Heatbrake manifold for the Creality Stock Hotend

thingiverse

The Creality stock print head performs reasonably well despite its flaws, but one of its subtler problems lies in airflow management. Specifically, it's not managed at all. The fan is positioned roughly in front of the heat brake and hotend, which is insulated to maintain temperature control. An out-of-the-way exhaust vent remains unused as no air flows through it. Instead, the air mostly spills downward directly onto your parts and heatbed. You might think, "Great! It doesn't have a separate part fan, so it does double duty!" However, there are reasons most printers have a separate part fan. The heat brake fan always needs to be on when the hotend is heated, but you often want to turn your part fan on/off/half-way for first layers, fine-tuned bridging, and materials that shrink and crack. So what's the solution? Print this quick design on an inkjet or laser printer, cut it out, glue a pattern onto a piece of aluminum from a Coke can (any brand will do), then cut and fold. Finish with aluminum tape to seal tricky gaps, and all air blows up and away from the bed and printing part. Aluminum is cheap, widely available for free, and can withstand high temperatures without issue. This design might have been printed using high-temperature plastic and insulation, but it's a quick fix that gets the job done. Watch an overview video here: https://youtu.be/njiKf5o3naM