External Bowden Extruder Mount

thingiverse

Do you have a fully enclosed printer with a bowden setup? Is your extruder motor getting too hot, or are you tired of letting all the heat out every time you open up your enclosure to swap filaments? Well look no further! With this bracket you can mount your stock extruder, plus a 30mm fan and heatsink, to the top, side, rear, bottom, or anywhere else you like outside your case! This does require a slight modification to both the heatsink and extruder motor, but is cheap and only takes a few minutes. Most cheap heatsinks only have two holes in them, which does not provide any mounting pressure on the opposite side. So drill a couple more holes in it for even mounting pressure Next, lap the bottom of the heatsink and rear of the motor. Be sure to remove the back plate before lapping. I started with 300 and worked my way up to 3000 grit, all being done on top of a plate of glass. Before screwing back together, apply a liberal layer of thermal paste for better heat transfer. Previously, motor was getting too hot to touch and was even causing the filament to soften and jam on occasion. Now, with the 30mm fan running at 50% after 6+ hours of printing the motor is still cool to the touch. This requires a hole to be cut in the printer enclosure. My hole is 38mm diameter, but this mount can accommodate up to a 60mm hole. Make it big enough to be able to remove and replace your bowden tube adapter! Potential improvements: The fan and extruder are now using the wooden top panel of my enclosure as a soundboard, so I may put a 1mm silicone mat between the mount and enclosure to help reduce vibrations. It's not obnoxiously loud, but it would help. Rubber washers between the fan and mount would also help reduce noise. Link to heatsink: https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Heatsink-Stepper-Printer-40x40x11mm/dp/B08HJGPXN6/ref=sr_1_21?crid=2PDZ2BG44NDS2&keywords=3d+printer+extruder+heatsink&qid=1644184272&sprefix=3d+printer+extruder+heatsink%2Caps%2C69&sr=8-21