Blower Fan Shroud for PrintrBot Simple 1403

thingiverse

Finally, a fan shroud for Printrbot that harnesses the advantages of blower fans! My printer is great, but its ability to print overhangs has left me wanting more. To get to the root of this issue, I went back to the fan itself - a 40mm PC fan, which was originally designed for high-volume air delivery, not pressure. It's perfect for blowing lots of air into a case, but woefully inadequate at pushing it through small spaces like fan shrouds. A blower fan can produce much higher air pressure, which should translate to more airflow over the part. So, after some work, I created this fan shroud! It positions the fan close to the nozzle, making it better than the stock cooler, and uses an open surround-style shroud to get as much air on the print as possible. But it also makes sure all sides receive equal airflow, which is essential for preventing drooping or curling. Other surround-style coolers often have small openings that limit airflow too much or are too close to the print, but this shroud shouldn't have those issues. This fan shroud is also compatible with Ubis hotends and E3D V6*, and it includes a mount for your extruder cables. I've done some simple overhang tests, and while I don't have a "control" for comparison, the results are promising. While they may vary, I'm curious to see how others' printers perform with this shroud. To assemble this fan shroud, you'll need: * existing fan mount m3 bolts & nuts * two 6-32 x 3/4" or m3 x 18mm bolts (or whatever fits, it's not rocket science!) * a thread tap to match your two bolts * an allen wrench/screwdriver * needle-nose pliers or tweezers * a solder iron and solder or small crimps (optional) * JST connector and heat shrink tubing (optional) Note that I haven't tested these extruders as I don't own them, so if you have one of these installed, please try this out and let me know if any issues arise.