Introduction: 3D Printed Cooling Fan - Making It Using Small DC Motor and 3D Printing

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About: Hi there! I'm a hobbyist and 3D printing enthusiast who loves to tinker with electronics, especially Arduino and NodeMCU projects. I love sharing my knowledge and experience with others, and that's why I'm exc…

As we know that a cooling fan is a device used to dissipate heat generated by electronic components or machinery by increasing airflow. In market cooling fan comes in various sizes and RPM capacities. In India, a 80mmX80mmx10mm size, 12V DC cooling fan costs INR 80 – INR100 (approx. USD 1). I decided, to make a low cost 3D printed fan using a discarded small DC Motor. In this article, I am going to explain how I designed and 3D printed cooling fan. I will show you the working of this cooling fan.

Sometimes, the blades of cooling fan breaks, then it start to vibrate and make noise. We can also fix the blades by replacing it with the 3D printed blade. Another option is, we can 3D print a complete cooling fan, like I have discussed in this article.

Supplies

To make this low cost DIY cooling fan following parts/components are needed:

  1. 3D Printed Structure
  2. Small DC Motor
  3. Wires
  4. 9V DC Power supply/Battery
  5. Glue/Adhesive

Above mentioned components are sufficient to make the cooling fan alone. However, I have made a cooling fan control panel also, that is why following extra components may also required:

  • ON – OFF Switch
  • LED
  • Resistor

After collecting all these components, we will start the fabrication process for making a low cost 3D Printed Cooling Fan.

Step 1: 3D Printed Cooling Fan Part Printing

In the developed 3d printed cooling fan the support structure in which motor has been mounted is 3D printed. Apart from that, I also fabricated the blades/propellers a using FFF 3D printing technique. I have used polylactic acid (PLA) material to make all these parts.

I have designed all the parts in Fusion 360 and then conevrt them into STL format for 3D Printing. If you need 3D CAD model/STL files of these parts you can comment below. I will provide you all the files.

Step 2: Circuit Making and Soldering

I collected all the 3D printed parts and the electronics item as mentioned in the above table and make the proper connection and assembly.

Soldering and Wire Connection

First I have to solder the wires in all the electronics item to make the proper circuit as shown in image below.

I installed the the ON-OFF switch and LED (Indicator) at their places on the control panel structure. After that I started soldering the wire according to the circuit diagram. After soldering the wires in proper sequence and place, I rechecked and validated if circuit is correct or not.

When I found that every thing is okay then I installed the motor in its housing in the support structure and applied the glue for proper bonding.

Step 3: Assembly of 3D Printed Parts

After installing the motor, I installed the 3D printed cooling fan blade or propeller on the shaft of Dc motor using adhesive material.

Step 4: Working

After making assembly and circuit of this 3D printed cooling fan, I plan to check its working. To switch on the fan, I have attached a 9V DC power source across the wires of this newly made cooling fan. You can see the performance of this fan, in the video below.

Step 5: Conclusion

What do you think about this 3D printed cooling fan, please let me know in the comment box. In my next blog, I am going to compare the cost and performance of this cooling fan with the cooling fans available in the market.

Thanks for reading this blog. Happy Tinkering!

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