40mm extruder fan adapter plate for late 2013 Printrbot Simple

thingiverse

Figured out that most of the print failures I was encountering could be traced to heat creep (premature softening of filament as it passed through the extruder, causing the drive to slip and/or jam). Active cooling to the rescue. Parametric model available as a public document on [Onshape](https://www.onshape.com/). I'm not sure how to link to it directly, but you can find it by searching for `40mm fan adapter plate for 2013 Printrbot Simple extruder`. The document contains two part studios: one for the extruder plate plus one for my DC power connector mount. Started with Joel Crane's 30mm fan mount plate. Initially hacked with OpenSCAD to add a larger diameter opening and assumed the 40mm fan bolt pattern would just match the extruder mounting bolts. Not quite. Imported to Onshape [using FreeCAD to convert the STL to STEP format](http://anoved.net/2015/07/import-stl-models-to-onshape-part-studios-using-freecad/). Used the imported object as a reference for a fresh sketch. This version (posted here as `jmd-extruder-plate.stl`) adds a spacer to clear the extruder mounting bolts and a new set of offset mounting holes (45mm diameter) for the fan. Built with a [12v 40mm fan](http://comingsoon.radioshack.com/12vdc-micro-fan/2730240.html) and [DC power jack](http://comingsoon.radioshack.com/size-m-panel-mount-coaxial-power-jack-w-switch/2741582.html) from Radioshack (!). The jack connects to a compatible power supply I happened to have for a small rotary multi tool. Evidently it would be [possible](http://www.printrbottalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8590&p=55819&hilit=100k+bed+fan#p55819) to power this from the heated bed circuit on the printrboard, but for now the separate power supply is simple enough.