Upgrading my TAZ 5

I have been doing some upgrades. Some I havent found on the forum maybe they can give some ideas. Plus maybe some can throw some ideas my way.

  1. I wanted to quiet down the machine. I bought stepper dampeners. I have seen 80mm fan swaps. Well I thought Id go big and do a 120mm. I bought a Noctua 24v 120mm fan. Unfortunately its a PCM fan and only starts at 24v. I had to wire it so its on all the time. It is a bit quieter then the original 80 it does push an amazing about of air. Im not sure if I am pleased though its just not a drastic enough difference in sound. I guess I could put a speed controller on it.
  2. I added a PC tablet mount to the top of the machine. This is for bigger jobs that cant be accomplished thru printdroid. I also added to the left an android tablet. This is for touch screen controls and monitoring. I control printer on/off, printer light on/off. It monitors printer wattage, bed movement, humidity in storage containers, filament humidity with rolls Im printing with. I am happy with this upgrade.
  3. I was having PLA issues with humidity this summer. I built some storage boxes. I purchased a polybox. These have resolved my issues. I have printed solids enclosure so my printers foot print is large already. I didnt want the polybox just on the side taking up more room. I am building a stand to go over the rear enclosure out of 2020. I will also build a box to the left of the polybox for outlets, USB power outlets, raspberry pi.

  4. Cameras I monitor my printer via printdroid/octoprint via wifi or vpn. I wanted something fast and not have to be on the VPN I added two IP cameras. One for the Bed the second for filament. I will add a filament sensor to octoprint but I like to see the roll before it gets super low.

  5. Some things you really cant take pics of that are done. Automatic lights on via bed movement. Notifications of print done without the need to be on VPN or thru print droid/Octoprint.
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Few more updates. I got rid of the 24v fan and went the buck converter route like others but with a 120 instead of the 80mm. Now the 40mm on the hotend is louder. It seems to still push a decent amount of air.


I got rid of the taco shell box and started work on my wire distribution panel. Its going to take time to print it all up. Plus I had to order new wires.

I do have a question hoping someone can chime in. The 500 watt power supply is the loudest thing on my machine now. I have seen that some switch it out for the noctua 40mm. The stock pushes quite a bit of air though way more then the noctua would. I dont think id trust that swap. What about this idea of making a new shroud and mounting two 120mms? I would externally power them. I already have that setup from a tuner build I dont use anymore. Does anyone have any info on the PS? where it gets its readings from/ temps to turn on and off?

Here’s the info I found from the power supplies data sheet.

RTH2≧50℃±10℃ Fan on ; RTH2≦40℃±10℃ Fan off (Fan always on for 3.3~5V,Fan ON/OFF control for 12~48V)

Which basically sounds to me like the fan is on when the temperature is above ~50℃ and off below ~40℃

http://download.lulzbot.com/retail_parts/Completed_Parts/24v_500w_PSU_KT-EL0063/RSP-500-spec.pdf

I got the data sheet from the store page for the power supply under Resources & Documentation.

We stash datasheets, source files, MSDS docs, stl files, and similar goodies in the Resources & Documentation section of most of the items on their store page. That’s why I love open source!

Im back with updates. The box is coming along nicely.


In my quest for cooling and silence though is now the main story. I started to monitor my temps on the stepper motors. X,Y and extruder. My X and Y can hit up to 59c. I know this is within specs but why not get it better. I added a 60mm noctua. Now there cool to the touch. I was actually amazed by this its like there not even on. I did a 9 hr print yesterday success. Proof is below I gotta change my last name to BUNDY



I also started today my dual 120mm power supply mod. I left the original 40mm in there. It still hasnt turned on once. I might be very pleased with this also to early to tell its only been 25 min.

I also had to add some guides for the filament tube this is still a work in progress seems to work fine though. Will probably need another guide for taller prints.

Ive decided to get rid of the buck converter. I will be externally powering my new 5 fans. I will have the fans turn on via touchscreen with the printer. I will also set up notifications if there not on.

Getting further well over 24hrs stock fan hasn’t come on. I am reading 25c-29c at power supply heat sink. I think it should be fine in the vertical position cause thats the way the fins point anyway.


Nice work!

ok it works! silent… I need to do some serious wiring but first gotta install my stepper dampeners. I will have to reprint the PS cover. I did it in a bad orientation for speed.

Ok I installed my stepper dampeners. I’m willing to bet that I have one of the most silent running taz 5s. That is without a full enclosure. What a difference with the fans and those dampeners.

I cant wait to upgrade my machine to some openbuild rails.

More pictures at least I can see my desk again. Still a bit more wiring to tidy. I also added new IP cameras. My $15 ones weren’t cutting it with the fps. Overall I’m happy with my city looking printer.







I’ve added rgb lights!!!. I did it for a reason other than looking cool. I had no way besides the amperage notification that I set up to know if one is off. This is an easy visual to know if there running. If the fan isnt running or the voltage is low they will turn off. They seem pretty close to the cfm of the noctua sound is close also.