Replacement Backplate for Wanhao Duplicator i3 with dual 50mm fans by chinkel

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

EDIT 01/06/2016: I just realized I uploaded the wrong file! No wonder people said things weren't fitting right! The screenshot shows the file I intended to upload but I accidentally included version 1, my mistake, so now I've uploaded the CORRECT file. Also, I finally got around to taking some pictures! These should hopefully show up in the correct order and are meant to illustrate how I intended this to be assembled. I've included a picture of case fan screws I used. So like I describe below, only use the bottom two screws first. Then flex the plate back so you can slide the "ears" of the case into the grooves on the fan standoffs. Everything should sort of click into place, then you can add the upper fan screws and all the screws for the case. Enjoy!
Within a week of having my Di3, the tiny 40mm fan on the controller box started making tons of noise. I decided to design a backplate that supports a pair of 50mm fans to be a bit quieter and to move more air. The fans are both at the top and should move lots of air across the control board and to the power supply intake. Now the loudest part of my printer is the PSU fan which will be the next thing to tackle!
Instructions: I designed this to use computer case fan screws, the fat ones that cut their own threads. You could use longer screws and nuts but that would be trickier.Attach the fans first using ONLY THE LOWER 2 SCREWS on each fan. Next attach the backplate to the controller box using the bottom three case screws. The last step is a bit tricky - you need to slide the tabs on the top part of the controller box in between the fans and the plate. Once the tabs have slid into the groove on the fan standoffs, you can replace all of the screws on the controller box and finally the two upper corner screws on the fans.