Termin8tor cooling duct system

thingiverse

The current printer in the videos has some issues with hot and cold zones after running 1.5 hours or longer, causing parts to stick due to unevenly hot air under the LCD platform and much cooler air above the platform and resin. As the print progresses and the resin level drops, the part rises completely out of the resin, hitting the plastic with colder air that causes an adverse reaction, making it lower back into the hot resin and then stick to the FEP film as it rises up the next layer. This sticking makes audible popping sounds and worsens as the temperature differential between the lower and upper compartments becomes greater the longer the printer runs, eventually tearing smaller more delicate prints apart from the excess peeling forces. To solve this problem, an extra High Pressure 80mm fan is installed in place of the existing fan lying in the back of the case, and a complete duct system is created to efficiently transfer the hotter air below the platform to the space above. This solves the part sticking issues as the air above the resin becomes much warmer and below is cooler, also benefiting the life of the electronics and LCD by lowering the temperatures. The required fan for this solution is a Delta FFB0812EHE (80mm high pressure). It may be necessary to lower the mounting point of the main Z stepper motor to ensure proper installation. A slot in the back of the duct helps, but the bottom of the motor must be 50mm or less from the base. Printing with 2x 0.7mm perimeters yields light sturdy duct parts. When printing the duct arms, use a filament with a filler such as carbon fiber or wood or any other filled filament. The geometry of the arms is complex and prone to warping as the print progresses to the sloping upper part, so a really dialed filament profile with perfect retraction and maybe slightly under extruding is required. The lower warp the filament, the better.