Bed Fan Interference?

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outlaw704
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2014 11:58 pm
Location: Austin, Texas

Bed Fan Interference?

Post by outlaw704 » Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:56 pm

I had my first fail today, after lots of successful prints.

A few questions about the bed fan... (Using S3D, Windows 8, Red PLA and USB printing)

When my extruder travels to the extreme -X axis (far left) the bed fan touches the left tower support and gets mooshed over a bit, out of the way. Is that okay? Is there an X axis stop technique to prevent this?

My failures came when I attempted to print a multiple object project, that took up 6"x 2" oriented along the Y axis. The bed fan snagged on the clips and disrupted the print. Is there a way to reorient an object or multiple objects in S3D? I looked through all of the menu items and couldn't see anything that allowed me to reorient other than "Center and Arrange".

Stupid question: Do the clips have to stay? Or were they just part of the packing materials?

Does S3D allow for the proximity of the bed fan to the bed? For example, does it know to put tall stuff toward the front of the bed?

Finally, is there any kind of physical adjustment I can make to the bed fan to have a little bit more clearance from the bed and the objects being printed and those clips?

jsc
Posts: 1864
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2014 4:00 am

Re: Bed Fan Interference?

Post by jsc » Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:13 pm

Moving stuff around in S3D: see http://jinschoi.github.io/simplify3d-docs/ (already dated, but not yet obsolete).

I do not use the bed clips, and have never had an issue. I have the screws on the rubber bed retainers proud of the surface, and they perfectly contain the glass.

The bed fan should never contact your actual prints themselves, because the prints will always be below the nozzle. The clips are another matter because they can extend above the plane of the print.

You can change the zero point in S3D preferences to cut off the front portion of the bed from ever being used other than when homing, but then you lose build volume. I would just run without clips and see how that works for you.

(Currently, I have replaced the bed fan with a 40mm 24V Delta fan, which has the benefits of being very high CPM, has higher clearance, can be run at less than 100%, and is cheap).

Toby
Posts: 330
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2014 9:44 pm

Re: Bed Fan Interference?

Post by Toby » Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:20 pm

outlaw704 wrote: Finally, is there any kind of physical adjustment I can make to the bed fan to have a little bit more clearance from the bed and the objects being printed and those clips?
you can rotate the fan by hand so it just clears the clips and won't bump into the frame.
jsc wrote: The bed fan should never contact your actual prints themselves, because the prints will always be at the level the glass is to the fan when the bed is zeroed.
true except if you print multiple objects at once using the "sequential" option in s3d. then it's best to arrange the objects back to front in the printing order so the bed fan is always in front of already printed objects

Dale Reed
Posts: 376
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:39 am
Location: Cleveland Heights, Ohio USA

Re: Bed Fan Interference?

Post by Dale Reed » Wed Apr 23, 2014 10:36 pm

Outlaw704,

You could always design and print a new fan bracket with a different angle. I made mine with a slightly different angle so the fan always clears the clips, and I made it wider and deeper so that it has space to mount a couple strips of LEDs to illuminate right at the nozzle. When I'm on the printing PC at home, I'll try to snag an STL and post.

jimc has a nice fan bracket as well, posted on Thingiverse. Search there for "MakerGear M2" and you'll find several accessories, including fan ducts, brackets., etc.
Dale

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jimc
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Re: Bed Fan Interference?

Post by jimc » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:56 pm

outlaw here is my fan bracket. print one and try it out. you'll have better support, clip clearance and it just clears the left main support. pla may work for a little bit im not sure. all the plastic parts on the m2 are abs for heat resistance.


http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:265170

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