Hey, getting a 3D printer has been a blast, but I like doing overnight prints. I currently place the printer in the living room, but it can be heard from my bedroom. Girlfriend’s not into that. Been complaining about the motors being too loud at night, and I get it. It slightly bothers me too, but not as much as it does her.
I can’t quite put it anywhere else. Plus, I like keeping an eye on it so it’s nearby. Not a huge apartment, so honestly, the living room is the best place for it. Any ideas on how I can make it less loud? I have a box over it to help with warping, but it doesn’t help much in terms of the sound.
It’s mostly the stepper motors! She, I quote, says that they sound like “drills grinding into her brain”. A bit excessive, but it’s not the most pleasant of sounds to hear when it’s the middle of the night
If it is the steppers you could try re calibrate them but check your pulleys first. I had an issue with a printrbot Plus when I first got it. Would make the worst noises when moving on X axis. Turns out A) the printer wasn’t getting enough AC current for the motors, and B the pulley needed to be re-tightened. Fixed those two areas and it is a lot quieter now.
What is the printer brand? Maybe someone here as the same an can help out a bit further.
If it is 5th generation then there is a good chance there is something misaligned on the machine which is causing the printer to be louder than it should based on reviews I’ve read about maker bot replicators.
( Repost: I replied earlier thru my email, but doesn’t look like it posted back to the forum.)
Which Replicator?
I think you may be asking for too much, given the tight environment you’re in.
The problem with the box is that you are also trapping heat in the electronics. Ambient temperature air needs to circulate around the printerboard to keep proper voltages across the stepperdrivers. You’ll need to upgrade to side and top enclosure panels. Just for fun thou, try a bigger box, and add some foam interior lining…
If you are new, then adjusting the Potentiometer on the stepper drivers may be technically difficult.
Try some easier remedies first:
Big rubber feet will stop vibrations from transferring to/thru the desk/work bench.
Check/Tighten all(EVERY) screw on the machine. Especially the tiny-little grub screws holding the belt pulleys (they’re know to fallout).
Check for proper belt alignment (worn pulleys)
Removing the spring-clip from the X and Y belts.(they’re useless, kevlar belts don’t stretch) Retighten belts (they should “twing”, not “twang”, lol.)
(not easy) Upgrade the firmware to Sailfish 7.7 . It’s not supposed to make a difference, but it did for my Makerbot clones.
The Replicator shouldn’t be that loud as far as printers go. You should be able to stand next to it while it’s running and have a conversation with someone at a normal volume without problem, on my replicator the fans are much louder than the steppers…That said as Gene pointed out at night in a small apartment you’ll probably always hear something.
On the Replicator 1 and 2x at least there’s no pot on the motor controller so as far as I know there isn’t a way of adjusting the voltage up or down.
As Tanya mentioned, make sure everything is aligned, belts are tight. You could add some lubrication to the bearings and idler pulleys as well.
You could also run your printer at lower speeds.
I’ve installed windows on my bot and good rubber feet to cut down on vibrations and that helps a bit too.
All that said, I like being able to hear my printer at night, I can tell by the noises it’s making what it’s doing.
No I think most of you guys misunderstood me; The printer is okay in terms of noisiness during the day. I am perfectly capable of talking over it, because it’s not very loud. It’s when it’s night time and everything silent that this becomes quite noticeable.
I’ll double check on alignment, but I think they’re good too. It’s just the natural noise I believe. Was wondering if anyone had a place they’d recommend putting the printer or just ways to lessen the natural noises. Thanks everyone for the suggestions! Lots of great ideas that I’ll definitely have to revisit when my machine gets more worn down and the noises that come from it seem unnatural
mmm hmmm, I see… Let’s fall back to some fun ideas then.
Bigger box with some fluffy foam padding inside it. Inside of another box, inside of another box, inside of another box, etc…
(this should score big points with the GF.) “Goose Feather Down pillows”. Incredibly comfortable and sound resistant. Turn the pillow, so the bottom is up, toward the back of your head, and the sides will wrap around toward your ears, like earmuffs. ( <<< TMI ??)
But don’t be cheap… Buy 2 sets, so you can place another on top for full-immersive silence.
Printer in a closet trick… (self-explanatory) … … in a box, with foam, wrapped with goose feather down pillows (brilliant)
Place the printer on a thick towel and it will dampen the noise considerably. Also if possible place rubber ends on the table legs or whatever you have the printer sitting on.
You may want to investigate ‘Nema 17 Stepper Motor Gaskets’ or 'Nema 17 Vibration Damper; as I have read, these tend to greatly reduce printer noise and it might just be what you are after.
Below is a link to get you started. There are plenty of options available though.
Some nema 17 motors cause a lot of vibration when starting and stopping end do that every
little step. This results in a quite high-pitch noise which is hard to stop by a vibration-mat or boxes around the printer.
It is probably the best thing to tackle the noise near the source. If you can put a (thin) rubber layer between motor and the place where it is attached to, this will dampen the vibration a lot. Don’t forget the extruder motor.
Motors do make sound, so a quiet printer is not possible.
Its really sounds like a motor. So all the steps that you are provided are very helpful for me. Thanks for this great suggestion. And also If you have issues with Brother printer than visit or contact at Brother Printer Support for help.
Thanks for this entire discussion. This is really helpful. However, if you face any technical issues and wanted expert services and support then find Best Buy Total Tech Support to get the easiest help.
(brilliant)