October 13, 2023
Description
In common with many PCs, my new computer's PSU fan intake is underneath the case so that it draws in nice cool fresh air. It's a great idea, and it's perfectly fine when the PC lives on a desktop. But, in the real world, some of us have nowhere to site it, except for putting it on the floor. This means the fan now draws in all the dust and crud that accumulates on the floor between vacuuming sessions (and things are even worse for those with a carpet: The carpet's pile can block the intake completely!).
So I wanted to lift my case by 10mm. But what I DIDN'T want was wobbly stand(s) - or random bits of wood, coasters, or books - all of which rely on gravity to keep them in place. In my experience, it's too easy for a stray foot to accidentally dislodge the computer from such precarious arrangements. Thus I chose to replace the original case feet altogether.
On this model, the originals are just hollow plastic injection mouldings, in an egg-box design, with soft footpads attached in recesses. My first thought was to mimic this. But I soon realised I could make a simple one-piece design from TPU. Not only is this simpler to produce, but it creates additional shock absorbtion when you're blessed with bouncy floorboards like mine.
I didn't want to keep shutting-down and up-ending my PC to get the various measurements I needed. So I shut it down once, and simply traced around one of the feet (in various directions). I then used these tracings to get the measurements. The design didn't take long, and everything looked OK on paper. So I (stupidly) skipped the test fit, and printed out four new feet that looked 100% perfect... Only they didn't fit! Arrgh!!!
It wasn't until I actually removed one of the feet that I learned there's a small strengthening bump pressed into the metal of the case. You can see the offending bump in one of my pictures.
A quick re-design corrected that omission, and I produced four more feet. This time incorporating a dimple for the bumps I'd found. Thankfully, this batch slotted straight into place with no issues. Noyce!
I chose to swap the original fixing screws for ones with larger (and grippier) heads. Mine were leftovers from when I've changed PC cards on older computers - I think the size is 6-32? My thinking was that, since the new feet are of a much more flexible plastic, it was better to maximise the contact area for the fixings.
The taller feet obviously don't look QUITE as smart as the originals. But you only see them from desktop height, and they look perfectly OK from up there.
The print time on my Ender 3 was around two and a quarter hours for each foot produced. I used 3 perimeters and a 35% fill. I arrived at these numbers after a few test models, and it seems to give the right balance between stiffness and shock absorbtion. But feel free to try other fill settings to suit your needs.
As usual, I've attached the Sketchup file for those who would like to tinker. There are two feet shown in the drawing. The smaller one is my take on the original case foot, and it might be useful for those folks who simply need to replace a stock foot.
...And, yes: I still haven't got around to taking the protective film off of my glass case side yet!
So that's it for today. Case solved!
Printer Brand:
Creality
Printer:
Ender 3
Rafts:
No
Supports:
No
Resolution:
Whatever the standard one is!
Infill:
35%
Filament: XYD TPU Black
Notes:
No supports needed. so long as your printer is set up correctly.
You COULD use tree support in the screwhole if you wanted to. But this would be a pain to remove and really isn't needed. You might get a tiny bit of sagging in the screwhole - where the printer bridges the hole for the first time, but this shouldn't be enough to affect function.License:
Creative Commons — Attribution
Cargy
