Replacement AIRCARE / Essick Air Bottle Latch Button

thingiverse

I managed to crack the mechanism on my Essick Air D46720 whole room humidifier, specifically the water bottle latch or whatever you call it. This gave me a chance to put my Fusion 360 skills to the test and see if I could design and print a replacement part successfully. To be honest, I wasn't confident in my abilities, so I didn't even bother changing the filament in my printer before printing the first version, assuming I'd need to reprint it after figuring out where I went wrong. Luckily, I got it right on the first try! The humidifier in question is the one I'm using, and you can see from the photos how I broke it. I tried gluing it back together with super glue, but it didn't hold up for long, which motivated me to create a replacement part. So far, this new part is working great and holding up well. I hope my experience will help someone else who's managed to break the same part on their Essick Air D46720 humidifier and happens to have a 3D printer at home. I'm not alone in this situation, am I? Print Details: Printer: Monoprice Select Mini Settings: Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: .0875 Infill: 25% Notes: I printed this part with 25% infill, thinking it would be sufficient. It's not a large component, but if it does break again, I'll probably print it solid to prevent further damage. I might also switch to PETG instead of PLA for added strength.