I have a question for the printer builders in this group - what is the best voltage to use when building a 3D printer - 12V or 24V ? And how many amps should it be rated for?
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
If compatible with all your kit I would always opt for 24 volt on new builds. Also saves having to use great giant cables for heated beds. If your kit is already 12 volt then just stick to that. 24 volt has some benefits but not enough to just willy nilly replace everything.
Agreed there. 24V is just more logical. Half the currrent of 12V setups
24v is safer from a fire risk and wire fatigue standpoint because you need less current to deliver the same power. It also lets you run a bigger/stronger heatbed without overloading standard controller board terminals. It also lets you run your motors faster and with less loss of torque at higher speeds.
The only benefits to 12v are the ability to use ATX PSUs, and better fan selection.
Thanks, that is what I had been leaning towards.
Echoing the 24v. It’s not so bad on 12v if you’re not running a heated bed from the PSU, but using the lower current that you get by using 24 volts, it’s less of a fire risk as Ryan said. The Amps depend on the set up. No heated bed/mains bed heater you can get away with about 20A, however if you’re powering from the board you want to be adding at least another 10A on top.
24V if building from scratch.
I use a custom manufactured ATX style 24V supply so I get all the benefits of a 12V using that type of supply but at 24V. The main board does not have to handle the voltage drops.
I find 550 W provides everything I need. Awesome power supplies. 