Creator Pro Fan for Right Extruder

thingiverse

So there's a glaring flaw with this printer and it's that the extruder fan only hits the left extruder, and its duct is not very good. I know there are already some solutions for different ducts that hit both the extruders, but those then split the air flow. There's also an issue with the current fan being non-adjustable and having a single power setting. I wanted to come up with a solution to both of these problems. You'll need: -2x M3 nut and screw -24V turbo fan (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DQ7F1T7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) -24V Power Adaptor (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QVXYBDC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) -electrical tape -extra wire I set out to develop a second fan that could be mounted onto the carriage and cool the right extruder filament. The support structure is pretty straightforward, I think. Glue some nuts into the slots for them and then use some super glue in attaching the two pieces because the slot isn't 100% structurally sound. Once the fan support is assembled, simply remove the old fan cover and add this one on and then attach the fan to it. Before attaching the fan to the support, remove the adaptor from the wires and extend them by about 1ft (or more depending on your setup). This will give some slack for the fan to travel around without pulling on the cords. Then connect them to the power supply or a breadboard like I did. On mine, I also added an LED in parallel to indicate if the fan was on or off. You'll also want to attach the duct to the fan at this point. I designed the duct to be a tight fit so it might take some force; be careful not to break the fan because plastic is weak. Once this is done, attach the fan to the support structure and plug everything in and test. **IMPORTANT** -Verify that the duct lines up with the extruder and isn't lower than it. This hasn't happened to me, but would be bad if somehow it did. -Don't use the full 24V currently because the duct can't support that amount of air flow and will cause additional stress on the fan motor. I find that around 16V is a good point right now. I'm working on the duct system for this. -Don't print with the duct attached and the fan not running because it will likely melt the duct. -You might need to print at a slightly higher temp due to the increased cooling on the extruder. **Initial testing** The pictures above are of some overhang tests that I did with my adapter, and what I consider to be the next best solution (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1675208), and the results are good. The overhang stays relatively stable up to 70 degrees with my adapter compared to about 55 degrees with the dual adapter. This is printing with standard settings using Flashprint. Bridge testing-I did one bridge test, and it bridged 6in VERY well. When I get to it, I'll test an 8.5" bridge (mx of my printer) and test that and report results. It does seem that with this adapter, supports will be needed much less. So it does look like this will provide an improvement over the dual fan adapter that is currently used by most for dual extruding projects. It will take some time and fine tuning to figure out the best settings and fan speeds. **FUTURE WORK** I am working on a better duct system. This takes some thought and consideration into what the best design will be. Maybe multiple types of ducts will be needed depending on the project. If anyone has thoughts on this, I'll be happy to hear them. While this system is good, I think it has the potential to be a substantial upgrade to these printers. Don't forget that tip designer button exists. This upgrade will certainly save you some prints in the future and when fully working, might even enable some prints that were not previously possible. Worth a $3 beer to the creator if you ask me :). My printer is currently dedicated to Covid-19 PPE for my workplace that is still going to work every day. Won't be returning to work on this project until the crisis is over. **Check out my friend's Indie Game Company** http://www.piedraven.com/