3D Printer Power Supply Fix

So, there you are minding your own business happily watching your machine buddy do its thing and then you hear:

Grrrrrrreeaacch-groan-skreeeetchhhhek-rattlefattlerattlebattle-doodoo!

You reach for the kill switch but then thankfully the noise goes away. Whew. We were 7.42 hours into that part, would have been a shame to have to start over!

You go on happily #making and all is right again in the world.

But... dundundun... The noise comes back!

And goes away. And comes back.

And goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away and comes back and goes away...

And eventually doesn't respond to percussive maintenance, and it won't go away so you finally decide the noise is probably a bad thing and we should do something about it...

If you're to that stage, read on!

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Machine that's acting up

• A 3D printer in this instance.

Allen wrenches

• Your machine probably came with a set.
• I used to let all of my allen wrench sets mingle and roam free, but I eventually got tired of looking for the right one when I needed it.
• So I finally put all my commonly used 3D printer tools in a container, added a magnet and keep it secured to the side of the printer.

Screw drivers. Because it's moar fun to mix screw types, who would want to be able to take something apart with only one tool, sheesh...

• I have a super useful ratcheting screwdriver that stores bits in the handle. Similar to this one. I highly recommend getting one, I use it all the time.

Multimeter.

• Even a cheap multimeter is a really useful tool IMO. I keep this one in my truck.
• (Little known fact, multimeters are camera shy! Or maybe I just didn't have enough hands at the time when I was using it to get a picture?!)

A magnetic tray is a nice to have. It helps keep all the screws in one place.

• Tip - If you're working on something dirty, put the tray in a plastic ziplock type bag before using it.

Tweezers... for when you inevitably drop the smallest screw down into the hardest to reach place on the machine.

Replacement parts.

• In this instance I needed to replace a worn out cooling fan. My power supply took a 6015 12v fan.

I'd bet another rouge tool snuck in at some point in the process, but that's all the tools I officially used.

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Shoot the trouble, that will fix it!!! Get the phasers stat!

No? Not like that? OK... You're probably right... But it would have been fun... But then we would have had a different problem on our hands...

OK, real troubleshooting. Right. Well, process of elimination at least...

Step 1 - We. Must. Find. Out. Where. The. Noise. Is. Coming. From.

In this case the noise was obviously coming from the bottom of the 3D printer. I secured the moving bits of the gantry with zip ties and flipped the machine on it's side.

*The bed moved... I should have probably taped it in place too.*

Step 2 - Deduction dear Watson. OK, the bad sound is obviously from something spinning. I see a fan inside the power supply, so one spinny thing located. I removed the allen bolts holding the bottom grate on and confirmed there was another spinny thing AKA cooling fan under the grate.

Step 3 - Process of elimination. I plugged the printer back in and turned it on. This printer doesn't automatically do any type of movement or energize the motors when powered on, so as long as I kept my fingers and toes out of the wiring it should be fine to power on while it's on its side. Be aware of your specific machine and take the appropriate precautions before turning it on.

Grrrrrrreeaacch-groan-skreeeetchhhhek-rattlefattlerattlebattle-doodoo!

Yep, it's obviously the fan in the power supply. The bearing has likely failed. Time for surgery!

Before opening things up any further, I did actually contact the manufacture. Honest, I did. I knew my warranty period was up but I wanted to see what they'd charge for replacement parts.

*I've found that unless the manufactures parts are crazy expensive, it "usually" saves time buying the parts from them since they "should" fit right the first time.*

I tried a few times but never got a response to my emails or voicemail. A little annoying but whatever, looks like they've phased this machine out so I'm on my own.

So at this point we've got two options. Replace the power supply or just replace the noisy fan.

I chose to replace the fan. It's less than half the cost of a new power supply (not that power supplies are that expensive) and *should* be a pretty simple swap instead of possibly trying to shoehorn a power supply that is supposed to be "identical" into the machine and then inevitably also having to sort out wiring when you realize the new one is the same but different... Whew. Alright. Go team new cooling fan!

I was lazy, I mean chose not to disassemble the machine more than absolutely necessary, and googled the fan size that's in the machines power supply and ordered it. When the fan arrived After making sure the machine was off, I removed the power supply and opened the case. Disassembly was pretty straightforward aside from a couple tricky hidden screws that I had to remove from the top side, so take your time here and don't force anything.

(I waited until I had the parts because I've found I work best with me when I re-assemble something the same day I disassembled it...)

Aaannnnnnddddd.... It was the wrong size fan...

Ah, good. Feels like a real project now!

I measured the fan to get the real "right size." Fan sizes are determined by the housing size in mm, so I need a 6015 fan.

Now we wait for the new fan to arrive... (Fortunately I've worked with me before and I took pictures while taking things apart so I "should" have fewer leftover parts when we finally get onto re-assembly...)

Ok, got carried away with the dunna nunna's there, sorry...

So, now we have all the right parts *again* I feel like we can continue working on the 3D printer.

First, I carefully unplugged and removed the old fan from the power supply.

And promptly found a new problem... The new fan is wired differently than the old fan. Using the multimeter seems to confirm this.

(Joke time! What language to chickens speak? That's right, Fowl Language!)

OK, curse words out of the way... I found I was able to de-pin the connector on the new fan with the tip of the tweezers and swap the wires in the new connector to match the old connector. Had the tweezers not worked, I've used paperclips to de-pin connectors in a pinch too. Someday maybe I'll get the right tool... Anyhoo, everything else in the power supply looks good, so time to plug in the new fan and button the power supply back up.

Alright, that was phun... But can we please put this thing back together and get printing now?!

Nope. Time for what is affectionately known as "While I'm In There" syndrome!

Ah yes, "while I'm in there syndrome," one of the pillars of "This Project Wasn't Supposed To Take This Long!"

If you don't know what it is, basically I don't want to have to take this apart again anytime soon, soooooooo.... While I'm in here I'm just going to do a few more things. This is a critical tipping point of a project that is either going to be finished or spiral out of control.

In our case, I found a loose ground wire that I have to fix. No, seriously, it's like flopping around loose. It needs fixing. I did overkill it a little and burnished the ground contact point (I sealed it with clear nail polish after re-installing the wire).

Also, ALSO! The first fan purchase was not in vain! It turns out the fans I originally bought are the same size as the case cooling fan (the one that wasn't broken...). And they're the same size as the extruder cooling fans. More good news, I resisted the urge to replace the working fan. Which means - While I'm in there syndrome symptoms were minor, time to cleanup and get this bad mama jamma back in action!

Ha! We've found the rouge tool not on the supplies list, a vacuum!

So, the big question - Did we actually fix it or not?!

All better, it's fixed and working like it should again!

I rambled there a bit, thanks for hanging on this long! So, wrapping it up. What did we get out of this?

1. The printer works again and I'm no longer worried about it going feral and burning down the shop. So big win there.

2. I think measure twice, cut once applies. I should have just measured the actual fan, that would have saved me a few days.

3. I'm still glad I went with team cooling fan. Overall I think there was less headache, I've never had good luck trying to get a power supply replacement to fit the same as the one needing replaced. Plus, if I've done my maker math correctly, since we saved money by fixing the worn out fan instead of replacing the whole thing... Yep, we have extra budget for something else! Maybe coffee filament?!

Allrightly then, time to wrap up my first Instructable for 2022 and enter it into the Fix It Speed Challenge!

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Note: This post contains affiliate links. Which means when you click the product links in this Instructable nothing changes on your end, and I earn a small % on qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support!