Ender 3 Motherboard Suction Fan Mount / Fan Cover

After ordering a set of replacement fans for the extruder on my Creality Ender 3, I was left with an extra blower fan. Because the motherboard fan also needed replacement because of an annoying rattling sound, I decided to create an alternative motherboard fan mount which made use of my spare 4010 Blower fan.

Instead of cooling the motherboard by blowing air on it, this fan will blow the air away from the motherboard. It also doubles as a prevention from stuff falling into the motherboard compartment or fan.

Using Autodesk Fusion 360's topology optimization I designed a part which uses a minimum of material and keeps a clean aesthetic, while also being durable and user friendly.

Incompatible with the Ender 3 pro because of the change in fan placement

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Creality

Printer:

Ender 3

Rafts:

No

Supports:

Yes

Resolution:

0.2

Infill:

10%

Post-Printing

Simply unscrew the motherboard cover so you have access to the motherboard and can replace the old fan with the 4010 Blower fan.

Tie wrap the excess cables of the blower fan so they fit nicely in the motherboard compartment.

Put the cover back into pace, while keeping the fan outside the motherboard compartment by putting the wire through the existing hole in the side of the cover plate.

screw in the motherboard cover, together with the new fan mount, into place.

Put the fan into position by pressing it into the mount, which should fit tight when printed correctly.

Enjoy your alternative fan mount!

How I Designed This

This part was designed in Autodesk Fusion 360. First I reverse engineered the Creality Ender 3 motherboard cover and the 4010 Blower fan in order to get the right dimensions.

Making use of the biggest advantage of 3d printing: rapid prototyping, I created a well fitting holder for the fan.

The next step was to create some rough geometry holding the fan holder in place using the existing screw holes on the motherboard cover.

For the optimization I used the Topology Optimization function, making sure to constraint the two screw holes and applying a force.

The result is an optimized model which tries to balance loss of material with durability, ensuring cost and time saving in the final part.

Recreation of existing cover and 4010 Blower fan, as well as the new holder

Part after Topology Optimization