Replicator 2X active cooling fan duct - side discharge

thingiverse

This is an active cooling fan solution for the Replicator 2X. It is similar to the design by ten13th. It does not require a custom fan guard and has an optimized duct geometry to redirect flow towards the work-piece. It is secured in place with two of the long hex bolts from the extruder, and the fan is secured to the duct using the bottom 2 screws. The cooling fan has a smaller profile than the front-discharge design (please see my other design). The cooling fan is powered by an external power source. Side-discharge fans are more efficient than front-discharge designs due to a relatively good machine between the inflow and outflow cross-sectional areas. This design is good for applications with higher air flow demands (e.g. for small or detailed PLA prints). Instructions Print Parameters: (Important) Lay the model in MakerWare with intake port facing down and resting on the two edges Exhaust port should point up, and the holes for the hex bolts should be at an angle (~20 degrees from horizontal), they should NOT be completely horizontal otherwise the slicer will not work properly ABS 0.2mm layer thickness with infill density 0.3 Rafts and supports are recommended Support angle set to 55 degrees with density of 0.2 To avoid print lifting, set raft outset to 6mm Additional parts: Digikey part #603-1363-ND 40mm 12VDC blower fan Any 12VDC household power supply Switch (optional) Assembly instructions: Remove raft and support carefully (picture) Remove the inner 2 hex bolts from the extruder head (picture) Clean the fan duct bolt holes and thread the hex bolts through (picture) Tighten the hex bolts and secure duct to the extruder head (pictures) Split the wire ends of the 12VDC and solder (or twist together, although solder would be much better) with ends of the fan Mount the fan on the duct using the 2 bottom screw holes (pictures) Warning: If you are planning on using the Makerbot cooling fan relay, you should know that the cooling fan relay does not handle much load (which can be concern especially when printing dual extrusion). There have been frequent reports of this relay failing (FET burning out). When this happens the circuit will fail closed. As such, when the fan is turned "OFF" there will still be about 17-18V across the leads; the fan will still turn, but it will rotate at a lower RPM. When the fan is turned "ON" there will be about 24V across the leads. In other words, the cooling fan will never shut off if the FET relay fails. It's probably safer if you implement an external power source separate from the Rep 2X.