40mm fan blades

thingiverse

UPDATE The blades I printed two years ago as a test case but never really used in practice had to be brought back out today because another fan broke down. However, during this process, I discovered that trimming the blades at the part where they touch the buildplate when printing actually improves efficiency significantly. To do this, simply cut off the small part where the blade touches the heated bed on the first layer. This design replaces the entire blade ring and maximizes efficiency. Unlike some other replacement fans, it doesn't require you to print blades on a ring that needs to be slid over the old one, which results in +/-20% less blade surface width. I have printed and tested this design (early versions were still works-in-progress), and it now works as intended. To replace your fan, follow these steps: 0/ Read all the steps before doing anything 1/ Download and print the files using 0.8mm walls, supports should not be necessary, depending on your printer and settings. It printed fine on my $150 3D printer with cheap Hobbyking filament, without supports. 2/ Disassemble your fan, separate the blades from the rest of the motor 3/ Trim your blades entirely, including the ring, so that you're left with just the flat circle and the magnet sticking out in the middle. Don't throw away the magnetic ring that fits inside. 4/ Put the center spacer into the blades you just printed. 5/ Use the hole of the center spacer to fit the magnet, so when you glue or melt the backside with the magnet to the fanblades, they will be centered. (see picture) Try fitting everything together before gluing or melting parts together. If you notice the backside sticking out of the motor, you may want to print the model again, but at a slightly decreased Z height or gently sand the bottom down a bit. 6/ Attach the blades to the backside with the magnet. 7/ Pull out the center spacer and throw it away. 8/ Insert the magnetic ring 9/ Push the blades back into the rest of the motor. Make sure none of the blades touch the walls, if so, push/pull the fanblades out, trim where needed. 10/ Mount the motor 11/ Success! https://youtu.be/1YmQFGr22ys EDIT 1: Oops! The version was updated already, I noticed a part of a boolean was included, which should not have been included, making the ring too thick - it was also mirrored (sad face). EDIT 2: So I did get around to printing the model, and it was just not tight enough. Probably didn't measure it accurately enough, so I uploaded a new version, which should be a tighter fit, with the added benefit of the blades being a tad longer too. The ring in the middle should be 0.8mm thick, which should make it easier for a 0.4mm nozzle. The idea is to trim the original down to the round flat surface, you'll need to glue (or melt) both together. I haven't printed or tested this version yet since I already got my replacement and didn't feel the need to, but I already made the 3D model, so I decided to share it nevertheless. LOW POLY & SMALL FILE SIZE (55k)