I think I better understand the key elements of using aftermarket boards after a couple of years of 3D printing and tearing apart my machines way too many times. In this post I'm going to share a little bit of what I've learned from the generous 3D printing community. We're going to detail getting rid of your USB cable. This post expands upon what I wrote about in my previous blog post, "How to print without a USB cable on an Ender 3 and OctoPrint."

The electronics cooling fan temperature-controlled fan controller.
I hope I worded that right.

I sought a universal way to quiet and control the electronics fans for my 3D printers. What I found are inexpensive, easy to install and can be used between all my machines. I can use up to 12V (24V with a buck converter) and up to .9A of fans.

The controller can be found on Aliexpress here and here from the same company I used, or try a search for "DC 5V 12V PWM Speed Controller Fan Speed governor" or look for something that looks the same with the same specifications. But, if you buy something slightly different, it may not fit into the skid on my Thingiverse page. 
The controller snaps into part "B11 MPSM Ele Fan Control Skid", or the one with mounting holes. They're designed to be filed down on the inside for custom mounting tension. Place it where you can get to it for adjustment while printing .

Use a multitap to connect it to incoming power. I used standard DuPont connectors to connect to the existing fan connectors. The programming instructions are insane, so I generously included some that are slightly less cryptic. Download the file, "fans_controllers_instructions.pdf". I set mine to "2, 2, and 2" because it seemed good reasonable, YMMV. 

I wanted a silent, remotely monitored and controlled printer that would produce high quality prints while still keeping a tight physical footprint. This is how I got there.

I've recently overhauled my two stock MPSM V2 3D printers. The changes include:
* replacing the stock M200_V2-MAINBOARD with SKR 1.4 board with 2208 stepper motor drivers.
* adding a controllable parts cooling fan.
* adding Octoprint via GPIO
* adding 2 channel wifi power control with additional local button control.
* adding local buck power converter to power the Raspberry Pi
* adding local electronics fan temperature controller and an additional electronics cooling fan.
* adding daytime/nighttime IR-Cut camera.
* adding remote monitoring via Octoeverywhere and Printoid.

I wrestled with this for a few days. I did a number of maintenance items and a couple of upgrades and ended up with a new printing problem and a symptom I had not seen prior: High and low first layer spots that were not consistent with nozzle location. These high and low spots have caused a lot of print failures in the last few days.

Makers will recognize that these hexagons were not all printed at once. And, this image shows how the 1st layer depth printing problem is not related to the hot end's location.
I found that if I moved the X carriage back and forth along the gantry, I could feel a very slight wobble. But, the hot end was not loose. I was not a wobble, but more like a waving. It seemed that one or more of the new wheels that I installed were out of round. But, which one(s)? And how could I determine this?

Thanks to tip from Reddit user u/FDL1, I looked into removing the USB cable from my Ender 3 3D printer. This is what I found and how I did it.

It was easier than I thought. One needs to have already upgraded to OctoPrint and have installed an aftermarket printer board.

​This "how to" will cover the MKS gen L. We'll be modifying the Raspberry Config file on the Raspberry PI, and we'll need three wires, about 6" long with female DuPont connectors on either end.

The 3D printing community has given away a tremendous amount of information and upgrades and just great stuff to further 3D printing. I'm happy to finally be able to participate for the hopeful betterment of us all.

I've never liked the stock cable sleeves, so I designed and made new ones from Taslan and #3YKK coil zippers. I used 36" (914mm) long zippers for this project, but one Ender only requires one 36" zipper and one 18" zipper. This is how to make them.

I wanted something that would show off the race medals more than the ribbons. I looked around on the net, but could not find anything. So, I made my own.