Replaceable Dust Filter for the Cr-10s pro Hotend Fan

thingiverse

Dogs and 3D printers don't mix well in work areas. Keeping my workspace clean is essential, but it's not just dust that causes problems - it's fine hairs from when my dog sheds, and she sheds a lot. Recently changing the hotend fan revealed its early demise was entirely due to wads of dog hair sucked into the fan and wrapped around it, jamming the whole thing. To solve this issue, I created a coarse filter not designed for keeping out fine dust, which can be blown away with an air can, but course particles like fur or strands of loose filament that get blown around. The filter uses a standard green scratch pad as a filter, allowing lots of air to pass through while trapping any hair that tries to enter the fan. It snaps right onto the stock shroud covering the fan, making it easy to remove without tools. Edit: After installing this mod, I ran an 8-hour print followed by a 2-hour one without any sign of heat creep, however for extreme length prints, I haven't tested and don't want to be an issue. To avoid putting undo stress on the fan, I removed a few layers from the scratch pad to allow greater air flow - it's not meant to stop dust, so this won't be an issue, but it WILL still stop large fibers like hair, fur or strands of filament from getting into the fan. If you want to use the full thickness of the pad to help control dust as well, that's up to you; however I'd recommend removing some layers, as I have, since it passed all testing without the extra thickness. There's also concern with older worn-out fans - if they can handle reduced air flow. Since I recently replaced my fan, it's at its full potential, but using the full 5mm thickness of the pad may be too much for a weaker fan to handle.