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I have had my Ender 3 v2 for just over two months and have had a blast working with it. I have printed some mods to personalize it.

One of the things that I have done to help mitigate the vibrational noise is to place my Ender 3 on a concrete paver that sits on top of 3 inches of upholstery foam. This has made a huge difference.

With the vibration noise down, now I can hear the fan on the extruder like never before.

Both fans are listed as "brushless" EFS-04D24L; of course, they look different in the pictures below:

Fans label side

Fans back side

What options are there to help reduce the fan noise? I wasn't sure if a baffle or enclosure would help. Or would it be easier to replace the fans with quieter ones?

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There are companies making fans with blade design based on owl wings to make the blades quieter. Here's an example https://www.moduflow.co.uk/owlet-fans/ and I've seen other designs. I don't know which design ended up being the quietest. First, you would need to find out who makes these fans the right size and flow rate for you, then try to find out which is quietest.

Here is another example: https://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/718

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Fans driven by brushless (BLDC or BL) motors1 are the quieter option (when compared to cheaper brushed motors).

Mounting the fans using rubber anti-vibration standoffs/mounts2, instead of bolts, would also reduce vibration (and hence noise).

Rubber anti-vibration mounts

Or, failing that, if using bolts, at least use rubber washers/grommets, between the fan case and the frame/mount (maybe on both sides - frame side and bolt head side).

A baffle or enclosure would reduce the noise, but would also reduce airflow, which may not be desirable, and even detrimental to the cooling, and longevity of the electronics (assuming your fans are cooling a RAMPS board, or whatever).

Alternatively (and I don't necessarily recommend these courses of action):

  • Put up with the noise. After a while, you'll get used to it, or become sufficiently deaf, so as not to hear it so much;
  • Try to reduce the number of fans somehow. Maybe use passive cooling more - using larger heatsinks on active electronic devices maybe remove the requirement for a fan altogether.

Footnotes

1 Also known as electronically commutated (EC) motor and synchronous DC motors. Source: Wikipedia

2 Also known as pin, rivet, nipple, peg, etc.

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  • $\begingroup$ I don't think anyone makes "real" brushed DC motors in those sizes. All small electronics fans I've come across in the past couple years - especially on 3d printers - have been brushless. An easier solution is getting fans that just aren't horrible, e.g. Sunon, Noctua etc. Getting larger fans, where applicable, is also very effective (4020, 5015 radials for part cooling, 4020 axial for the hotend). $\endgroup$
    – towe
    Mar 1, 2021 at 8:54
  • $\begingroup$ Ok, interesting, thanks. It was certainly the case, ten years ago (and more), when building PC cases, that noisy brushed fans were the norm, and you had to pay a little bit extra for brushless. Times have changed I guess. $\endgroup$
    – Greenonline ♦
    Mar 1, 2021 at 9:10

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