Longevity of E3D Fan Shroud
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2015 9:39 pm
Hey Guys!
I've had an E3D V6 since they were almost brand new and I've put several hundred hours on it. I've also printed some relatively high temps (260 for Taulman Bridge) but not even a full spool of it, and nowhere near the 400c advertised max.
During a disassembly for another accessory (new post coming soon) I noticed that the blue fan shroud appears to be cracked around the screw holes. There are also some "lava cracks" on the flat faces of the shroud. At first I thought these lava cracks might be a dried layer of hairspray or something like that, but they don't come off when scrubbed with an alcohol pad, so I believe that they're in the plastic itself.
Has anybody else seen this? I do remember thinking that the screw holes were a bit snug when I assembled the hot-end, but I've had it all apart a few times over the last year+ and never noticed anything like this before. The shrouds are certainly cheap enough to buy a few spares, and I'm happy to do it, but it kind of surprised me because I'd never thought of inspecting that part.
Thoughts?
[img]http://i.imgur.com/KjGwJAp.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/YnFsuQy.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/BugCYs9.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/dg4oGVM.jpg[/img]
I've had an E3D V6 since they were almost brand new and I've put several hundred hours on it. I've also printed some relatively high temps (260 for Taulman Bridge) but not even a full spool of it, and nowhere near the 400c advertised max.
During a disassembly for another accessory (new post coming soon) I noticed that the blue fan shroud appears to be cracked around the screw holes. There are also some "lava cracks" on the flat faces of the shroud. At first I thought these lava cracks might be a dried layer of hairspray or something like that, but they don't come off when scrubbed with an alcohol pad, so I believe that they're in the plastic itself.
Has anybody else seen this? I do remember thinking that the screw holes were a bit snug when I assembled the hot-end, but I've had it all apart a few times over the last year+ and never noticed anything like this before. The shrouds are certainly cheap enough to buy a few spares, and I'm happy to do it, but it kind of surprised me because I'd never thought of inspecting that part.
Thoughts?
[img]http://i.imgur.com/KjGwJAp.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/YnFsuQy.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/BugCYs9.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/dg4oGVM.jpg[/img]