Adventures in Noise Slaying

[Glacian22]

My RMax V1 (heavily upgraded) was always a pretty noisy beast, but has been much quieter since installing some astrosyn dampers. However, I didn't like the effect they had on softening sharp corners/causing minor overshoot on high acceleration...I even noticed it was possible to wiggle the motors by hand along their axis of rotation just slightly. Maybe some are stiffer than others? Anyhoo, I decided to try something else. It would be great to upgrade to a Duet Wifi with their super quiet trinamic drivers, but that's a little more than I wanted to spend, and I'd really have to upgrade to a 24v PSU to make the most of those drivers since they're reported to have a high pitched whine when running 12v, and that would mean overhauling the whole thing basically.

So I bought a sheet of pretty chunky (1/8in) sorbothane from Amazon and cut it into motor gaskets, one for each side of the melamine mount, so 6 in total. Kind of a pain, but not too obnoxious. These make for a noticeably stiffer mount than the dampers, and yielded an equivalent noise reduction. Some of the frequencies are different (I think these let a little more high pitched noise through, but deaden the low end more). Then I stuck a set of 1in sorbothane dome feet under the printer...this might not be critical if yours is on the floor, or already on a soft surface, but mine lives on a wooden desk, so I figured it was worth the try. And voila! Cut the sound even further. I'll take a video later on to update this post, but really I am super happy with this result. ^_^

[dc42]

... since they're reported to have a high pitched whine when running 12v....

I've been supporting the Duet WiFi since launch and this is the first time I've heard that claim. Can you point me to that report?

If there is a problem with a particular motor and voltage combination, we will almost certainly be able to resolve it by tweaking the value programmed into the chopper control register.

[Glacian22]

... since they're reported to have a high pitched whine when running 12v....

I've been supporting the Duet WiFi since launch and this is the first time I've heard that claim. Can you point me to that report?

Maybe it's just an issue with the Trinamic TMC2100 standalone drivers then? I've seen tons of folks talking about how there's a whine at 12v that disappears with 24v, example: https://youtu.be/g6Bxoqr8QlY?t=5m10s. If that *isn't* the case with the variant of the driver in the Duet Wifi, then I apologize for making that assumption.

[dc42]

The TMC2100 and TMC2660 are very different drivers, although they share the ability to interpolate x16 microstep pulses to x256. In particular, the 2660s can handle about double the current, and they are highly programmable via SPI. I don't think any other driver can match the TMC2660 in 3D printer applications right now.

[mhackney]

I can say that I ran my first Duet Wifi on my V1 Rostock Max with a 12V supply and it was as quiet as a mouse walking on felt. I have 6 Duet Wifis now on different config machines - mostly 24V - and they are all dead quiet. Folks at the MRRF that saw (and tried to hear) my Rostock Max V3 (tricked out) and D300VS running Duet Wifi commented about the quietness. There were many other printers there running Duet Wifis too.

[Glacian22]

Definitely good to know! The Duet Wifi definitely goes on my list of eventually upgrades...I didn't realize there was such a significant difference between the TMC 2100 and 2660.

[thechewiestbacca]

The Duet Wifi is very high on my list of upgrades, (probably next because I also am on a quest to slay the noise) and I was wondering if you guys would recommend the HE280, or another hotend with the new board. Also, are dampers worth it? Or should I just get the Duet Wifi? And, how does the Duet Wifi actually quiet things down? I know it has something to do with its drivers so you can increase microstepping. I talked to a guy at MRRF about this, and was pretty intrigued.

[Xenocrates]

If you're planning on a Duet, I would suggest an E3D hotend (The Prometheus is also an option, but a less generally supported one, and with the cartridge thermistors, I would say the E3D wins a lot on ease of use), instead of the HE280, since the probe on it isn't fully supported. I also would if you're getting the duet, try without the dampers first, because of the decrease rigidity.

Part of how the Duet can make a difference is that the drivers have better frequency control and suchlike (in addition to the higher ultimate resolution). They also seem to be better attached to the board, as far as not seeing resonance and flex in the capacitors (Which may also be better component selection). Trinamic did a lot of work on this series of driver to give them the ability to work quietly, and since I'm not an EE, it's hard for me to grasp it all, much less explain it.

[magicmushroom666]

I'm running a V1 upgraded to a Duet wifi on 12V and the steppers are totally silent. My E3D fan is way more noticable now, and is the only thing on there that makes a sound.