[Anet/Prusa i3] Heat-sink clip / Radiator holder - Nema 17 stepper

thingiverse

Quick and easy way to attach a heat-sink to a Nema-17 motor requires a durable and strong solution. Designed these brackets specifically for use with my radiators from eBay, eliminating the need for drilling and screwing. Drilling and screwing were too much trouble. Q: Why not use other heat-sinks from eBay with pre-drilled holes? A: Pre-drilled ones are made specifically for Nema-17 motors, making them more expensive. Generic items are always cheaper. I would also need to buy extra screws and cut them down to the exact needed length, which is unnecessary work. Q: Why not use other heat-sinks from eBay with pre-applied "thermal tape"? A: Even though it's called "thermal tape," it's still a 0.2mm thick double-sided tape, which will never be as good of a heat conductor as thermal paste and strong physical contact. I would also risk losing the heat-sink at high temperatures. Q: Why bother with heat-sinks at all? A: Without them, the stepper motor gets over 60 degrees Celsius. At such high temperatures, I'm risking burning the isolating coating of wires inside the coil of the motor and losing power. Higher temperatures mean higher resistance, lower current, and lower power, increasing the chance of layer shifting. So far, I haven't had a single layer shift in over two weeks of printing. Before using heat-sinks, I occasionally experienced some layer shifts. P.S. Don't forget to use thermal paste! P.S.S. A radiator helps, but not dramatically. It lowered the stepper temperature, but the motor is still very hot. Adding fans (40mm generic fans from eBay) hugely improved the temperature of the steppers. The radiator is cold, the back of the stepper is body temperature, and the front of the stepper is just slightly warm.