Power supply

[mopar]

I just bought a makerfarm Prusa i3v (haven't received it yet but trying to get everything else I need lined up ahead of time). I have a power supply that outputs 15v almost 16, can I use this to power the printer or is it to much voltage? It's either a 30 or 40amp unit so I'd love to use it. I'm still looking for a way to reduce the voltage without effecting the current available, but not having much luck yet. I know I can buy one relatively cheap, but why buy if I don't have to. I have a pc power supply I can convert to use as well (I've done several for other projects), but it only has 15amps available on the 12v side.

Thanks

[shwmks]

How about this one?
https://www.makeralot.com/switching-power-supply-s35012v-29a-for-3d-printer-p5/

[printbus]

IMO, using a 15-16V power supply would be a gutsy move. There are some variables that would make a difference. Are you going to use the heat bed, and if so, what size printer? What electronics suite did you go with? Are you always going to run the printer with active USB connected, or will the printer sometimes operate standalone?

The 10-inch and especially the 12-inch are close to maxing out the current draw through the heat bed relay; going with a higher voltage would likely exceed it. If you have the 8-inch version and didn't order the relay option, you'd need to be careful about exceeding the current limit of the heat bed control on whatever control board you have. You'd likely exceed the 11-amp limit on RAMPS.

You might also risk exceeding the current limit on the hot end heater circuit.

Running higher voltages on the heat bed and hot end heater would change the characteristics of how they heat up. You'd want to go through PID calibration on both so that the firmware would do a better job of maintaining the temperature.

Although spec'd for up to 20V input, the MEGA2560 board with RAMPS is "recommended" to only be used at up to 12v input, although power will be used from the USB instead if it is available. I can't speak to the other electronics options.

If you run into hardware problems, Colin (owner of MakerFarm) would likely say you've violated the warranty on the electronics by running the printer on more than 12V.

The motor drivers and motors themselves would likely be OK. Also on the plus side, the higher voltage would allow the heat bed to heat up faster - waiting several minutes for it to heat up to high temperatures for printing ABS is annoying to many.

To be clear, I recommend against it - just giving you some insight into what you'd be up against in case you try.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The only other issue when going to high(er) voltage is powering all the fans. Taking a 12V fan and socking it with 16V *will* work .... for a while. It's not a real good idea for long fan life. If you only print a few hours a week, the fans may still last for many years.

What did you finally decide to do?

Bob