Ender 3 NC-KISS Hot End Cooling Ducts

cults3d

Most of the well known printable hot end cooling duct designs out there are, in my opinion, needlessly complex and bulky. Also, at least in the Ender's case, a lot of them force you to replace your existing hot end and bed level sensor mounts with new printed ones. Because of this, I set out to design an alternative that avoids these downfalls. The NC-KISS Hot End Cooling Ducts for the Ender 3 (and other Creality printers with the same hot end and gantry design) use OEM-style fans and mount by sandwiching between the hot end and gantry, so your hot end and bed level sensor can continue to use their original mounts and mounting hardware. The engineered part cooling duct increases the performance of the factory-style fan, and the hot end duct eliminates air leakage that factory Creality fan shrouds are known for, while ensuring the cooling block receives maximum airflow. Works with the OEM Creality hot end, as well as Micro Swiss all-metal hot ends. May also work with clones. Note: The "Part Cooling Fan Dummy Duct" is useful for printing in materials that require no part cooling. This allows you to swap out the part cooling duct so it doesn't get overheated when not running the part cooling fan. You will need: 4x #6 x 1" button head sheet metal screws (or M3.5 x 25mm). 6x #6 x .5" button head sheet metal screws (or M3.5 x 13mm). One small zip-tie. 1/16" or 1.5mm drill. Some means of cutting the point off one of the shorter screws. I also recommend that you use a silicone sock on the heater block. Assembly notes: -The part cooling fan is held in the duct with the factory screws. You will need to ream out the small holes in the duct with the drill bit described above, then carefully thread the screws into the holes, forming threads in the plastic. -The Part Cooling Duct should be installed so that its bottom most edge is ~1mm higher than the nozzle tip. You can easily do this by setting something block-shaped on the build plate, bringing the nozzle down to just barely touch it, then move the block under the duct (screws loose), and lower the gantry by 1mm. The block should now be holding up the duct at the correct distance, and you can tighten the screws.