I do alot of printing of ABS & ASA and loved the premise of thrutheframes BentoBox V2.0 found at https://makerworld.com/en/models/12786?from=search#profileId-24358 however there were a few improvements I wanted to make:
- improve airflow over the 4020 fans
- provide speed control over the fans such that flow/noise can be well balanced
- find a neater way to power the device that didn't require modifications to a near new printer
- have some level of control/automation over when the fans run
After looking around none of the existing remixes fit the bill. I liked the look of the wireless powering of the bentobox (and even bought the components to facilitate this) however, use of a larger 4028 fan (with increased power draw) made these solutions mutually exclusive.
As such, I went amount designing a base & fan enclosure to suit my requirements with the following done to improve upon the above:
- utilised 4028 12v fans (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004313715667.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.62.4e611802b2w0ce)
- modified fan housing to allow fitment of a Noctua NA-FC1 PWM speed controller (https://noctua.at/en/na-fc1)
- modified fan housing and base to allow fitment of standard 2.1mm DC plug that many 12V DC power supplies utilise - this involved fitting 2.1mm bulkhead fitting to the fan housing - ensure you use a bulkhead fitting with 8mm thread similar to https://www.jaycar.com.au/2-1mm-bulkhead-male-dc-power-connector/p/PS0522?pos=14&queryId=213fd342b4374ff75868ebe5dc866590&sort=relevance&searchText=2.1mm%20cable - in addition to this a 2.1mm extension lead (similar to https://www.jaycar.com.au/5m-ccd-camera-power-extension-cable/p/WQ7285?pos=9&queryId=213fd342b4374ff75868ebe5dc866590&sort=relevance&searchText=2.1mm%20cable is necessary if you would like to run the cabling without having to enlarge any holes in the printer enclosure. I did this by cutting the extension in half, feeding the cable through the small hole in the bottom left of the printer and then installing a set of Deutsch DTM connector pins (only, without connector, just insulated pins with heat shrink) on the cables to join them (hoping that I can also feed these back through the hole to remove at a future date. Alternatives are to drill hole out to feed 2.1mm plug through however this defeated the purpose of point 3 for me.
- I used an old modem 12v power supply with 2.1mm plug plugged into a smart powerboard from Tuya and coupled this with one of their BT/Zigbee temperature/humidity sensors positioned inside the printer. Then in the SmartLife app I made some automation to turn on that outlet when the chamber temperature exceeded 40deg C as is generally the case when I print ASA or ABS filaments.
In addition to the additional materials required for the normal BentoBox V2.0 (see BOM on that model) this remix requires:
1x Noctua NA-FC1
4x additional M3xOD5mmxL4mm heatset inserts for speed controller cover
4x M3x8mm countersunk screws to fix speed controller cover
1x 2.1mm DC bulkhead plug with 8mm thread
A little know how with wiring & soldering and ability to follow Noctua NA-FC1 wiring diagram. I used some bits and pieces of wiring from old PC fans to assist in connecting everything up.