Fan Duct for Ultimaker UMO+ (Modified "Tapir")

youmagine

I wanted a better fan duct than the standard sheet metal duct that came with my Ultimaker Original Plus (UMO+). The single fan caused cooling airflow to be blocked on the right side of whatever I was printing, leading to poorer overhangs and bridging of PLA compared to the other side. The Ultimaker 2 and later models address this issue by installing two smaller fans, directing air from both sides for more even cooling. However, I wanted to try improving performance with the single fan I already had rather than adapting two fans and dual fan ducts. This was also a cost-effective approach as using two UM2 OEM fans would have been too expensive for my simple experiment. Additionally, I was worried that using incorrect fans might blow out my electronics due to excessive power draw, which was an issue reported by some users. I tried the "Tapir" fan shroud on Youmagine (https://www.youmagine.com/designs/tapir-shroud-for-ultimaker) designed by nhfoley. Unfortunately, that fan duct was created for an earlier version of Ultimaker than mine (the regular UMO), which has a different printhead design, preventing it from attaching without modification. This is a modified version of nhfoley's great design. Instead of clamping onto long screws, two shorter screws attach the duct to the printhead aluminum frame from underneath. M3 x 10 mm long screws were used for this purpose. The fan was attached to the duct with two original plastite fan mounting screws. The result is significantly improved overhangs and bridging on all sides of the print. Photos of the "benchy" print in PLA show a clear difference between the green benchy printed with the OEM fan duct and the gray one printed with this fan duct. Bridges at the top of the cabin windows and other areas are noticeably better. This is a much simpler and cheaper upgrade than going the dual fan route, which has proven to be effective for me. In fact, I have not bothered with a dual fan setup despite eventually buying all the necessary parts.