Form 2 idling stepper noise

Support & Troubleshooting Form 2
1

My Form 2 appears to have steppers that are pretty noisy when idling.
I’m familiar with the sound from various FDM printers i’ve dealt with and built over the years, but the difference here is - the stepper whine on Form 2 never goes away.

Even when i put it to sleep, there’s still a noise.
At first i’ve thought it’s a fan, then i’ve noticed that i can feel it through the tank and the wiper with my finger.

The version of FW it came with was pretty bad, after an update it became quieter, but it still persists even in sleep. I don’t mind it while the printer is operating, but why do you keep pushing current through steppers (and possibly a fan) when it’s in sleep? It makes no sense.

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2

Little update - the idle stepper noise goes away after a print job.

But if you’ve just turned on your Form 2, and haven’t printed anything yet, it keeps the current to the stepper(/s) going, regardless of whether it’s idling, sleeping or actually printing.

3

I unplug the printer after finishing since I can still hear it humming, It’d be nice if to be able to keep it in sleep without anything running.

4

Check if you’re on the latest firmware.
It seems that on latest FW, at least it cuts power to steppers AFTER a finished print.

So at least it goes quiet after you’re done printing.

If you unplug it, however, then plug it in again, it will be noisy when idling and sleeping again, until you do another print.

5

I’ve noticed the sound as well. I’ve been unplugging it just because I didn’t trust that it was really off or sleeping. I have a print going right now, so I’ll check to see if the noise stops on mine after the print as well. (i have the latest FW)

6

Same deal after a second print - it goes quiet after a print, but not before a print, after a fresh boot.

7

Hey Formlabs,

I see you’re using Trinamic’s stepper drivers.
Any reason you’re not using the StealthChop mode? It’s ninja-silent, both in motion and when idling.

Is it because it requires a higher current (and, thus, peoduces more heat)?

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8

I’ve also noticed that the printer will heat the resin to 22C while sleeping, so I guess sleep mode is not really turning the printer off.

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