TAZ 5 Hexagon Dual Duct - Left Side - A Blend

A couple weeks later: I did remove the return duct portion which has an extra benefit of still being able to use the stock screw but I only cut it out as a test to validate my theory but that was the cause for my heat creep which was subtle but after about 1 hour w/ PLA a single retraction would mushroom the filament and it was game over. I tried a lot of solutions but in the end it was the return duct. Without it, zero issues even with 238* ABS. I completed about 16-20 hours of PLA and 12-16 hours straight printing w/ ABS and really only a few hours of breaks for the last several days.

I'm very satisfied with how this new duct works and it has resolved issues where I have some deformations on the left side of the print where no/little cooling was occurring and more so unbalanced cooling. While a full wrap around like more modern shrouds could be used, the balance of air flow from both sides seems to be adequate just from a theoretical POV since it'd wash across and spread out as both streams collide. The results vs. history confirm this is valid ;) I also have full access to the front side like I've always had with the Hexagon which I'll say does require some frequent maintenance especially while swapping filament vs. these more modern print heads are very clean and don't seem to need much at all even when swapping filament. I could swap over but this thing works too well so I'm (mostly) happy to maintain and even upgrade it :)

I'll clean this up from a "builder's log" to more specific details soon but the logs were relevant as this was a WIP ;)

1 Week Use Update: I'm printing PLA for a rare moment (I prefer ABS) and they're large, detailed parts. The fan duct is cooling the PLA/printed parts wonderfully AND better than just the stock duct on the right side only however the hotend heat sink does have some heat creep now. After about 2-4 hours the heat sink gets to about 103-104* F and that's when the retractions conveniently begin on some of these models and the PLA ends up makin a lil bulge so it plugs and grinds i.e. failed print. I figured the blockage from the ducting could be a problem when I first made this and I'd say this confirms it since everything else is in order ;) I pretty much hand built most of the inner ducting vector by vector, line by line, and face by face this time. I'm not a modeling, CAD nor HVAC expert (I built my own air ducting/HVAC for a 1,000sq/ft garage so there's that) but I'm experienced and looks like the new version should still give plenty of air flow for the printed part side and the hot end heat sink fan duct path is significantly more cleared. It was about 50% blocked prior and now it's more like over 90% open.

I'll print the V3 out and give it a run since I have several more of these 4+ hour parts to print as is ;) :\

1st Use Update: Tested how fast the hotend heats up and cools down and it seems to be about the same heating up increasing temps about 1-3* every second on average which is how it's always been. Cooling down cools roughly at the same 1-3* a second pace too which is pretty much on par with what it's always been. I think it cools maybe about 1* per second faster tho. I am using the Noctua 40mm fan which I was worried might put out too much CFM but user reviews etc. implied it will work. Testing the factory blower fan and the Noctua on my 5volt tester, they seem to blow almost the same volume with the Noctua bein just a bit more and coincides with the experience so far. Despite the miserable failures and near impossible replacements, that stock blower fan was/is very powerful so it wasn't exactly a poor choice minus future now current inventory issues.
I've printed some basic single layers of ABS circles to validate it can handle the 220-230* print temps and handled it with my various tests to re-calibrate the Z-axis since the new extruder mount def raised things up almost 5mm as a guess? I'm now printing a large PLA part that failed previously which was more a modelling issue than a printer issue but there has always been that left side quality issue on many of my prints especially with ABS which is about all I print in. I worked around it with settings and just assumed it was a draft from the control box fan (I have an enclosure) but after the notes of Piercet, Sebastian and other's I leaned towards the lack of air flow on the left side. So we'll see how this first PLA print turns out which is a portion of Unicron's wing i.e. large, flat, and good detail if you're familiar with it.

Here's a video of it printing to reduce the perceived Kreuger Effect ;) :D
https://youtu.be/wQCP77-I2oM

The stock 24v 40mm fan for print cooling is very loud/grindy which I was scared thinkin that was due to something I did during this upgrade. Oddly enough I bolted it to the stock fan shroud and it's just as grindy. I then realized it's probably cuz the TAZ 5 is so loud with the old school 12v direct current stepper motors (I'm thinkin the new PWM type are why they're quiet since PWM is how you quiet many rotational things like fans) and sure enough, the fan is blowing however I can't hear the grinding over the sheer noise of the TAZ printing at currently 50-40mm/s without issue :) I also usually get SOME stringing at these print speeds and PLA but not today.... I'm very impressed already <3

Original Story/Details:
This is a blend of Sebastian's Dual Duct that wraps around the hot end and Piercet's duct for his Reinforced extruder mount. I liked Piercet's mount the best out of the options I've found since it's a near bolt on replacement with some well appreciated mods. It lacks print cooling on the left side and I don't like splicing in existing circuits for precision equipment so Sebastian's wrap around dual duct seemed to be a perfect "fit". I printed out both kits and tried to figure out how to mod them post processing which is doable but that'd take A LOT of work including heat bending and probably fail or at least look very shoddy even if I am fairly skilled at heat shaping plastics....

The greatest "part" about 3D printing is having that thought of "I wish I could merge these two things together because each on their own is almost perfect but combined, they would be perfect... If only I had a way...?" and being able to grant your own wish ;) So I took both models and merged the key elements, made a bunch of edits so each ducting has it's own separate route so the print ducting from Sebastian ties to the right side that bolts on to the factory fan/duct mounting location for print cooling so the full wrap around system he made is fully intact, while it pipes through Piercet's ducting for the left side to cool the hot end. I attached a screenshot from Cura slicing the model half way down without support so you can see the two ducting paths inside and it can move a lot of air :)

I will have to remove the blow dryer 5volt fan and use a JST connector. It's hangin on barely cuz of the tiny screw it mounts with But that's another reason that justifies upgrading to Piercet's extruder mount since it switches to the 40mm side mount fan which is more common and easier to replace especially if you go with a 5volt fan ;) Cuttin the 5v squirrel cage/blow dryer fan cables and connecting the JST connector was the only cutting / "permanent" mod of the TAZ 5 I'll have to do otherwise this is all bolt on which was key. I did replace the bearings with metal shielded ones but I see the stock ABS shielded bearings held up just fine albeit a lil stiff but nothing of concern.

Also my herringbone gear is finally getting some extra backlash from retractions so this prompted me to consider all my options and finally proceed with the rebuild and since it's the 3d printing world, this means I can do upgrades too. After careful review of the various options out there, this is the collection and my own blended addition I came up with to rebuild my LULZBOT TAZ 5 with it's Hexagon hot end which has served me well many years & spools and still has many more left to go.

Finally, since I'm doing all this and have to have everything apart, it seemed a good idea to upgrade the extruder filament body and Piercet's overall upgrades seem to be a good selection and this seemed to be a good "fit" for this collection as well. I did have to file down a lot of the underside of Piercet's reinforced extruder but that's simply because Sebastian's ducting sits snugly in the factory groove that Piercet beefed up. I SHOULD have cut that section out in a model editor vs. a file (sanding) but I didn't know what I was working with till I had it in hand and meh, what's 4 hours of filing vs. editing a model and reprinting...... If I have to reprint it, I will do a boolean cut for the cross over ducting tho.

This model requires a soluble filament like PVA for supports unless you're some expert at building/removing supports from internal ducting at this small of a scale :D

Sebastian's Dual duct with single fan for TAZ 5:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1349016
(My model replaces Sebastian's MDuct_upper.stl file, you will still use MDuct_lower.stl)

Piercet's Reinforced and Altered Taz extruder mount:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1113697
(My model replaces Piercet's Extruder_Mount_1_Blower_duct_3_0_bfile, you will still use all other files)

Piercet's 3.00MM filament Wade's Reloaded Extended height Hexagon Mount Extruder:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1355145