Time to upgrade

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
We had a lightning storm come through a while back and knocked out a few things here in the house. Until today I didn't know it but my mainboard in my 3D printer was smoked. I turned it on and all I had was a backlit screen with no text. After a couple minutes trying to get it to work I smelled the entrails of dead transistors. I have ordered a replacement board in the silent variety. Has anyone here, however few, tried a silent mainboard? I have seen videos on the ender 3 which show side by side comparisons of them and sound levels look to be 10 to 15 dB lower. That would be nice. I'll need to figure out how to flash the board too. I don't think it comes with firmware installed. Alas, it's cheaper than a new printer.

Tony What do you think of the MeanWell PSU vs the Landy vairant? I think my printer has the cheaper one.
 

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
Forgot to mention I removed the PSU and connected it to 110v and it had 23.8vdc output so it survived somehow. I don't understand how that happens.
 

Tony

Staff member
I have the Meanwell PSU on my printer, and it's a solid PSU. Not a lick of issue. It's a known brand that goes into just about everything, and if you are thinking about upgrading, then I would do it.

As for "how that happens" on the power surge killing the main board, but not the PSU, it likely came through the neutral wire (which is really a ground wire), which would have a straight shot directly to the main board. No switch on the neutral.

I have not used the aftermarket boards though. I have wanted to, just never could justify the purchase, so never got'em. And if it can quiet the printer down, I'm all for it lol. Those stepper motors are a little loud.
 

Tony

Staff member
Let me know what you think about it.

And I'm really curious on what died on your old board. Can you upload some high res photos of the front and back of the board when you get a chance?
 

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
I couldn't see anything visually myself but my thoughts were one of the FETs probably burned out and I just can't see it under the heat sink. I think I'll connect it to a 24v supply tomorrow and check it with a temp gun.
 

Tony

Staff member
Ah, okay, just a bad angle and light reflecting off that dimple for the #1 pin. You want this board as a backup? If so, we may have to work out a deal hahaha. I love this stuff. Unless it's the main chip, that is...
 

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
Im going to hook it up tomorrow and with it out of the enclosure I will be able to see what's going on a little better. I'll also smell it quicker.
 

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
Part 2 of the sequel. And yes that's a driver. The heat sinks are glued to them. There are 4 total. The first part of this video is the underside of the board. The other half is the top.

 

Tony

Staff member
That was almost to the point where you could grab the heatsink and pull it off. I would bet, if you can apply a little more current to it, it will coem right off lol. Hit it with some flux and see if it comes off! lol. This has just become a toy to play with hahaha.
 

bigone5500

Well-Known Member
Tony ...have you ever flashed your firmware? Did it require .hex or .bin file? According to what I have read, boards 4.2.2 and later only require .bin files to be on the SD card to flash automatically. I got my new board in yesterday but haven't got it to flash yet. Supposedly it came with the bootloader installed and all I had to to was flash the appropriate firmware for the printer model I have. But after I installed it in the printer, all I can get is a blank screen.

I got a feeling I'm not going to be able to get this board working.
 
Top Bottom