Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement  

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

Posted by: @martin-d17

I am looking better replacement for radial fan - the one which is cooling filament, 

is there any? 

What I mean by better: quieter, bigger airflow. Original fan is too bad :-/

If you find a higher quality 5V version, please link to the source. I still use the original Prusa fan (Mini), but it was already defective 2 times (bearing damage). Maybe there is also a manual for replacing the ball bearing...

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

I've looked, and haven't found anything that looks better - Noctua has a fan that almost seems better, but isn't available in 5v - and there's the conundrum whether sleeve or ball bearings are better for a fan undergoing torsional stresses. 

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

I use Sunon fans with Vapo-Bearing™ technology for my case ventilation. They run very quietly and are durable. Unfortunately there is no version 5015 5V with tachosignal.

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

I am still on the original fan but it requires maintenance, peel the sticker off the back covering the fan bearing shaft and every few months with the fan held horizontally (Requires removal), apply 1 drop of light machine oil to the end of the shaft, then proding the fan so the shaft lifts and drops, get the oil to go beneath the white plastic retainer clip and this should get some oil into the bearing. Absorb any excess with some twisted kitchen towel dabbed into the hole where the shaft is visible.

The fan will now run nice and quiet again for a few months.

Note: Too much oil will end up working it's way into the blower housing and will end up spraying oil onto your print, which will basically ruin the print!. You really want as little as possible.

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

Because a fan just broke again (bearing damage), i have now ordered this product as spare part: https://zaribo.com/electronics/88-radial-cooling-fan-5v-mk3.html

Before install the fan I will put a drop of sewing machine oil on the bearing.

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

Looks like you bought the last one.

I did find a partnumber that could be useful for others.  DF5015H05S

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

@baklin

This is the partnumber of exactly this fan: https://caribou3d.com/en/power-supplies-fans/80-radial-cooling-fan-5v-by-ldo.html

zaribo -> caribou

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

Old topic, but still worth reading.

The best fans i have used so far are the Sunons.
I found a Sunon 3 wire 5015 5v:
MF50150V3-C01A-F99

Not sure if this is the right one

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

Air volume of 0.08 m3/min and max. speed of 3300 rpm might be a bit to low for sufficient cooling in my opinion.The LDO original has a capacity of approx. 0.21 m3/min and 5000 rpm.

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

Yes, you're right. I did not compare specs yet. The Sunon is very difficult to purchase here anyway.
But you're saying that the original Prusa fan is an LDO ?
Didn't know LDO made these "el-cheapo" fans...

RE:

I don't know if Prusa still sells LDO's. In any case, Caribou states that it's LDO brand. Sometimes the fan works reliably for years. Otherwise, it can be defective even after some days. It's in any case a wear part, of which you should have one piece on reserve.

https://caribou3d.com/en/power-supplies-fans/80-radial-cooling-fan-5v-by-ldo.html

wbr,

Karl

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

I had 2 from Prusa on reserve, they both started rattling after a few days. A drop of oil helps.
Will take a look at the LDO ones.

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

A drop of oil helps in most cases, but sometimes, unfortunately, it's not enough. However, I am quite satisfied with the LDO's. The fan is loud at full speed, but that doesn't bother me when it does its job properly.Unfortunately, the selection on the market for the 5V variant is not very large.

wbr,

Karl

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

I'll try it for now and have one more spare. But will look at the LDO next time. Unfortunately the shipping cost is more than the actual fan. But that's not Caribou3d to blame.

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

As I understand the issue, the fan bearings are not intended to operate at an angle as they do in the Prusa extruder, so sooner or later they will get noisy and/or fail.

RE:

So if i would design a carriage with a flat (horizontal) fan, that would lengthen the lifespan?

RE: Prusa radial fan (filament cooler) - better replacement

The Bear Exxa mod positions the print fan vertically, but it's an entirely different extruder and X axis assembly, and requires use of special calibration firmware (supposedly you can switch back to the standard Prusa firmware after passing cal) so it's a fairly major modification. 

RE:

Could not attach file...

RE:

How about this:

Still a rough design...