Replicator 1 Fan noise on startup

[macouno]

Uhoh... after 1.5 years of flawless service my replicator 1 is starting to generate some weird fan noise on startup.

It's the fan underneath the printer... when I start the machine up it revs up and down a bunch of times before settling into it's normal speed/noise level.

a. Should I be worried?

b. What can I do about it?

Thanks!

[JohnA.]

It'll run like that for a long time.   Some people pull off the sticker and put a drop of oil in them, but it's easier to just get a new one.

JohnA.

[macouno]

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply... just to be sure... I'm not talking about the extruder fans but the one underneath the makerbot... Where would one put the drop of oil? (I have some but haven't applied any to the fans in the makerbot yet)

Dolf

[Jetguy]

Yes, if you are a rep1 owner and haven't made the regulator mod, it's a ticking timebomb.

How lucky can one person be right? You got lucky for this long, the next time you turn it on could be the last.

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/makerbot/Qpzv6f8wJPs/qxJZZED69lMJ

Showing the pinout

 

Replacement 7805 pinout

 

Oiling fans for dummies http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/good-ol-dan-shows-how-to-oil-a-fan.114201/

On Wednesday, January 8, 2014 10:54:03 AM UTC-5, Carl wrote:

According to a post I saw earlier (somewhere on one of the groups!)... I believe that this fan is actually optional... particularly if you have taken the steps to ensure the 5v rail is protected from the 24v... Jetguy will know for sure though! :-)

[Jetguy]

Modded pic (note, this is a heavily repaired board from a previous regulator blow that KILLED EVERY CHIP on the board)

When that happens, USB 8u2 is ruinied and because of the solder package chosen, normal soldering methods cannot replace that chip. This forces you to either use and external USB to serial conversion (Sparkfun offers several)or I'm using the super cool Bluefruit from Adafruit and now have wirelesss Bluetooth Mightyboard!!!

 

[macouno]

Well now... for someone who isn't used to soldering electrics... all this looks incredibly scary... oiling a fan I can handle, but this... 

What would you recommend for someone who doesn't want to solder his own stuff? So far I just have a noisy fan on startup?

[Clinton Hoines]

Thing is it's a needed mod, it's not "if" your board will blow it's "When".
I rarely solder myself and have almost no knowledge of working with components, it was really easy to do. You cut 3 pins from the on board regulator and solder 3 ires from these o the new regulator in the order Jetguy listed. If your not comfortable with that I would find someone who is, you really need to do this mod if you want to avoid paying for a new board or the downtime if MBI will warranty it for you.

[Jetguy]

Find someone who will mod your board. I'll do it for free and can turn it around in a day provided you cover shipping to me in South Carolina.

Again, the problem is that if you fail to make the mod, a $5 part can destroy every single chip on the mainboard without warning. It costs over $100 in parts alone to even halfway repair the board and it's never fixed per the original specs. Someone might have to charge $100 in labor because it's quite complicated to repair the board on top of the components required.  MakerBot could charge you over $400 for a replacement board that is NOT modified with this fix and could fail just like the original.

You could see if Gary still has these, but it still requires you cut the leads to the regulator http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:78598 and solder the power feed wire.

This company sells replacements and a matching power supply that don't require a mod for $250

If you only buy the board you still have to make the mod, it's missing the power supply connector to match yours and so on

http://www.mbot3d.com/collections/electronics/products/mightyboard-mbotcube

So yes, spend $5 now or have a dead bot one day. That's pretty much the answer in front of you.

[macouno]

Thanks guys,

I opened up the makerbot (put it on it's side and disconnected the plate on the bottom for the first time)... and found the tiny fan... Oiled and cleaned it... and both extruder fans.

The noise is gone now! So that is great... thanks... what a little lube won't do!

The other issue I'll have to think on a bit... It seems impractical to send off the board to South Carolina, though I really appreciate the offer! If you happen to know of a dutch tinkerer I would love to know... in the meantime I'm crossing my fingers and doing some more prints ;)

Cheers!

Dolf

[Dan Newman]

On 08/01/2014, 12:21 PM, macouno wrote:
> Thanks guys,
>
> I opened up the makerbot (put it on it's side and disconnected the plate on
> the bottom for the first time)... and found the tiny fan... Oiled and
> cleaned it... and both extruder fans.
>
> The noise is gone now! So that is great... thanks... what a little lube
> won't do!
>
> The other issue I'll have to think on a bit... It seems impractical to send
> off the board to South Carolina, though I really appreciate the offer! If
> you happen to know of a dutch tinkerer I would love to know... in the
> meantime I'm crossing my fingers and doing some more prints ;)

Contact FunBart -- he posts here occassionally. And while he may not fit
the bill of an electronics tinkerer, he most assuredly knows folks in your
neck of the woods who do qualify. Also, you could see if there's any hacker
or makerspace near where you live and you might (1) meet some neat people, and
(2) find someone capable of doing the mods for you in exchange for a bier or
some prints.

Dan

[Gerald Orban]

Thanks for re-posting this information guys. Since mightyboards are no longer "free to replace" (I was warned by MBI support that future replacements would cost me when I got my last mightyboard) I'm going to be implementing the dead bug, PTC fuse (3.3V) and 1KOhm resistor in series on the white wires of the end-stops. This'll hopefully improve its reliability as I would really hate to have to invest in moving to RAMPS since I'd lose the benefits of Sailfish :)

[yournam...@yahoo.com]

This is good to know. Mine has been cycling on and off recently and I assumed it was the power supply. But I haven't looked under there in a while

[Joe Larson (aka Cymon)]

On Wednesday, January 8, 2014 10:30:29 AM UTC-7, Jetguy wrote:

Find someone who will mod your board. I'll do it for free and can turn it around in a day provided you cover shipping to me in South Carolina.

I think I'll take you up on this. Use the contact form on the bottom right of this page to contact me so we don't have to go public with our e-mails: http://joes3dworkbench.blogspot.com/

[Shawn]

The other replies thus far are spot on with regards to the board.
However the initial question is simply about the fan. In that confined
context only... The noise is the first sign of a failing fan. The
failure may happen quickly, or it may take years, but it is starting to
fail. So it should be replaced. It is a 24V fan, so a standard PC fan
is not the right fit (12V). The replacement job is simple - just follow
the wires and note where they are plugged into the board. Replacing all
three fans (the extruder fans as well as the underside fan) with a
better brand/model results in a very quiet printer, even while
operating. I ordered some fans through a local electronics industrial
supply company, and while I know I paid a little more than I needed to
(almost $20/fan after taxes) but it was one of the best things I did for
the printer.

If you search the archives of this list for "24V fan", or something
similar, you should find a number or threads that recommend specific
brands/models/vendors for the fans.

This does not negate the whole discussion around the "fix" for the
MightyBoard, but that is a different point (though related) from the
original question, in my eyes.

Shawn

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[Joseph Chiu]

The fan noise is exaggerated by the Replicator acting as a guitar box. Mine has been noisy at start up for months now. I finally replaced it recently when I decided to replace all fans at the same time following another fan blade incident.

The "noisy" fan, unmounted, was not overly noisy.  Still, it is probably wiser to replace it than to suffer from fan failure.

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[macouno]

Thanks Shawn.

Sounds like a good idea.. though a lot of the time I have my printer in another room, so noise isn't really much of a factor for me. For now the fans seem to have found a second life as I removed the dust and added a drop of oil... they're as quiet as they've ever been now... 

I'm still thinking about the whole board issue... and you're quite right... it's separate from the one I raised initially, so I'm not sure it requires immediate attention (I think I'll be ok for a bit).

[Jetguy]

"I think I'll be ok for a bit"

Wow, you have

Just saying, we warned you.