Diode Smoother - 60mm Fan Cooler 001

thingiverse

2018-11-27--14-27-01 A cooling tunnel for diode regulators that also retains them is what this design aims to create. The fan used here is a 60mm one, which is necessary because these things get incredibly hot. Their connections are also a challenge when it comes to compact and well-ventilated mounting options. This fan is controlled by a control fan that activates whenever a driver or NEMA is active, so the diode pipe uses this fan to blow air across the smoothers and onto the drivers. Air flow is significantly reduced after all of the smoothers have been placed inside and the fan has been mounted, making it more noisy than just a bare fan. However, mine seems to still be working fine for cooling both the diodes and stepper drivers, and it's much better protected from accidental shorts. This design was one that I wasn't sure would survive. I didn't expect it to melt, but I also wasn't convinced it would just be another terrible idea. That said; I'm still using it, and in the context of how I want to use it, it's much better than the tray I had designed, and better than the other thingiverse smoother cases I have seen/printed. So consider it as a silly idea that's going to work better with a larger fan, but is actually pretty good as it stands. Needs This design requires 2 to 4 M4x25mm bolts and square nuts for the fan. There are holes for another 2 to 4 bolts/nuts on the opposite end too, but I've never mounted mine to anything so I've never used those. Works For Me PLA, 0.4mm nozzle, 0.8mm walls, 0.2mm layers, and 20% triangle infill are what I used for this design. Cut the walls out where the M4 nuts go because they're only there to prevent supports and force bridging. Due to this the holes are also obstructed by a single layer, so drill the holes out too. (you probably already do this to remove obstructions anyway) Any deviation in your wall perfection inside the slots that hold the PBC edges will probably need to be smoothed before the PCB will feed easily. Typically you will be plugging XH connector into one connector, and 4pin dupont into the other, for each smoother. So to fit all of them into the tube it's easiest if you: Attach them first, and bend both of the cables towards one end of the smoother. Alternate a dupont to be next to a dupont around the radius if the tube as much as possible. Use the cables to feed the smoother all the way through the tube. Then pull it back into its slots in the tube interior. It will only go in to its slots one way due to lugs in the slots at the non-fan end. It will be useful to bend and feed *all* of the smoothers through before sliding them into their slots. But I did most of mine individually with just a little bit of plug manipulation... so whatever works. Attach the fan, with its wire fed through the tube. The fan holds all of the smoothers in.