e3dv6 fan reversal

[tsteever]

I have been contemplating this for a while now and recently I read a post suggesting this. Has anyone done this and can you report on any issues you may have had?

[printbus]

Since it is likely my post that you're referring to, I'll jump in. Yes, I have the e3dv6 fan oriented so that the airflow exhausts out over the print bed, not towards the hot end. This is the way I've had the e3dv6 from day one. I never installed it with the fan pointing towards the heatsink. Like with the hexagon, to me it just makes more sense to do it this way.

DISCLOSURE: The reversed fan is part of a fairly customized e3dv6 setup only tested with PLA. I'm using a 30mm fan of my choosing, not e3d. I have my own shroud that should provide more airflow at the bottom of the heatsink where it is most important, and provide airflow over more of the heatsink fins than the snap-on shroud from e3d. The fan mount angles the fan upwards in order to help make sure the fan exhaust stays off the print bed. I use a kapton-wrapped fiberglass insulator between the hot end block and the heatsink & shroud. The aluminum block is wrapped in kapton for insulation. I drilled another thermistor hole in the opposite side of the e3d aluminum block in order to orient the wiring in the normal makerfarm manner. The thermistor is attached with muffler cement as I had done with the hexagon; the e3d thermistor wiring screw isn't used. I use the 16mm heater that originally came with the hexagon so it is a flush-fit in the 16mm e3dv6 aluminum block.

All of this is the way I initially installed the e3dv6, and I have no regrets. Can I provide a comparison to the stock config? No.

The shroud and fan mount are currently unpublished; while they fit fine there are issues in the openSCAD source that needs correction before I'd want to release it; it could be months before I get around to refining it, if ever.

PHOTO: Print cooling blower normally mounted to the left side of the x-carriage has been removed for purposes of visibility.