suffice.? Take care!
one thing I am not sure here and there, is why on all YT videos I found about swapping the fans for this anycubic i3 mega s printer no one wants to swap the cooling part fan. I did and it works. OK I did not swap to exact 45mm because there is nothing to swap with but found 40mm that works perfectly and cost about 7 British Pounds on amazon uk. Therefore I do not know if that is lack of knowledge or kind of fear to make that too. After I swap all of them including a part fan, my printer is barely laud- I mean all I can hear is noise of motors, but can not sacrifice 20 uk pounds to pay for 5 drivers to achieve just about 7db of noise down. So end of all, I think it is worth. On the plus side, I like your video ;) kind regards
I might have to bring my old Anycubic i3 Mega out of storage, I stopped using it when I got printers that were more quite . I had already upgraded the drivers but all that fan noise. Should be worth the few bucks with all the new fans out there now to turn it back into a good printer to use. Great video as always Chris, so much info in a short period of time.
My personal recommandation would be slightly different: TMC2208´s are great for replacing the drivers on every axis... - except one: The EXT0 driver, especially if you use "Linear Advance". The TMC2208 driver causes there problems. Solution? Simply use a TMC2209 driver for the Extruder...
Great video. I hate the springs on this printer and the new ones I ordered are too stiff and compress too much. Going to try some silicone spacers instead of the springs.
The air holes on the extruder are also a bit small. Drilling them to a higher diameter will also reduce noise and allow more air through. Maybe you could even use a quieter fan with less volume with the same result.
Just replaced the psu fan a little while back, they must be prone to failure. While I was in the power supply I went ahead and re-thermal pasted the mosfets along the side of the power supply case also
Thanks Chris, great video, you've saved my ears.. my Mega S sounded awful.. there was definitely something very iffy with the PSU fan sounded like it was taking off.. but changing to the 2208's is an absolute god send, will actually be able to relax in the same room as the printer.. great tutorial, cheers 👍👍
Th Fan on the board kicks in as soon as you send gcode to move a motor (or move it from the ui). I've printed a liftup frame and put in a 12mm Noctua fan in place of the old one. Now i can barely hear anything from my Mega S apart from the part cooling fan. The connector for the hotend fan is called JST PH2.0. You can even buy sets of these on Amazon to crimp it yourself, if you want (and if your cable is too long).
while testing (by just preheating) the fans near the nozzle, I noticed only one pin for the fans started when the nozzle got to about 55 degrees. I used that pin for the hotend fan. the other pin for the other fan did not start, but I've been informed that that would be the parts-fan and that one doesn't start until the bottom layers would have been finished. So I guess I cannot check both fans together while not printing?
Yes you can, I would cable up to the printer with something like pronterface. www.pronterface.com/ Then run a M106 S255, that will turn on the part fan.
Hey Chris, this is by far the best video about these updates I have watched on YT. Well Done. I have just one silly question. Do you know those cables that come along the drivers? Did you have to use them in this case? Thanks
The reviews I can find all say the tmc2130s are very quiet, which is great. I can't find any info, however, on the effect they have on the quality of prints. Do they increase the resolution of prints in any way?
Great job. Thanks for the video. My Mega Pro has been noisy from day 1. Haven't used it much but started to reuse it a month back and the print quality has been awful and I've been pulling my hair out trying to work out what suddenly happened. Print quality was ok before but now it's terrible whenever I need some details. I think it's time i looked at the stepper motors. Was going to buy the TMC2009. I know this is an old video but was wondering if I should go with those. Maybe someone else could help. Thanks once again
Thanks! That's crazy, not sure what would cause that suddenly. 2209's should work, but they need to be configured for stand alone/dir mode. They work a bit differently than 2208's in that regard. Ask the seller before you buy them.
I clicked on the link for the stepper drivers and they don't look anything like what's in your video,are these the right ones?Also,I'm going to be printing with ABS,do I need a cover to keep the heat in like many people have been saying that I need when using ABS?
@@dreddbatfan Pretty much anything, even a cardboard box will help. No fan needed. These work pretty well. www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002762198386.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.64516ab41e86s7&algo_pvid=a1d68937-c037-4e75-9541-698895c7d31c&algo_exp_id=a1d68937-c037-4e75-9541-698895c7d31c-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000022063860175%22%7D&pdp_pi=-1%3B31.5%3B-1%3B-1%40salePrice%3BUSD%3Bsearch-mainSearch
You could probably remove, or at least improve, the high-end pitch from the hotend fan by opening up the little holes in the shroud. They seemed a little small for the amount of air that fan is moving and are acting like little "whistles".
@@klschofield71 I’m referring to your comments I opened the holes on my shroud and it improved it heaps but I now have mine in an enclosure so it’s now silent without changing my fans, my printer sits in my garage so noise isn’t a huge issue in upgrading the main board to skr 1.4 as in complex prints I’m getting zits when printing and am thinking of adding a zesty nimble to mine . The tinker never stops
My coolerguys fan arrived and I just swapped the 60mm fan in the PSU. Were you at all concerned that the replacement fan had a lower CFM rating than the OEM one?
@@ChrisRiley it was the wires from the board to the stepper motors. But I went ahead and just followed your instructions as per your video and it all worked out nicely. Thank you sir. Now to just make it not sound like a jet lol
Hi Chris,I have the Anycubic Mega S 3D printer and I'm having trouble printing with ABS filament,do you have any suggestions what I can do to get it to print ABS?I got the cover to put over it to keep the heat in and I'm using Sun ABS filament to print my parts.What temp should the bed and extruder be?I did a test print with PLA that came with the printer and it came out great.Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I've seen a few times where the motor wiring wasn't flipped. How would someone determine if this needs to be done? I purchased 2209s for my Mega X and want to make sure I do everything correctly.
any tips on adjusting the potentiometer? I tried it gently with a variety of tools and couldnt get it to change. Then tried with a bit more of force with the tip of the multimeter cable and it started changed, but eventually broke two of the potentiometers and now they are set fixed at 1700. Will buy a replacement for them but wondering if I am missing something?
Chris I love the content but you should really put a bigger disclaimer when opening up a power supply because it's really easy to hurt yourself and even consider advising against it for a newer user. My two cents
Im not sure if I mis-understood but I thought you mentioned that the stepper drivers needed if you don't want to flash the firmware must not be the UART version, yet your link is to a UART driver?
This works perfectly on my mega, now I can stay in my office while printing. The only problem I have is a ticking stepper motor to the extruder. Maybe you have a perfect solution for that too?
Hello Chris, great tutorial. Could you possibly specify the new fans you have used? Either type of specification so I can find something suitable. Thank you
@@ChrisRiley Hello Chris, thank you. If you dont mind, I would like to ask you for your advice regarding the drivers: I had already bouth the BIGTREETECH TMC2208 V3.0 UART drives (in the shop they told me it is suitable fo the Anycuboc Mega). However, from your video, I am a little bit confused about the UART vs STEP operation. Should I bought the STEP version? In the spec of the driver I bought the STEP operation is mentioned too (is says UART and STEP operation). Sorry if I ask stupidly... Anyway, thank you for your kind reply
@@radekhavel4726 Give those drivers a try. The only difference is teh solder pad on the bottom. It won't hurt anything to install them to see if they work.
Just got my Mega S and trying to do the Owl Pair that came with he printer on the sim card and starts printing then it get loose and messes up. So i cleaned with rubbing alcohol as suggested by some .. and it does not stick either .. could it be the filament that is supplied with the printer?
All I know to do on those it to clean it the best you can. Maybe scrub it with water and dish soap, then alcohol. It could be that filament. If it's old or low quality, it might cause you problems.
The Noctua I bought for the hot end is nearly silent. You don't believe it's working at first. Also, you can remove two of the feet and slide the panel out if you don't want to leave the crossbar dangling. So far I've only replaced the PSU fan and stepper drivers. Two questions: Is the PSU fan supposed to come on and stay on as soon as it's got power? (I tested the new fan before installing) How do you tune stepper drivers? You mentioned overheating as well. Is there a way to monitor motor temps or do you have to use an ir thermometer? So far the drivers have made a big difference. Now to take care of the rest of the shrieking fans.
That PSU, it looks to be always on, other have a temp sensor that turns it on. Honestly I just run a longer print then touch the motors. If you can keep you finger on it, you're probably in a safe zone.
Hi Chris. I am getting major fluctuations on hot end tem and have gone through the usual steps like replace it, tune it and so on. I think it maybe the power pack do you have any recommendations for a new one?
I'm not sure what size it is, just about anyone will work as long as it will fit the case. I would just try to match up the model number of the existing one.
@Chris Riley thank you will do. Since leaving this comment I have fixed the issue. I dismantled the hot end changed the nozzle reseated the temp probe checked all connections and put a better silicone sock over it and slightly shifted the orientation of temp sensor away from fan. I'm stable again. Thanks for the reply.
@@ChrisRiley hi Chris, All Anycubic Mega Series is using same TriGorilla Mega2560+ramp1.4......Yes all driver can be re-move & upgrade....so is getting the Step/Dir...is the correct one?
@@ChrisRiley if price isn't an issue noctua fans will exceed specs at lower noises but lets face it if price wasn't an issue i wouldn't have just bought a model s too - like wise anycubic bought the cheapest fans they could so it probably wouldnt be hard to find a more efficient fan, let us know if you start noticing any glitching, heat, failures, etc
I have a i3 mega as well and find it really noisy. I couldn't really tell from the audio, but which reduced the noise the most: changing the stepper motor drivers or the fans?
Ok question for ya, you have a lot of printers, you do a lot of upgrades and you make some pretty long and informative videos - do you ever get time to print anything? Like anything you actually need or use? 🙂
Sadly not. Usually the Hotend Fan and (if existing) the Mainboard Fan are running permanent after the printer is powered on. If the power supply has not a temp controlled fan, then this fan will running permanent, too. Only the part cooling fan is, in every printer I know, always regulated.
I have ordered the step/dir drivers and the stiffer springs. Can you do a video or point to one on adjusting the z end-stop if required for the new springs?
@@ChrisRiley I leveled the bed with the new springs after tightening the knobs down all the way. I didn't have a clearance issue, but I may move the end stops a milimeter or so. The real surgery comes Saturday when I add the new drivers.
@Jackie Riley . Thank you for the encouragement. The new BigTree 2208 V3 boards are in. I also got the Step/Dir models and reversed the motor wire connectors. I can trigger and run the steppers with manual controls in Octoproint. It seems to run the HOME function just fine. However the Z-axis doesn't seem to go up during a print. (this is my best guess). I set all the reference voltage Test-points on the boards to 0.800. Is it possible the Z axis drivers need to be bumped up some? I don't see any lables on the stepper motors to lookup their spec sheets. What do you think?
One question...... why did you avoid flashing the firmware of the printer? From my experience it already did alot e.g reduced noise and imporved the print quality. Most importantly turned off this horrible loud boot noise xd: Thanks for the great video!
Just came across your channel and am looking forward to making these tweaks on my Anycubics. I am also KC based and am curious as to if you have any interest in assisting another local 3d printer hobbyist with a few issues.
Found them, www.amazon.com/BIGTREETECH-TMC2208-Stepper-Driver-Printer/dp/B07ZTK2ZHH/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=2208%2Bdrivers&qid=1619660407&sr=8-3&th=1
just ordered this bad boy, got it on sale, i have a ender 3 v2 custom out, and a flashforge adventure 3, i thought i bought the one with the laser engraver, is it possible to add that? or do i need to reorder lol
I'm confused. Do I order the Step/DIR ones or the UART versions of the steppers? I also don't have a multi-meter, so is that part crucial to the process? I'm super new to printing and would love to aid my mega S in being quieter. Do you have a discord or something to chat?
I've been trying to get my BL touch to start working on my CR 10. Every youtuber video I've been to hasn't helped at all. I tried to follow you but I see there are some steps some could miss if they don't know anything about softwares. I wasn't sure to download PIO. I'm trying to get this working from a rebooted laptop. I've spent 5 days trying to upload it but it won't let me. I keep getting into problems Please help!
@@ChrisRiley I got everyone fix but now I have a new problem. My bl touch V1 Z stop isn't working. It blinks which means it's connected but it won't stop when I press the probe in. I guess it's not giving a single to the board? Omg I follow everyone and I get a unique problem. CAN SOMEONE HELP. I've been at this for 2 week and I'm piss at myself that it's taking this long to have a 3d printer working.
@@ChrisRiley I find it strange there isn't a video going over this problem. When it goes to auto home, it doesn't want to stop when I press the probe in.
@@ChrisRiley It stays solid when the probe is pushed in. The light turns off when he probe is pulled out. It would stop when I set to auto home and push the probe in.
It looks like you can. But you only need 3 of the stepper drivers. The X and Y are all ready upgraded, I guess that's why they say the pro is more silent then the others. But changing the other 3 out made a big difference in the hum it makes, the hum is gone. Only thing left is the loud nozzle fans.
Man, if only I had this video a year ago when I did almost exactly all of this. Gave me the confidence to build my own hypercube after it though, so it all worked out. Great work and video, as usual.
Glad I could help! Thanks!
Wow....what a difference. I can barely hear it run now. thanks!
You're welcome! Glad it helped!
Great video. I found a large percentage of the hotend and part cooling fans noise comes from the "grill" made of from just holes in the cover. I cut mine out to just an open circle and the high pitched portions of the fan noises were gone. If people are worried about young fingers in the fan, an after market or better yet, 3d printed fan grill will solve that.
Great tip!
Thanks for the tip!
I like the way you show every step of the process. Makes the videos longer, but that's just your schtick. Keep it up!
I'm here to help!
fact is we need step by step and also any problems that may come up along the way. only thing more you can get is maybe how to troubleshoot things. but that's not Chris's department lol. keep up the good content.
Man this is fantastic, kudos to you. The ball-bearings on my hotend fan have kicked the bucket and it is annoying as hell. I wanted to install a new fan but couldn't be bothered to check what I need to take apart. Seeing how I only need to loosen 4 screws and now being able to just order the fan in advance (knowing exactly what I need) finally gave me the incentive to get going. A billion thanks, man.
Thanks, good luck with your projects!
This video is so well done, thank you for making it. Ordered fans and springs from your links.
Glad you like them!
Damn, I've been waiting for this video for over 2 years :)
I'm glad I could help!
Picked up a Mega S a few weeks ago for a first printer and I've been happy so far. After the first day using it I had to upgrade the hotend fan, that thing was so annoying. Definitely considering doing the stepper motors in the future as well. Thanks for the video and detailed instructions for the upgrades.
Tinkering with your printers is half the fun! Thanks for watching
@@ChrisRiley agree bro, you can make this anycubic almost as good if not better than a Prusa, without spending all that money at once. Awesome video very helpful
Seriously a lifesaver Chris. I was daunted by these upgrades and while I did need to reference some other guides for splicing pin connectors, your guide was the only reason I didn't ask a friend in the more knowhow to complete it for me. Thank you very much.
Happy to help!
Really appreciate the time you took to make this EXCELLENT video ! I hope you are doing well best wishes to you and your family !
Thank you! You too!
Thank you for making conclusion and timestamping it. I like to skip to conclusion to narrow down my options, before I go and watch every video of my final choices. Then I usually do the same with a few other reviewers to get different perspectives on the same thing.
Glad it was helpful!
Another excellent video Chris! I have had an i3 Mega S for several months now and switched it over to Klipper with Mainsail os and with input shaping and pressure advance I am astonished at the improved quality of prints, even over the good prints in stock mode. Unfortunately it is still noisy so your video is very much appreciated.
I'm glad it was helpful
Few years late to this party, I am currently working on one of these for a family member, and I found this video to be quite interesting, he might want me to do these upgrades for him. I don't want to do firmware because of the touch screen, I can do Marlin all day long for a normal LCD with the rotary encoder easily enough.
Yeah, the firmware always seems to break the touch screens, but I have seen some ports of Marlin that help some. github.com/davidramiro/Marlin-Ai3M-2.0.x
@@ChrisRiley I did one on the Anet A8 when I converted it to an SKR 1.3 with one of those little screens that emulates Marlin's screen or could be a touch screen from BTT. But that's been a few years.
Modified mine so much. Replaced drivers, fans, new e3d hot end with direct drive, new bed surface, modified marlin firmware, wlan connectivity, automatic bed leveling, new z axis connectors, replaced ball bearings x, y axis with sliding ones, new filament holder on top with bearings.
Should have bought a Prusa printer in the first place :)
Lol! 😉
Solid. Did this on my Mega X. First how to I’ve found that shows how to swap the motor wire mounts on the board 🤘🏽Bonus if you slap on a dual drive extruder while doing the steppers you won’t need to swap the extruder wires at the board.
Nice 👍
I highly recommend using the Noctua NF-A4x10 for the hotend. I changed mine out a year or so ago and am so glad I did.
Nice! I will check that out.
Great video. I changed out the power supply cooling fan on my ANYCUBIC Mega S. The instructions were great. Thanks
Glad it helped
Thank you Chris! After watching your video I'm going to upgrade my Mega-S.
Great! Good luck with your projects
I just watched 21 seconds of this video. You turned it on and I heard something noisy. I recognize that sound from my 24V power supply fan lol. Im gonna keep watching now...guess thats the problem
You are correct, LOL!
I haven't done this, but mate, fantastic video. Very well instructed!
Glad it was helpful!
Bought the parts you recommended and used this video a few more times when I forgot fan direction. Swapped everything and this printer is unbelievably quiet now, thanks again. I didn’t use those blue heat sinks, I put the old lower profile ones on so the fan fit correctly. Hopefully they will suffice.? Take care!
It should be fine. I'm glad this video was helpful. Thank you
just cancelled my amazon order for this printer too noisy for me. Thanks for making this video
You bet! It is a noisy one.
Finally! I’m about to add a skr 1.4 to mine with btt tmc2209
👍🙂
I have soldered those jumpers in the past and am in 100% agreement- Not for the soldering novice! Good thing you did all that fan testing ;)
Thanks!
Great video Chris! Nice to see there are some drop in steppers out there that don't require firmware edits.
Agreed! Thanks
one thing I am not sure here and there, is why on all YT videos I found about swapping the fans for this anycubic i3 mega s printer no one wants to swap the cooling part fan. I did and it works. OK I did not swap to exact 45mm because there is nothing to swap with but found 40mm that works perfectly and cost about 7 British Pounds on amazon uk. Therefore I do not know if that is lack of knowledge or kind of fear to make that too. After I swap all of them including a part fan, my printer is barely laud- I mean all I can hear is noise of motors, but can not sacrifice 20 uk pounds to pay for 5 drivers to achieve just about 7db of noise down. So end of all, I think it is worth. On the plus side, I like your video ;)
kind regards
Thanks for your insight!
Nice vid. Looks like 50K subs are coming soon. Congrats.
Thanks James, they are coming quick, I need to get ready.
I might have to bring my old Anycubic i3 Mega out of storage, I stopped using it when I got printers that were more quite . I had already upgraded the drivers but all that fan noise. Should be worth the few bucks with all the new fans out there now to turn it back into a good printer to use.
Great video as always Chris, so much info in a short period of time.
No printer left behind! 🙂
Great video.
I lift the edge of the sticker on the fan and desolder the entire wire. Faster and better without having to splice any wires.
Great idea, thanks!
Anycubic is your biggest fan! 2208's seems to be a great easy solution without the worry of firmware.
My personal recommandation would be slightly different: TMC2208´s are great for replacing the drivers on every axis... - except one: The EXT0 driver, especially if you use "Linear Advance". The TMC2208 driver causes there problems. Solution? Simply use a TMC2209 driver for the Extruder...
Thank you!
@@probang2866 I went 2209 for all of mine so worth it just remember to bend the spread cycle/stealth chop pins
Great video.
I hate the springs on this printer and the new ones I ordered are too stiff and compress too much. Going to try some silicone spacers instead of the springs.
Thanks, yeah, I wanted to do the same, I order some like 2 months ago, still waiting. LOL
The air holes on the extruder are also a bit small. Drilling them to a higher diameter will also reduce noise and allow more air through. Maybe you could even use a quieter fan with less volume with the same result.
Thanks for your insight!
Just replaced the psu fan a little while back, they must be prone to failure. While I was in the power supply I went ahead and re-thermal pasted the mosfets along the side of the power supply case also
Nice, yep, I have had a lot of folks say they had the same problems.
Thanks Chris, great video, you've saved my ears.. my Mega S sounded awful.. there was definitely something very iffy with the PSU fan sounded like it was taking off.. but changing to the 2208's is an absolute god send, will actually be able to relax in the same room as the printer.. great tutorial, cheers 👍👍
Glad I could help!
Th Fan on the board kicks in as soon as you send gcode to move a motor (or move it from the ui). I've printed a liftup frame and put in a 12mm Noctua fan in place of the old one. Now i can barely hear anything from my Mega S apart from the part cooling fan. The connector for the hotend fan is called JST PH2.0. You can even buy sets of these on Amazon to crimp it yourself, if you want (and if your cable is too long).
Thanks!
Handy info
Ps fan just went out for me thanks man!
Glad I could help!
Love my mega s and will do thse upgrades and I ditched springs for 18mm silicone spacers
Great, good luck with your projects!
I did all this upgrade to my Mega S and testing out how they work so far quite it down a lot.
Yes, I would say that is the best part.
Next will be an all metal hot end like a did on my Voxelab Aquila X2's and fans upgrade too and they run silent and print a lot of PETG and PLA great.
while testing (by just preheating) the fans near the nozzle, I noticed only one pin for the fans started when the nozzle got to about 55 degrees. I used that pin for the hotend fan. the other pin for the other fan did not start, but I've been informed that that would be the parts-fan and that one doesn't start until the bottom layers would have been finished. So I guess I cannot check both fans together while not printing?
Yes you can, I would cable up to the printer with something like pronterface. www.pronterface.com/ Then run a M106 S255, that will turn on the part fan.
Hey Chris, this is by far the best video about these updates I have watched on YT. Well Done. I have just one silly question. Do you know those cables that come along the drivers? Did you have to use them in this case? Thanks
In this case know, you would only need them if you wanted to use sensorless homing.
The reviews I can find all say the tmc2130s are very quiet, which is great. I can't find any info, however, on the effect they have on the quality of prints. Do they increase the resolution of prints in any way?
All TMC drivers are better than most A4988's or 8826's. Are they perfect, no, but they do improve the print quality over the older drives.
Great job. Thanks for the video. My Mega Pro has been noisy from day 1. Haven't used it much but started to reuse it a month back and the print quality has been awful and I've been pulling my hair out trying to work out what suddenly happened. Print quality was ok before but now it's terrible whenever I need some details. I think it's time i looked at the stepper motors. Was going to buy the TMC2009. I know this is an old video but was wondering if I should go with those. Maybe someone else could help. Thanks once again
Thanks! That's crazy, not sure what would cause that suddenly. 2209's should work, but they need to be configured for stand alone/dir mode. They work a bit differently than 2208's in that regard. Ask the seller before you buy them.
I clicked on the link for the stepper drivers and they don't look anything like what's in your video,are these the right ones?Also,I'm going to be printing with ABS,do I need a cover to keep the heat in like many people have been saying that I need when using ABS?
Yes, get the STEP/DIR ones geni.us/BHavGuG, ABS, it depends on the part. An enclosure can help greatly.
@@ChrisRiley What should I make the cover out of and should I put a circulating fan on it?
@@dreddbatfan Pretty much anything, even a cardboard box will help. No fan needed. These work pretty well. www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002762198386.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.64516ab41e86s7&algo_pvid=a1d68937-c037-4e75-9541-698895c7d31c&algo_exp_id=a1d68937-c037-4e75-9541-698895c7d31c-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000022063860175%22%7D&pdp_pi=-1%3B31.5%3B-1%3B-1%40salePrice%3BUSD%3Bsearch-mainSearch
You could probably remove, or at least improve, the high-end pitch from the hotend fan by opening up the little holes in the shroud. They seemed a little small for the amount of air that fan is moving and are acting like little "whistles".
Thanks!
I did this on mine
@@Scicluna83 When you say "this" are you referring to the improvements Chris did, the hypothesized "fix" to the hot-end fan shroud, or both?
@@klschofield71 I’m referring to your comments I opened the holes on my shroud and it improved it heaps but I now have mine in an enclosure so it’s now silent without changing my fans, my printer sits in my garage so noise isn’t a huge issue in upgrading the main board to skr 1.4 as in complex prints I’m getting zits when printing and am thinking of adding a zesty nimble to mine . The tinker never stops
Good video, lots of information and explanations
Glad you liked it Dave, thanks!
My coolerguys fan arrived and I just swapped the 60mm fan in the PSU. Were you at all concerned that the replacement fan had a lower CFM rating than the OEM one?
Not really, it MIGHT shorten its life, but I don't think it's going to matter much.
thank you dude you helped save my printer lol
Glad I could help, thank you!
I've got a question for you... I just watched one
UA-camr that only switched the red and blue wires instead of the whole set. Why the differences?
It's been so long ago, I don't remember which wires you are referring to.
@@ChrisRiley it was the wires from the board to the stepper motors. But I went ahead and just followed your instructions as per your video and it all worked out nicely. Thank you sir. Now to just make it not sound like a jet lol
Always interesting!
Thank you!
Hi Chris,I have the Anycubic Mega S 3D printer and I'm having trouble printing with ABS filament,do you have any suggestions what I can do to get it to print ABS?I got the cover to put over it to keep the heat in and I'm using Sun ABS filament to print my parts.What temp should the bed and extruder be?I did a test print with PLA that came with the printer and it came out great.Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
great guide！！！ and i have a question ，is that means i don't need to change the line sequence if i flash the fimware?
Not sure what you mean line sequence.
I've seen a few times where the motor wiring wasn't flipped. How would someone determine if this needs to be done? I purchased 2209s for my Mega X and want to make sure I do everything correctly.
It won't hurt anything if you're wrong. The quickest way is to just test it by making a move.
Thanks
Thank you
any tips on adjusting the potentiometer? I tried it gently with a variety of tools and couldnt get it to change. Then tried with a bit more of force with the tip of the multimeter cable and it started changed, but eventually broke two of the potentiometers and now they are set fixed at 1700. Will buy a replacement for them but wondering if I am missing something?
It should take very little force to adjust these, it took me a couple of times to get the correct size screw driver to turn it easily.
My printer comes with soldered drivers? Any Idea how to swap them out? Ty
Really? The board has soldered drivers? If that's the case there isn't much you can do except replace the board.
When you turned that thing on it sounded like it was going to launch out of your basement like a badly installed water heater lol
🙂👍
Chris I love the content but you should really put a bigger disclaimer when opening up a power supply because it's really easy to hurt yourself and even consider advising against it for a newer user. My two cents
I try to bring it up, but you're right, you can get hurt in there, maybe we need a graphic to throw up on the screen.
Im not sure if I mis-understood but I thought you mentioned that the stepper drivers needed if you don't want to flash the firmware must not be the UART version, yet your link is to a UART driver?
So that link should include all the different driver type. Just make sure you buy the ones that say step/dir. geni.us/BHavGuG
This works perfectly on my mega, now I can stay in my office while printing. The only problem I have is a ticking stepper motor to the extruder. Maybe you have a perfect solution for that too?
Great! Not sure on the extruder, I will have a listen to mine.
The parts cooler fan is a 45 x45 by 10 mm fan mine recently went out so I had to put a new one in
Good luck with your project!
@@ChrisRiley it was a perfect fit
Hello Chris, great tutorial. Could you possibly specify the new fans you have used? Either type of specification so I can find something suitable. Thank you
I linked all the fans in the description, let me know if you need more info.
@@ChrisRiley Hello Chris, thank you. If you dont mind, I would like to ask you for your advice regarding the drivers: I had already bouth the BIGTREETECH TMC2208 V3.0 UART drives (in the shop they told me it is suitable fo the Anycuboc Mega). However, from your video, I am a little bit confused about the UART vs STEP operation. Should I bought the STEP version? In the spec of the driver I bought the STEP operation is mentioned too (is says UART and STEP operation). Sorry if I ask stupidly... Anyway, thank you for your kind reply
@@radekhavel4726 Give those drivers a try. The only difference is teh solder pad on the bottom. It won't hurt anything to install them to see if they work.
@@ChrisRiley Thank you.
Just got my Mega S and trying to do the Owl Pair that came with he printer on the sim card and starts printing then it get loose and messes up. So i cleaned with rubbing alcohol as suggested by some .. and it does not stick either .. could it be the filament that is supplied with the printer?
All I know to do on those it to clean it the best you can. Maybe scrub it with water and dish soap, then alcohol. It could be that filament. If it's old or low quality, it might cause you problems.
Is it normal that the noctua power supply fan turns on and sometimes shut off ? Is it because its to cold and the fan control shuts down?
Yes, some have a temp sensor.
The Noctua I bought for the hot end is nearly silent. You don't believe it's working at first.
Also, you can remove two of the feet and slide the panel out if you don't want to leave the crossbar dangling.
So far I've only replaced the PSU fan and stepper drivers.
Two questions: Is the PSU fan supposed to come on and stay on as soon as it's got power? (I tested the new fan before installing)
How do you tune stepper drivers? You mentioned overheating as well. Is there a way to monitor motor temps or do you have to use an ir thermometer?
So far the drivers have made a big difference. Now to take care of the rest of the shrieking fans.
That PSU, it looks to be always on, other have a temp sensor that turns it on. Honestly I just run a longer print then touch the motors. If you can keep you finger on it, you're probably in a safe zone.
@@ChrisRiley I found out that the plug I used had the wires reversed compared to the stock fan lol.
I bought the mega s. but all the videos i find are for the I3 mega s. are they the same machine
Yes, those should be the same machine.
What this be same procedure for the Chiron I want to change the drivers on mine
I am not sure, I don't know what board it uses. If it's the same one then yes.
Hi Chris.
I am getting major fluctuations on hot end tem and have gone through the usual steps like replace it, tune it and so on.
I think it maybe the power pack do you have any recommendations for a new one?
I'm not sure what size it is, just about anyone will work as long as it will fit the case. I would just try to match up the model number of the existing one.
@Chris Riley thank you will do.
Since leaving this comment I have fixed the issue. I dismantled the hot end changed the nozzle reseated the temp probe checked all connections and put a better silicone sock over it and slightly shifted the orientation of temp sensor away from fan. I'm stable again. Thanks for the reply.
Great job!
Thanks!
Gret guide - thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Hi Chris,, i using MegaX...as you mention no need update firmware for this process?
Not sure about what board the megaX uses, but if it has removable drivers, and you get the right ones, it should work.
@@ChrisRiley hi Chris, All Anycubic Mega Series is using same TriGorilla Mega2560+ramp1.4......Yes all driver can be re-move & upgrade....so is getting the Step/Dir...is the correct one?
now im not saying that old fan is efficient but how do you know your silent fan is up to the task of cooling that PSU
That is a great point. You really don't, it's trial and error for me. I have a lot of PSU's with no fan at all, so I just went with it.
@@ChrisRiley if price isn't an issue noctua fans will exceed specs at lower noises but lets face it if price wasn't an issue i wouldn't have just bought a model s too - like wise anycubic bought the cheapest fans they could so it probably wouldnt be hard to find a more efficient fan, let us know if you start noticing any glitching, heat, failures, etc
I have a i3 mega as well and find it really noisy. I couldn't really tell from the audio, but which reduced the noise the most: changing the stepper motor drivers or the fans?
I think the fans helped the most.
Why didn’t you let us hear what it sounds like after the upgrades?
After we upgrade the stepper drivers I show you the decibel level. Is this what you mean?
ua-cam.com/video/ywscQehQ80M/v-deo.html
Ok question for ya, you have a lot of printers, you do a lot of upgrades and you make some pretty long and informative videos - do you ever get time to print anything? Like anything you actually need or use? 🙂
Good question and yes, I do! I actually just got done creating racks for all my PrintDry pieces and parts to get them out of my way. :)
From the video i found my fan was oriented wrong !!!! the intake was taking in hot air off of the heater!!!!! any one same with me?????
It doesn't suprise me that this mistake could be made.
I bought the fan for the PSU, but just found out when I took everything apart that the red and black are reversed on my stock fan so it doesn’t work 😢
☹ I'm sorry to hear that. Good luck with your projects.
Great video. You mentioned that the mainboard fan turns on when it's printing through G-Code command. Is that fairly typical for 3D printers?
Sadly not. Usually the Hotend Fan and (if existing) the Mainboard Fan are running permanent after the printer is powered on. If the power supply has not a temp controlled fan, then this fan will running permanent, too.
Only the part cooling fan is, in every printer I know, always regulated.
👍🙂
I have ordered the step/dir drivers and the stiffer springs. Can you do a video or point to one on adjusting the z end-stop if required for the new springs?
There really isn't much to it, just tighten the screws inside the left and right Z pillars until you have the right height.
@@ChrisRiley I leveled the bed with the new springs after tightening the knobs down all the way. I didn't have a clearance issue, but I may move the end stops a milimeter or so. The real surgery comes Saturday when I add the new drivers.
@@thesavo Good luck!
@Jackie Riley . Thank you for the encouragement.
The new BigTree 2208 V3 boards are in. I also got the Step/Dir models and reversed the motor wire connectors. I can trigger and run the steppers with manual controls in Octoproint. It seems to run the HOME function just fine. However the Z-axis doesn't seem to go up during a print. (this is my best guess). I set all the reference voltage Test-points on the boards to 0.800. Is it possible the Z axis drivers need to be bumped up some? I don't see any lables on the stepper motors to lookup their spec sheets. What do you think?
One question...... why did you avoid flashing the firmware of the printer?
From my experience it already did alot e.g reduced noise and imporved the print quality.
Most importantly turned off this horrible loud boot noise xd:
Thanks for the great video!
Thanks! I purposely did upgrade the firmware for all the folks that are good with hardware, but don't like messing with firmware.
Hi, I do not live in the US, but i found some TMC2208s locally. However, they are from other brands like Sunnimix or MKS. Are they the same?
All the chips are the same, but the boards might be configured different. See if they have any doc for them. MKS should be able to tell you.
@@ChrisRiley alright! Thanks for the reply! Cheers!
Will these drivers work for the Mega X?
Not sure what board it uses.
2208s are well known for running hot.
Never had a lot of issues with 2208's myself.
Hi do u know if the 2209's can also be swapped in without having to touch the firmware? Thanks
Yes, just make sure they are the step/dir kind. That way to solder pad will be set correctly for you.
@@ChrisRiley Sweet, thanks
Just came across your channel and am looking forward to making these tweaks on my Anycubics. I am also KC based and am curious as to if you have any interest in assisting another local 3d printer hobbyist with a few issues.
I don't have much free time but I might be able to help with a few small issues.
@@ChrisRiley Is there better way to get in contact with you than through replies on this post?
@@FishingKC you can reach me through my email address chrisriley3d@gmail.com.
Hey chris how about a video on ender 6 skr 1.4 turbo upgrade?
I haven't seen the ender 6 yet, maybe they will send one.
The amazon link for the stepper drivers doesn't work for me: page not found. Can someone confirm if this problem for all or only for me?
Looks like they are no longer on Amazon, I will get it updated as soon as I can.
Found them, www.amazon.com/BIGTREETECH-TMC2208-Stepper-Driver-Printer/dp/B07ZTK2ZHH/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=2208%2Bdrivers&qid=1619660407&sr=8-3&th=1
just ordered this bad boy, got it on sale, i have a ender 3 v2 custom out, and a flashforge adventure 3, i thought i bought the one with the laser engraver, is it possible to add that? or do i need to reorder lol
It depends on the laser, but a lot of those lasers use the part fan plug, so you can probably make it work.
I'm confused. Do I order the Step/DIR ones or the UART versions of the steppers? I also don't have a multi-meter, so is that part crucial to the process? I'm super new to printing and would love to aid my mega S in being quieter.
Do you have a discord or something to chat?
You need the Step/DIR version and yes you will need a multi-meter to set these correctly.
this is the easiest way to flip motor direction
🙂👍
you achieved the results using 0,8 v in all the stepper drivers?
Yes, that's my starting point for a Nema 17 40
I'm guessing these mods can be done on the MEGA PRO as well?
As far as I know
I need guide on flashing marlin 1.1.9 on Creality Ender 2 with resume print enabled please make one
Why 1.1.9? Can't get 2.0 to fit?
Does 2.0 work?? Pls make one of it does I'm new to firmware flashing pls help me out
@@iengskhemmarak9480 Yes, 2.0 will work, there is an example config for it.
why not just desoilder the old cable from the hotend fan? then u would not need to splice the cable at all and get the correct lenght ? :D ;)
I always end up melting the fan.
@@ChrisRiley then u need a smaller soilder iron or learn to soilder haha 😉
@Nappen you're such a punk! LOL
@@ChrisRiley i know u love me 🤣😅
will those drive work with anycubic mini kossel
Yes they will.
can i use the TMC2208 in the new version of mega s?
I am not sure what board the new one uses. If they are replaceable you should be able to use them.
I've been trying to get my BL touch to start working on my CR 10. Every youtuber video I've been to hasn't helped at all. I tried to follow you but I see there are some steps some could miss if they don't know anything about softwares. I wasn't sure to download PIO. I'm trying to get this working from a rebooted laptop. I've spent 5 days trying to upload it but it won't let me. I keep getting into problems Please help!
What errors are you getting?
@@ChrisRiley I got everyone fix but now I have a new problem. My bl touch V1 Z stop isn't working. It blinks which means it's connected but it won't stop when I press the probe in. I guess it's not giving a single to the board? Omg I follow everyone and I get a unique problem. CAN SOMEONE HELP. I've been at this for 2 week and I'm piss at myself that it's taking this long to have a 3d printer working.
@@ChrisRiley I find it strange there isn't a video going over this problem. When it goes to auto home, it doesn't want to stop when I press the probe in.
@@Edgar-so9of Blinking all the time means it has an error. It should be solid on.
@@ChrisRiley It stays solid when the probe is pushed in. The light turns off when he probe is pulled out. It would stop when I set to auto home and push the probe in.
Can you use a tmc2209??
Sure, should work the same.
Can you me the size power supply in mag pro
It's an S-360-12 30A.
Thank you big fan of your UA-cam channel
Can these upgrades be applied to the mega pro?
I am not sure what board it uses, but most likely, it's going to be close to the same thing.
@@ChrisRiley it look like I'm going to find out cause I already ordered the parts lol.
It looks like you can. But you only need 3 of the stepper drivers. The X and Y are all ready upgraded, I guess that's why they say the pro is more silent then the others. But changing the other 3 out made a big difference in the hum it makes, the hum is gone. Only thing left is the loud nozzle fans.
how is chis's test print not a benchy
I like to switch it up every once in a while.