50mm Fan Mount for Steve's Extruder

[!jb]

I was experiencing constant filament jams as described in this thread: http://forum.seemecnc.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=786

I couldn't get through a single print without the filament jamming -- it was incredibly frustrating. This 50mm fan mount I designed seems to have solved the issue. It mounts using the bearing adjustment screws on the underside of the extruder. I had to hold the fan over the extruder while the mount was printing

[img]http://thingiverse-production.s3.amazon ... w_card.jpg[/img]
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:30668

[johnoly99]

Goterdun then! Nice job. PLA is a pain, so i hear

[BrainSlugs83]

Nice! Is this for PLA, or is it useful for ABS too?

I'm thinking about wrapping my print head with some ceramic insulation tape from Ultimachine (it's rated for ~2.3K° F). Would I need to remove the tape and add a fan to print in PLA?

[!jb]

The purpose of the fan is to cool the PEEK thermal break, which prevents the melt zone from creeping upwards. If the melt zone is too long, the filament becomes soft too soon and doesn't extrude properly, resulting in a jam.

If you insulate your hot end, you will want to avoid insulating the PEEK portion.

I haven't printed with ABS yet, but I do believe it is susceptible to the same problem.