Extruder Motor Cooler 40mm Fan Shroud (for Hydra Direct Drive)

thingiverse

After switching from a bowden setup to the <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4062242"><b>Hydra System</b></a>, I encountered an issue which had never occurred to me before: due to how a direct drive setup places the extruder motor in closer proximity to the hotend, I started experiencing heat creep that would in turn make the filament soften as it passed through the extruder gear and cause the filament to deform/break when printing during hot summer days. As retaining modularity seems to be the key here, this fan shroud was designed as an add-on that would allow the fastening of an extra 40mm fan on top of the extruder motor as part of its cooling solution. This is effectively this <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2975582"><b>Prusa Cooler</b></a> adapted for the Hydra's <i>Stock_Head.stl</i>: both these remixed parts have been reinforced and while they separately lack sufficient structural strength, combined together they should provide adequate support for the extruder motor and prevent buckling. Furthermore, owing to the compact nature of the Hydra system, I had to sacrifice one of the air channels from the original Prusa cooler design to account for the power connector getting plugged in sideways. I have also included a modified version of the cooler with an integrated cable chain adapter (<a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2920060"><b>cableChain_Xend.stl</b></a>) that I use as part of my personal/ridiculous setup. The StockHead part retains the same hardware that the Hydra base plate was designed for (5 X 16mm M3 screws). Make note however that this is a tight fit and the original Hydra part was designed to only accept M3 screw heads that were 2mm thick. I included a new version that sinks the screw holes by an extra 1mm to allow for M3 screw heads that are 3mm thick, so use whichever version suits your available hardware. <hr> # HARDWARE - (2) 6mm M3 Screws <hr> (See attached pictures for reference) For optimal print, set to print without supports, then with your slicer software manually add supports to the following 2 locations: - <i>cooler.stl</i>: underneath the thin snap-in connector piece that friction fits into the stockhead. - <i>hydra_stockhead_cooler.stl</i>: underneath the arching middle part of the extruder bracket where the motor shaft passes through. Failing that, just set to print with supports but make note that only those 2 locations need the extra help. I believe PLA should be enough to deal with the expected levels of heat creep (under 60˚C), but I printed my part at 80% infill just in case to mitigate any potential deformation.