Air Funnel Prusa I3 mk3

thingiverse

24/7/18 I NO LONGER RECOMMEND THIS BUILD! I received a message from Prusa, and they tested the design: "Noctua fans don't like turns or long paths to the extruder. The distance to the heat-sink is CRUCIAL. One or two millimeters forward/back shows a negative impact. We tried something similar last month. I tested your design today, and the temperature was far worse than stock MK3 and MK2. I don't recommend your manifold. Stick with R3 extruder cover." I also disassembled the fan-covers. Leave the fans as they are; the extruder needs any bit of air it can get. I had an idea for this funnel from https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2076234. It's used to reposition the small Noctua fan so it won't suck in hot air from the bed, but from the air above. This helps keep the extruder cool. The original design wasn't compatible with the MK3, so I designed a complete new part. I included a tube for the fan wire. The funnel was designed as light as possible with stronger sections where needed. It can be printed without support. Install it with or without the Noctua fan covers from the original posts. For installation, you need the following screws: 4* M3x12 for the fan without cover 4* M3x18 for the fan WITH cover 2* M3x12 and 2* M3x8 for the body Screw in all bolts to the manifold before installation to ensure that all holes/threads are clean. Then start with the two inner screws, hand-tighten them, after which you screw in the outer screws, tighten them first, and then the inner screws last. You have to open the cable bundle from the extruder to the Einsy case to gain around 2cm more length for the fan cable. The cable will be held in position and covered from all moving parts by the inbuilt tube. The funnel is fine to be printed in black PET, like the extruder body. The covers look good in neon orange with blackened screws. UPDATE 11 22/7/18: Version 11 is improved; it has a clean inner air funnel, which helps keep the air stream linear. I made this version for the Extruder R3 body update, which depends heavily on non-disturbed airflow. Version 11 elongates the input air travel distance and therefore helps clean out turbulences. I had the same positive effect with motorcycle manifolds that were elongated as far as possible into the air filter system. The cooler air sucked from above is another add-on. The inner funnel increases the stability of the design without adding too much weight. Version 10 weighed 11g, and Version 11 weighs 14g. It's still a lightweight design. UPDATE 12 22/7/18: Version 12 has a little more material on the cable tube for a nicer print without support.