"Mistral-E" Extruder Cooling Duct

thingiverse

I've owned my Ender-3 Pro printer for three weeks now and one of the first things that needed improvement was the extruder cooling duct. The original wasn't bad, but it didn't blow air where it's needed most - concentrated below the nozzle. This is particularly important when printing overhangs and slim pointy objects. Mistral-E Design Objectives: - Use with the original fan that comes with the printer. - Blow high-volume air on the filament just beyond the nozzle. - Avoid getting any cooling air on the heater block. - Designed to get hot air away from the object as fast as possible. - Create a version that is compact and won't interfere with auto-level sensors. - Reduce the noise level of the fan as much as possible. - Make it as light as possible to avoid high mass on the extruder. Attention: - This cooling duct is intended for use with the standard unmodified Ender-3 or Ender-3 Pro printer. - It's recommended that the cooler be printed in ABS or PETG, which are more heat-resistant. - Pay close attention to the pictures so the position of the cooler is clear. - Use a 2.0mm drill to clean up the screw holes for mounting. - It's not recommended to finish this part in acetone as it might warp the fan duct and degrade performance. - I'm seeing people with different fans, so it might be necessary to remove the two thin supports. TIP: - Download the files only if you're ready to start printing parts because I might have made some required design tweaks or changes that will be noted below as revisions. It would be nice to post a picture with comments if you've made one. Please support my work by giving me a tip if you find my Mistral-E design useful. Thanks. Leo ---------------------------------------------------------- Revisions: - 03.12.2018: V1.0 First public release (file removed). - 08.12.2018: V1.1 Modified left and center channels (file removed). - 29.12.2018: V1.2 Minor tweaks to the channels, moved center outwards by 0.5mm, added two additional mounting tabs. - 27.01.2019: Very minor updates to V1.2. - 05.03.2019: V1.3 Improved airflow spread. - 04.01.2020: Added v1.3 with no support for those wanting to set support via slicer, also added a version without small tab support for newer Ender-3 models with different fans. - 23.02.2020: Removed file "with no support" because people are printing this without slicer support enabled = fail!