Geeetech i3 Bowden extruder modification with 30x30 cooling fan support

myminifactory

Update 30/5/18 Modified the support air output side to fit a conduit for directing the air to the printing zone and added conduit files. The conduit has a lid that directs the air either into the printing area or allows it to flow out of the side. The bottom part of the channeler is simple and can be replaced with something you prefer to design. The conduit and other parts are better attached together to the main support. Update 27/05/18 Added a knob for the extruder motor shaft to help load and unload filament, but remember that the motor must be turned off to turn it. The knob fits 5mm shafts. Added a little plate with embedded M3 nuts to make it easier to fit the belt lock plate. When printing, remember to pause to insert the nuts before closing the topside. As I updated my Geeetech printer, I tried to gain some printing area on the X axis but that is not as easy because of the printer's structure limits. I replaced the original extruder support with a PLA one, cutting down just a few millimeters, and ended up gaining about 15mm. By the way, that took me one step further, so I tried to turn my direct drive extruder into a bowden setup. I didn't know if the support for the hotend would resist the heating during printing, so I thought to add some washers on the filament tube with heat conductive grease, and designed the cooling case with a mount for a 30x30mm fan. It works pretty well; I did a few 8-hour prints at 215°, even if the heatblock sits just a couple of mm under it, the cooling fan does a great job and doesn't melt the PLA. It is possible that at higher temperatures this little fan will not be enough so I will soon upgrade to a 40x40mm fan. The washers and part of the tube that sticks out at the top are cool and I discovered that bowden setup works very well; the X carriage is very light and I can get good prints at the maximum speed the machine can melt filament. I kept the original belt clamp, but it's a bit fiddly to fit as the nuts are in the space between the bearings plate and the fan mount, and there is just enough space for long nose pliers to get in to hold the nuts. This setup made me gain 15mm extra on the Z axis by mounting the hotend as high as possible on the bearing plate. The part for the extruder motor fits on the original Geeetech gears; just remove the fan and heatsink, and assemble the new part that has holes to fix it where you prefer on the printer. The exit of the filament can take an M5 air hose quick fitting that screws directly into the plastic. In the files there are the bearings plate, the plate to fit on the original extruder motor, the fan and hotend support, and the rendering of my cooling washers setup. In the pictures is the first version of the fan support that had a little different shape; there is another version in my files of the support with fitting for 40x40mm cooling fan that fits the same plates and accessories. Extruder Heatsink MK10 Mini Heatsink Extruder Throat MK8 Teflon Tube Connector 4mm GT2 Belt Filament Deals