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    What's the best brand of fan to use

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    • bigwood247
      bigwood247 last edited by

      I recently bought noctua fans for my e3d v6 heatsink and for part cooling but they actually suck at that job very weak and almost no cooling whatsoever so I guess I'm on the hunt for higher output fans but just dont want to keep wasting money on stuff that dont work as I thought it would I need advice I'm debating getting Noiseblocker brand fans but they are also expensive and advice would be much appreciated

      deckingman 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • bigwood247
        bigwood247 last edited by

        I'm not afraid to spend money but I want to be smart about it

        zapta 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • zapta
          zapta last edited by

          I am using this one for E3D V6 heatshink 259-1550-ND and 259-1829-ND for material cooling. They are both 12V so I run on a small buck converter 24V -> 12V. Am very happy with them compare to the non name fans I had before.

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          • Phaedrux
            Phaedrux Moderator last edited by

            Sunon and Pabst make good quality industrial grade fans to suit many applications. You get a spec sheet and a reliable MTBF too. Noctua fans are fine, but might not be a good fit for your application.

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            • zapta
              zapta @bigwood247 last edited by

              @bigwood247, also be aware that some fan don't respond well to PWM so for the material fan check with people that already use it.

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              • fxstein
                fxstein last edited by fxstein

                Depends on the type of fan or blower. For 5015 blower style fans I found that this Sunon to be the best:
                https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/369-MF50151VXB00UA99

                Most powerful I could find. Running them at 60% for regular prints and at 100% for bridging or short layer times. Have tested it down to 5% PWM. It will start spinning at that low of a setting, when most other fans just make a humming noise, but refuse to start.

                It's one of the few ones that actually creates decent pressure, so you can force the air through a smaller nozzle to increase air velocity (tested and measured) .

                It's also based on a maglev system that should theoretically last forever.

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                • deckingman
                  deckingman @bigwood247 last edited by

                  @bigwood247 Like most things, I find it's generally best to study specifications and pick a fan that meets one's requirements rather than simply buy any old fan just because it is made by a certain company. Vendors like Mouser or Digikey have very good comparison tables that allow you to compare things like flow rates, static pressure, bearing type and noise levels (as well as price). For reliability, the old adage "buy cheap, buy twice" is a good rule of thumb. Oh, and usually what kills airflow is ducting.

                  zapta 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • Corexy
                    Corexy last edited by

                    It's funny, I've always used cheap arsed ebay fans, but I always use 24v.

                    Recently I bought some 40x15 and 40x20 fans for my printer on ebay, but they were quite a bit better quality and run well.

                    I've never had a problem running 10% fan in any case. I wonder if it's using 12v fans with a buck that gives PWM problems?

                    deckingman zapta 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • deckingman
                      deckingman @Corexy last edited by

                      @Corexy said in What's the best brand of fan to use:

                      ........................ I wonder if it's using 12v fans with a buck that gives PWM problems?

                      Could be. I had some tiny 30mm fans that I used via a 24 to 12 V converter and managed to get them working well with PWM using a PWM frequency of 10Hz.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • zapta
                        zapta @Corexy last edited by

                        @Corexy said in What's the best brand of fan to use:

                        I wonder if it's using 12v fans with a buck that gives PWM problems?

                        Did you connect the two inputs of the buck to the fan output of the duet (incorrect) or to the 24V output of the power supply (correct) ?

                        Corexy 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • zapta
                          zapta @deckingman last edited by zapta

                          @deckingman said in What's the best brand of fan to use:

                          Vendors like Mouser or Digikey have very good comparison tables that allow you to compare things...

                          That's correct, the parametric searches are very useful. One thing I couldn't find is specification of PWM compatibility. Is the PWM power we use to control fans actually supported and intended by fan vendors? These are brushless motor with electronic circuits that are also powered from the PWM.

                          deckingman 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • deckingman
                            deckingman @zapta last edited by

                            @zapta That's a good point. I tend to use 2 wire fans and haven't yet found one that I can't make work by adjusting the PWM frequency. I've heard some people say that Maglev fans don't work with PWM but that hasn't been my experience. Maybe I just got lucky with the particular Maglev fans I selected. But for sure, there are thousands of models out there.......

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                            • Corexy
                              Corexy @zapta last edited by

                              @zapta said in What's the best brand of fan to use:

                              @Corexy said in What's the best brand of fan to use:

                              I wonder if it's using 12v fans with a buck that gives PWM problems?

                              Did you connect the two inputs of the buck to the fan output of the duet (incorrect) or to the 24V output of the power supply (correct) ?

                              I don't use a buck. I only use 24v, 2 wire fans with Duet.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • arhi
                                arhi last edited by

                                I personally use a lot of sunon as they are locally available
                                note that MagLev type fans from sunon and any other manufacturer that offer

                                • magnetic levitation / magnetic bearing
                                • air levitation / air bearing

                                are not suited to be pwm-ed, they are expected to run at max speed non stop or not at all. even if the electronics inside allow them to run ok with pwm the mechanics is not designing to run at lower than 100%

                                the remaining options in most cases are "slieve" and "bearing" types, slieeve types are producing less noise but last not as long as the bearing types as the "slieve" wares out, fan start to rattle and stops working. Some slieve types are using plastic slieve, others use brass slieve but more/less it's a steel rod turning inside a bushing where bearing ones well have bearing (and they come in one bearing and 2 bearing variety where 2 bearing / double bearing ones last very very very very long but are of course noisier than all the others)

                                Noctua below 120mm is not very useful, basically on the small fan's the only thing they do to reduce noise is lower the CFM, there's no fancy fan shape on this size that matters, on the 120mm they do have, with special blade shape, less noise than most other competitor for same CFM .. so for 3d printer use, noctua is waste of money

                                zapta 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • zapta
                                  zapta @arhi last edited by

                                  @arhi, do the rapid accelerations/decelerations of the print head factor in, as a contribution to fan wear? I would think that it's a very different environment than a fan on a stationary box.

                                  arhi 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • arhi
                                    arhi @zapta last edited by

                                    @zapta no clue, that's over my head. I just know from experience that magnetic and air "bearing" do not like to run below 100% and that was confirmed by a reply I got from some PRC engineers who's PLC's I was fixing on some glass machine, they explicitly said not to use maglev fans on few places as the fan's are PWM-ed below 100% ... and wrt sleeve / bearing / dual bearing you can find in the datasheets of the fan makers who make all different types, so you can compare the specs 🙂

                                    I don't think I ever saw a spec wrt "moving env." but IMO I think our acceleration is way below any value that can really affect the miniature mass of the fan blades on the fans we use. And I had a steel "frame with 120mm fans" drop to a concrete floor from ~2m height while all 8 fans were running, acceleration strong enough to have sheared 4 M4 screws connecting that frame the the heatsink on the back, and fans continued to run, no fins got away 😄 ... so, IMHO, I doubt our moving head affects these 40mm fans or 5015 blowers in any way 🙂

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