Da Vinci Pro Extruder Fan support by shotgun_banjo

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This is my first THING after 1 year of owning my Da Vinci Pro 1.0 (I got lazy and really did not use my 3D printer as my projects did not require to show a 3D model). Daughter was pushing me to make some Pokemon so I ended up using all of my ABS and I have a box load of PLA so I have no choice but to do the fan mod now.
After looking at various fan mounts and studying them in 3D I decided to make my own as I found that there are a few things that will make the various mounts not work on my machine and the fact that I want to create my own and share it. My reasons are:

Somehow the front end of the extruder holder has 3 screws poking out facing the printer door. All of the mounts I saw did not allow for this.


There are various blower fan designs and sizes that you can buy and the housing is always different. My mount can mount a 50mm down to 30mm or smaller if there is such a fan that small. I also want to be able to adjust it or slide it for better precision on where it is exactly blowing but not directly on the nozzle. There is a mount that I saw that pivots only where you secure the blower fan but it is only for a single fan design.

I want a simpler design so that it will be lighter for the extruder carriage. I also do not want a switch on the extruder as well and I want fan RPM control (my next mod). So right now the only way I can turn the fan on and off is with a JST connector that I took from my RC box.
This is what I did:

Print the mount to .2mm and at 100% Infill. with supports (low). I just used the XYZ slicer. Took 2.5 hours to print for 2 mounts.


I used 4-40 1" machine screws and nuts with washers to secure the blower fan to the mount.

I bought 2 blower fans similar to this (12V). Why 12v? so that I can use a PC fan controller to control the speed of the fan. Make sure it is not more than 15mm thick or it won't fit on this mount.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-0-14A-Blower-Cooling-Fan-5015-50x50x15mm-RepRap-3D-Printer-Extruder-PLA-50mm-/261816986831?hash=item3cf5822ccf
I used super strong 3M automotive mounting tape to mount it on the extruder housing (no super glue, no zip ties). Put it on the back and bottom of the mount.
https://www.amazon.com/3M-03609-Scotch-Mount-Molding-Tape/dp/B000BO913C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502165694&sr=8-1&keywords=3m+super+strong+automotive+attachment+tape

Mount it on the extruder housing as per the pictures.

Provide power to the fans (external supplied or from the printer it self).
TIP:

Make sure to heat up the extruder a few times to set the adhesive of the tape. I recommend not to use the printer for 24 hours just to be safe that it wont de-laminate.


Make sure the fan you use is not more than 15mm thick or it will not fit. If your fan is different than what I used and you want to change the angle of the nozzle just use one screw (secure it on the top portion of the fan) then just slide up and down while tilting the blower fan to change the direction of the air flow. Just make sure the bottom of your fan will not be lower than your extruder tip or you will be scraping your fan to your print bed or prints (BE WARNED!)


Make sure to use stranded wires (not solid) when wiring your fans. 22 gauge is more than enough. Stranded wires is recommended when the wires will be moving which is exactly what will happen on the 3D printer. Amazon or Ebay is your friend to find this wire if you do not have a local hobby shop or low voltage shop near by.


Insulate all your splices. Grab a heat shrink wrap and wrap all your exposed wiring connections. Ask experienced people here on what to do and how to do it if you are sourcing your power inside the printer. You do not want a $700 paper weight in the end.

If using this to print PLA do not turn on the fan on the first 2 layers or the PLA won't stick on the print bed.
I want to thank ChatToBrian for the inspiration of this design as I used his fan mount as the basis of my design. Thank you Brian again for the info on the wiring of the Da Vinci Pro.
Fan in action:
https://youtu.be/UlDCoKT0igc