In Other News:
I got up early this morning with my dB meter app and ran a battery of SPL testing on the various fans I bought to try; not best pleased with the results.
After all this BS with upgrading the hotend so I can try quieter fans... it appears the final configuration is a net draw on noise. Well, sortof. My best, quietest setup with the clear Blue LED fan seen above operates at 46dB vs 53dB for the OEM 3010 screamer. UNTIL the 50mm layer fan kicks in; that brings it up to about 53dB. Not too bad really, I guess... except it doesn't appear I can use the 4020 fan due to inadequate airflow per thermistor testing above.
What's killing me is the 50mm centrifugal blower in place of the 4010 axial for layer cooling; the OEM 4010 is considerably quieter, and can be re-used for cooling the hotend in the PetsFang. The 50mm blower adds 7-10 dB at full speed, so up to twice the perceived volume. That brings the measured volume of all other setups with all fans running at max to 57-58 dB, or the SAME as the OEM setup with all fans running at max.
That said... there IS a qualitative difference; the piercing tone of the OEM 3010 fan on the hotend makes it much more annoying than any of the combinations with the PetsFang and 50mm centrifugal blowers.
The REAL PITA here is the firmware tho... unlike any other 3DP I've owned, THIS unit keep the hotend fan on ALL THE FUCKING TIME. Any time it's powered up that hotend fan is running, no matter what you're doing. I totally need to see where in the config files I have to go look to make that only run when the hotend is active. DATA : Measured Directly in front of Diggro Alpha-3 Printer; microphone level with and approx 300mm from hotend
dB Condition Configuration 37 Ambient Measured in situ
70 Cough Measured in situ
80 Sneeze Measured in situ
With OEM 3010/4010 Axial Fans:
dB Condition Configuration 53 IDLE OEM 24V 3010 Axial on Hotend/4010 Axial on Layer Cooling
57 ALL FANS MAX
With PetsFang & 50mm Centrifugal Blower:
dB Condition Configuration 46 IDLE 12V 4020 Axial on Hotend & 12V 50mm Blower on Layer Cooling
53 ALL FANS MAX
46 IDLE 12V 4020 Axial on Hotend & 24V 50mm Blower on Layer Cooling
56 ALL FANS MAX
47 IDLE OEM 24V 4010 Axial on Hotend & 12V 50mm Blower on Layer Cooling
56 ALL FANS MAX
52 IDLE HE 24V 4010 Axial on Hotend & 12V 50mm Blower on Layer Cooling
56 ALL FANS MAX
52 IDLE HE 24V 4010 Axial on Hotend & 24V 50mm Blower on Layer Cooling
58 ALL FANS MAX
54 IDLE HE 24V 5010 Axial on Hotend & 24V 50mm Blower on Layer Cooling
58 ALL FANS MAX
mnem