Lulzbot TAZ 5 80mm Fan Mount

thingiverse

I wanted to come up with a solution that would provide plenty of cooling for my TAZ 5 / Hexagon hotend, as the small "squirrel cage" fan was simply not doing the job and making too much noise in the process - no offense intended towards the talented folks who designed the machine, by the way. I adore my printer, but that little fan just wasn't cutting it. So, like any resourceful DIYer, I took matters into my own hands and created a new design for both the Filament Tube Retainer and a customized fan shroud that's tailor-made to optimize airflow across the hotend cooling fins while preventing unnecessary airflow on the heater block itself. In terms of aesthetics, I aimed to have it blend seamlessly with the rest of the machine - as if it were an official part straight from the manufacturer. And, just like all great designs, mine evolved through iterative improvement: initially focusing solely on the shroud, I later realized that the stock Filament Tube Retainer was still worth keeping, so a small modification turned into a bigger win. Instructions: Mounting points for the fan shroud are carefully aligned with existing ones on your extruder assembly - a smooth swap in most cases. Simply remove that "squirrel cage" fan altogether, as it's no longer required. Your first mounting point will be found above where the "squirrel cage" fan used to reside, marked by an unused threaded hole waiting for its new role. The second uses the original bolt securing the left side of the hotend base. For the final attachment, just connect it to the Filament Tube Retainer itself. Cura, a powerful slicing tool from Lulzbot, handled printing duties nicely using their in-house "PLA_cura_fine" profile with minor adjustments on my part. To replicate these results or for detailed specs, I've shared my profile along with this design. My solution employs a reliable 80mm cooling fan and its matching power supply, both salvaged from an old computer - purely for safety's sake, as extracting strong 12-volt current directly from the TAZ 5 mainboard doesn't sit well with me. At the moment, I've set up a manual on/off switch for added convenience and peace of mind.