MonoPrice Maker Select V2/ Wanhao Duplicator 3 cooling fan fix

The Monoprice Maker Select V2 is a rebranded Wanhao Duplicator 3 and they are not terrible printers for the price although nowadays there are much better choices. It was the first printer I bought quite a while ago.

However, they share a TERRIBLE print cooling fan design. Just pathetic. It is a heavy chunk of metal that hangs down to just a hair above the print, where it merrily knocks off glass bed clips, thin print towers, and effectively blocks the view of what you are printing. A terrible design.

They even have a YouTube video telling owners to grab the thing and FORCIBLY BEND THE EXTRUDER MOUNT upwards to help "fix" the terrible design! Did I mention it was a terrible design?

Anyway, here is what I did to fix the issue. The plate mounts the fan horizontally with the blower vent underneath, pointing just below the extruder nozzle. It is high enough to clear small glass bed clips and narrow enough to see how your print is doing.

It is also lighter than the huge chunk of metal vent that it replaces. Getting weight off the extruder carriage helps print quality too.

I did a fast design in SketchUp, so it's not the prettiest picture on the wall, but it works.

This needed no support when printed on my ANET A8. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND printing this in PETG. I have stopped printing in ABS because PETG is as easy as PLA and retains the high heat tolerance of ABS. Don't use PLA as the proximity of the nozzle to the hot end will cause it to sag eventually. PLA just can't handle heat.

Assembly is obvious. Fan is held on by two small screws from the top, vent stem with two small screws from the bottom. Two M3 or similar bolts hold it to the extruder carriage. Most people will have the necessary stuff laying about in their 30 year box.

I used Hatchbox PETG and printed this on my ANET A8 at 0.25 layer height, 15% infill and 100% cooling after the 10th ;layer. Bed temp at 70­°C and extruder temp at 240°C.