How to Add a 12 Volt Circuit to Your Ender 3D Printer

The Ender series of Creality 3D printers use 24 volts to power their electronics. If you want to install 12 Volt quiet fans or other 12 volt devices like a laser engraver, you need to create a 12 volt circuit. Some people use individual buck converters for each device, however I preferred to create a 12 volt 5 amp circuit that could power several peripherals with one connection.

Supplies

You will need a small 24V DC to 12V DC converter like this one on Amazon:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EFUHFDU/ref...

You may also use these solder heat shrink connectors found on Amazon:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073RMRCC3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Connection

Simply open up the case of the control box on the Ender printer and connect the input wires for the DC-DC converter to the 24 volt input of the board. You can then make connections to multiple devices either by installing a terminal block or connecting the wires to the output with a solder heat shrink connector as I did in the photo.

Mount the Converter

The converter does not fit in the tight space in the control box of the Ender 3, so I mounted it with a T-nut to the frame just behind the control box.

Conclusion

This worked nicely to power 12 volt quiet fans for the case and hot end and a future laser engraver. One thing to explore would be putting the DC-DC converter in the PSU to also power a quieter 12 volt fan for the PSU. You could then run 12 volts out to the control box.