Unresolved Can I print in 5C ambient temperature without a heatsink fan?

Hi everyone

I haven't been posting on these forums for a while as my Robo 3D was in excellent working condition

I left my printer on when i was going to sleep, the fans worked for 8 hours doing nothing, I knew a heatsink fan failure was imminent, and it seems the fan indeed died in that time (It might have died before and I might have printed without it)

The thing is the attic that the printer is in is very cold, so cold that I use a 70C heated bed for PLA printing, otherwise it warps

Can I use the printer until the 3CM/5V fan I ordered locally arrives? (I've basically cut the fan off after I destroyed it while inspecting the issue, I could only find a 3CM fan replacement, hopefully it will fit, the width of the default fan seems to be >28mm<29mm)

 

The fan on the hotend

I guess I will try it anyway, I have a hunch it might work

 

It will work for short parts, maybe 20-30 minutes. Any longer and you'll get heat creep causing the material to expand before reaching the melt zone and jamming, as mark said

I would suggest waiting for a new fan, or mounting a different fan to cool the heatsink.

 

Thanks for the inputs

I did manage to print a 70 minute part without issues, noticed some added friction while manual feeding, however the part printed without issues

Could only find an 30mm fan to replace the 25mm fan locally/online, I will cover the excess area and mount the larger fan to replace the failed one

I thought the plastic filaments would cause the fan to fail, however after inspecting the fan design (the rotor is contained, it seems hard for things to enter the fan), it seems the failure was electronical or balance related

 

Submit a replacement part request and robo should ship you a new fan www.robo3dprinter.com/pages/replacement-part-request