Introduction: How to Add a 12 Volt Circuit to Your Ender 3D Printer

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The Ender series of Creality 3D printers use 24 volts to power their electronics. If you want to install 12 Volt quiet fans or other 12 volt devices like a laser engraver, you need to create a 12 volt circuit. Some people use individual buck converters for each device, however I preferred to create a 12 volt 5 amp circuit that could power several peripherals with one connection.

Supplies

You will need a small 24V DC to 12V DC converter like this one on Amazon:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EFUHFDU/ref...

You may also use these solder heat shrink connectors found on Amazon:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B073RMRCC3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Step 1: Connection

Simply open up the case of the control box on the Ender printer and connect the input wires for the DC-DC converter to the 24 volt input of the board. You can then make connections to multiple devices either by installing a terminal block or connecting the wires to the output with a solder heat shrink connector as I did in the photo.

Step 2: Mount the Converter

The converter does not fit in the tight space in the control box of the Ender 3, so I mounted it with a T-nut to the frame just behind the control box.

Step 3: Conclusion

This worked nicely to power 12 volt quiet fans for the case and hot end and a future laser engraver. One thing to explore would be putting the DC-DC converter in the PSU to also power a quieter 12 volt fan for the PSU. You could then run 12 volts out to the control box.