I’m looking for advice on how to protect the power module from dust.
I have my Snapmaker 2 in my working space in the basement.
It’s a good solution for keeping the noise away from the living area.
However, the basement does get fairly dusty.
I noticed some pretty marked dust build-up inside the power module;
It was OK to clean up, but I’m wondering how I could better protect the power module in the future.
Some sort of “enclosure” would be great, but then again I expect it would cause issues with overheating…
Perhaps someone here has had similar issues and has come up with a good solution.
I’d like to get started with some lasering again, but I’m reluctant to leave the power module running for so long (around 24h for most of my lasering jobs) without some better protection against dust…
Or is this an issue that only I’m having?
So is my working space that much dustier than that of other folks here?
Dust in power supplies isn’t that bad. Put a filter on the air inlet side to reduce dust that gets in and every couple weeks I guess plan on opening it up and blowing it out with an air compressor. Treat it like you would a computer, where you would open up the case and blow the dust bunnies out.
I agree with Brent, dust shouldn’t be a huge issue with regular cleaning. Most computer power supplies are designed the same way as the ones for the SM2 (since it’s a meanwell it’s a good design) and they handle for 300 to more than 1500W (way more than the sm2 uses) I clean the dust out of my pc about every 6 months, and it uses a 1300W psu with no issues. It may be a concern if you where using in an environment where abiant temps remain above 100 deg F regularly but for most people that is not the case.
Edit: I should note my pc also resides in a dusty basement. And if you are really concerned you could put it in an enclosure with filtered intakes. But I think that would be overkill. These psu are built to be pretty tough. (Meanwell is used in industrial applications where dust is expected and maintinence is assumed to happen only a few times a year).
I wouldn’t worry about the dust too much either. Especially not for lasering. Doesn’t generate a lot of dust.
Do know not all of them have a meanwell power supply. I have the impression that the Kickstarter versions have the meanwell and more recent versions have a “Great Wall” power supply.
Wow so they went cheaper with later versions… good for people know. But still probably not an issue, it would take A LOT of dust to cause issues with most psu. Like…
Many thanks everyone!
I guess I was overthinking things; I just found the power supply somewhat dusty (but nowhere critical) and was worried this could cause some failure.
In that case I’ll proceed with regular cleaning.
I guess the before said too, blow the psu out when you think it is time to.
If you do wood work most of the time, i guess you need to blow it out at least once a month. (To not kill the bearings of the fan´s).
Attention when you blow it out, don´t let the fans spin infinite high,- this cause damage to them.- Best solution would be to block the fans while blowing out.
I agree with everything above.
Canned air every couple months and you should be good to go.
The only thing I wouldn’t do is keep the power supply in the enclosure where it is both hot and dusty.
One quick follow-up question:
I’ve come to realize that this “dust” is actually caused by the laser engraving on the wood.
I’m engraving on 300x300 mm2 plates of multiplex birch wood.
A usual engraving job takes me around 24 h. Is it “normal” for so much dust to be generated during lasering?
Of course I’d expect this during CNC or maybe also during laser cutting;
But I’m surprised the laser engraving process also kicks out so much wood dust.
I have one specific disagreement with the default advice here. A power supply in a general workshop environment where metallic dust is ever generated needs an intake filter. If there’s a bench grinder or an angle grinder ever in operation in the same space, use an intake filter. If you ever want to do some extremely slow, very light milling in soft aluminum, use an intake filter. If you use a hacksaw to cut metal in the same place, use an intake filter.
@eh9 That is good advice, metal dust and shavings can cause shorts in electronics.
Going back to basic physics, matter can not be created or destroyed. So I would expect as much dust or suit as the amount of material you have removed. If you machine is in a confined space with poor airflow (a closet or small room in the basement) then all of that will settle out of the air inside that room. So increase your ventilation or add a filter.
I agree though, in a dusty environment an inlet filter is needed, as I mentioned above.
In all of our server racks at work in remote buildings we use a cage with filtering to minimize dust, drastically shortens the lifespan of power supplies. We have noticed 5-6 year lifespans on average decrease to 2-3 years in some cases in dusty environments.
@brent113 many thanks for mentioning this solution!
Could you perhaps share a few photos of your setup?
I’m curious to see how your 4’’ ventilator is connected to the 3’’ Snapmaker port, as I’ve also found some interesting 4’’ / 10cm ventilators here in Germany.
I think seeing this solution “more visually” will help me set up my own.
Many thanks again @Jesi15 and @brent113 for providing these clear instructions!
I think I’m all set with this information;
I’ll now look more carefully at the booster fans available over here, hope to find one with decent performance.
In any case, most fans seem to have a 100mm / 4’’ diameter, so your adapter piece from Thingiverse will come in handy!
)
