Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? Hi all, i am currently designing a new extruder that uses compressed air to cool the hotend. It would be pretty easy to also make it available for i3 printers. It only works with a Merlin hotend and requires a aquarium membrane airpump for the compressed air, you also need a silicon sheeth for the heaterblock. On the plus side the extruder is lightweight and you can use the Merlin with up to 260°C with this cooling. It is also pretty good for flexible material, printspeeds up to 90mm/s are no problem. So if you use a Merlin with an i3 and you are interested, please tell me. Cheers Björn Edit: You can see a prototype of the extruder in action here [b.bonkers.de] https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743033#msg-743033 Wed, 22 Jul 2026 00:39:10 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,744365#msg-744365 Re: Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,744365#msg-744365
Mike]]> leadinglights General Wed, 01 Feb 2017 13:09:33 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,744082#msg-744082 Re: Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,744082#msg-744082 Cooling with compressed air


]]> Srek General Tue, 31 Jan 2017 14:41:50 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743155#msg-743155 Re: Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743155#msg-743155 The pump will cost more than a fan, but they are designed to run 24/7 for years.
To use compressed air with most hotends you would need a new cooler. The current ones are all designed with fans in mind. The Merlin is pretty unique in that it has a very small area for cooling and does not use cooling fins.]]> Srek General Sat, 28 Jan 2017 15:55:51 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743143#msg-743143 Re: Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743143#msg-743143
Also, does the air get ducted out again, or does it just blow over some cooling fins? Does it need cooling fins, or can you just blow against a barrel? If it can, this may also make for a nice retrofit to an e3d v6 without needing the cooling fins.

Lots of questions, would be cool to see some drawings]]> Origamib General Sat, 28 Jan 2017 15:24:57 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743140#msg-743140 Re: Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743140#msg-743140 Srek General Sat, 28 Jan 2017 15:15:58 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743127#msg-743127 Re: Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743127#msg-743127
Edit: Ok, one thing I don't understand with compressed air part cooling - is the speed still controllable by the printer, or is it just on/off?]]> JamesK General Sat, 28 Jan 2017 14:46:13 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743109#msg-743109 Re: Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743109#msg-743109 It is much more compact and lighter than any fan setup i know of.
[www.youtube.com]]]> Srek General Sat, 28 Jan 2017 13:39:59 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743075#msg-743075 Re: Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743075#msg-743075
Quote
JamesK
Oh, that's very cool. I hadn't really thought about how small you'd managed to make heat-break cooling area in your hotends, but now you point it out that looks excellent. Very nice work!
At HackFFM we discussed this years ago, but at that time we had way to complicated ideas on how to implement this. It turned out it is rather simple.
I have yet to push the hotend to see what extrusion temperatures i can reach before it breaks down. I just don't have any material here that needs more than 260°C to print.]]> Srek General Sat, 28 Jan 2017 11:53:00 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743068#msg-743068 Re: Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743068#msg-743068 JamesK General Sat, 28 Jan 2017 11:40:49 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743033#msg-743033 Merlin Hotend & i3, who uses it? https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?1,743033,743033#msg-743033 i am currently designing a new extruder that uses compressed air to cool the hotend. It would be pretty easy to also make it available for i3 printers.
It only works with a Merlin hotend and requires a aquarium membrane airpump for the compressed air, you also need a silicon sheeth for the heaterblock.
On the plus side the extruder is lightweight and you can use the Merlin with up to 260°C with this cooling. It is also pretty good for flexible material, printspeeds up to 90mm/s are no problem.
So if you use a Merlin with an i3 and you are interested, please tell me.
Cheers
Björn

Edit: You can see a prototype of the extruder in action here [b.bonkers.de]]]> Srek General Sat, 28 Jan 2017 08:53:47 -0500