After assembling the RAMPS board and testing the pololu stepper drivers with a couple of motors, I found that the stepper drivers were heating up almost to hot to touch after only mere minutes of operation. I decided that I would need to build a nice enclosure to protect the RAMPS board, and also to actively cool down the stepper drivers to attain optimal performance.
I found a scrap piece of acrylic in my junk bin and quickly set about building an enclosure. I picked up a pack of 3/16th inch bolts and drilled 5 mil holes in each of the four corners. The bolts self tapped since acrylic is a relatively soft plastic. I drilled out the center hole for the fan with a series of 1/2inch holes and secured the fan with 3M screws. The fan is directly connected into the PC power supply, so soon as the RAMPS has power, the fan begins actively cooling the electronics. I'm curious to see how well the active cooling works in an actual print situation.
How did it work? It's a nice looking little enclosure.
ReplyDeleteIt worked quite well, active cooling on the stepper drivers was a definite plus. The only real issue with the enclosure was ease of access to the RAMPS shield, if I built another enclosure I would concentrate more on accessibility. Thanks!
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