Wanhao/Monoprice i3 Mini Fan Shroud (Mk 2)

thingiverse

This product allows i3 Mini users to effectively turn off print cooling and then turn it back on once the initial layer is finished. Without stopping the print or making permanent mods to the machine! This part can drastically improve bed adhesion on the lovable i3 Mini. The i3 Mini lacks a second fan for cooling the printed filament. Instead it has a baffle that splits the airflow from a single fan onto the build bed as well as the hotend. This design choice likely helps to keep the i3 Mini inexpensive, but also creates a major flaw in that there is no control over print cooling as the one fan must remain on at all times to control the hotend temperature. I found that the i3 Mini therefore required a fair amount of work to get decent bed adhesion. Blue tape, glue, slow speeds, etc were all necessary to get a usable initial layer. Unless the airflow is blocked from reaching the build plate. So I created this fan shroud which slides on and off easily; allowing the user to effectively turn off the fan for the first couple layers (or the entire build if so desired). Once a solid layer is complete and print cooling is needed, the user only needs to gently tug the shroud off and the rest of the build goes as expected without interruption.