3D Printer Filament Fan

thingiverse

I've been having problems with the quality of my 3D prints. I did some research and found that using a fan to cool the filament while printing greatly improves the print quality. This was designed to my specific printer (DIY Prusa), but it can be modified to fit any printer. About This Project This project is about using what's available to you, to solve a problem. From this project one can learn how to analyze a problem and come up with a simple and efficient solution. This project is for an audience of any age who has a printer that does not include a filament cooling fan. Also for older students this project can be used to analyze the behavior of air and how to manipulate it using Bernoulli's equations. Lastly the design of the filament fan is very simple, using basic shapes such as squares and circles that can be easily accessed with most 3D design software. How I Designed This I noticed that no matter how much I calibrated my 3D printer, the quality of my prints were shy of desirable. When I discovered that a fan was necessary, I was faced with a different problem: How do I attach a fan to my printer that only blows air directly on the tip? The first design was made of cardboard, tape and a small 3D printed tip. The problem with that was that the air flow was poor. When thinking about the behavior of air flow Bernoulli's equations come to mind. However though one can sit and figure out the exact equation for the optimum air flow, for practical purpose that won't be necessary. I simply focused on the idea that air can be manipulated using pressure, speed, and height. This is why the fan sits higher than the tip, and why the pipe's radius decreases as it gets closer to the tip. The original design made using cardboard and tape. At the beginning of the print the fan was off. Once the fan was turned on, the difference between having a fan and not having one is obvious.