E3D heat sink clamp

thingiverse

I decided it was time to make the switch and upgrade my Monoprice Select Mini to an E3D v6 hot end. I chose the design from Toys in the Attic, which boasts a very stable clamping setup that keeps everything in place. The E3D v6 heat sink is securely held at both the top and bottom, preventing any unintended movement near the nozzle. To prevent stringing, I opted for a 40mm Noctua fan, and I wanted to ensure good airflow right at the nozzle. After searching high and low, I couldn't find anything that fit my needs perfectly, so I got creative. I combined the heat sink clamp from Toys in the Attic with a fan mount/nozzle duct designed by SeanFessenden. This setup ensures a tight fit for the heat sink. It's worth noting that Noctua fans don't always play well with a printer's PWM power supply, but you can easily fix this issue by adding a capacitor to the fan wires in parallel. I used a 22uf capacitor, but others have had success with 100uf or 300uf capacitors. I've included two files for your convenience: one has larger holes for Noctua's screws, and the other is designed for smaller screws commonly found on fans. Starting the screws in the holes before attachment makes a big difference. The nozzle duct gets pretty close to the heater block, which made me worried about heat warping. Since I print with PLA, I added some extra insulation around the block and placed an additional piece between the heater block and the nozzle duct – it just so happens I had some lying around. I also included the zero offset bracket designed by Toys in the Attic, without making any changes to it. One final note: there's only one tie-down ring for the wires now, as the original design had two, but the increased width of the 40mm fan made the other one bump into the tower.