Macintosh SE or SE/30 Fan Bracket

[reallyrandy]

I know this is an old thread but for those of you who are sans 3D printer, where do you get your 3D prints made? I tried PCBway for the fan bracket on Post#1 of this thread but the shipping is stupid expensive for an $8 part to New Jersey. there's no chance I'm clicking the "Place Order" button on that!

 

[alxlab]

Hey @alxlab! Any new tweaks to your fan bracket design for the SE and SE/30?

No new tweaks to the design since the last 3D model was released.

 

[alxlab]

I know this is an old thread but for those of you who are sans 3D printer, where do you get your 3D prints made? I tried PCBway for the fan bracket on Post#1 of this thread but the shipping is stupid expensive for an $8 part to New Jersey. there's no chance I'm clicking the "Place Order" button on that!

View attachment 15943

You could try JLCPCB and see what they're charging.

Alternatively I could make one for you out of black PETG for $8 USD. I'd have to calculate the shipping though from Montreal to your address. PM me if your interested.

 

[davewongillies]

Its $23.88 from printathing

Order - Print a Thing

Print a Thing is a crowd-sourced custom 3D printing service that provides low-cost, quick-turn, and high-quality results for hobbyists, experimenters and entrepreneurs.

printathing.com

 

[This Does Not Compute]

I know this is an old thread but for those of you who are sans 3D printer, where do you get your 3D prints made? I tried PCBway for the fan bracket on Post#1 of this thread but the shipping is stupid expensive for an $8 part to New Jersey. there's no chance I'm clicking the "Place Order" button on that!

View attachment 15943

Check with your local library, a lot of them have 3D printers now and the librarians can help you use it!

 

[davewongillies]

Check with your local library, a lot of them have 3D printers now and the librarians can help you use it!

I keep seeing this on the Internet, which magical places have 3D printers in their libraries?

 

[This Does Not Compute]

I keep seeing this on the Internet, which magical places have 3D printers in their libraries?

One of the major county library systems in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul) offers it: https://www.rclreads.org/3d-printing
As does the St. Paul Public Library system: https://sppl.org/innovation-lab-equipment
Along with another Twin Cities county library system: https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/libraries/Using/iLab

That's just near me.

Chicago: https://www.chipublib.org/maker-lab
Los Angeles: https://www.lapl.org/labs/octavia-lab/3d-printing
Denver: https://www.denverlibrary.org/idealab3D
Washington, D.C.: https://www.dclibrary.org/using-the-library/maker-space-and-machinery-fabrication-lab
Boston: https://guides.bpl.org/c.php?g=1308326&p=9632039
Atlanta: https://www.cobbcounty.org/library/services/3d-printing

The list goes on.

 

[reallyrandy]

I just used Treatstock for a fan bracket. it was under $10 and delivered within a few days

Treatstock

Professional manufacturing services for business

www.treatstock.com

 

[davewongillies]

One of the major county library systems in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St. Paul) offers it: https://www.rclreads.org/3d-printing
As does the St. Paul Public Library system: https://sppl.org/innovation-lab-equipment
Along with another Twin Cities county library system: https://www.co.dakota.mn.us/libraries/Using/iLab

That's just near me.

Chicago: https://www.chipublib.org/maker-lab
Los Angeles: https://www.lapl.org/labs/octavia-lab/3d-printing
Denver: https://www.denverlibrary.org/idealab3D
Washington, D.C.: https://www.dclibrary.org/using-the-library/maker-space-and-machinery-fabrication-lab
Boston: https://guides.bpl.org/c.php?g=1308326&p=9632039
Atlanta: https://www.cobbcounty.org/library/services/3d-printing

The list goes on.

I'm in SF and SFPL only offers 3D printing to youth aged 12 through 18: https://themixatsfpl.org/made-at-the-mix

 

[This Does Not Compute]

I'm in SF and SFPL only offers 3D printing to youth aged 12 through 18: https://themixatsfpl.org/made-at-the-mix

How far away is a South San Francisco library branch from you? https://www.ssf.net/departments/library/services/technology-learning-center/3d-printer

 

[nickpunt]

I'm in the process of finalising a production PCB design and designing a 3D fan housing model (similar to the one in this post) which would be able to hold the circuit board securely, I think the best place to locate the board (and therefore sensor) would be horizontally just above the fan, near the flyback cage, and in the 'dead' air space just below the top of the case, where the internal temps are likely to be highest.

I've also designed a test circuit and written a separate program for testing, which I'm in the process of wiring up to the Mac's serial port, so I can gather and save data to plot internal temp / fan PWM / fan RPM over time, which may be interesting for the community. Just need to wire it all up and spend some time capturing and plotting the data... I also plan to make some recordings, to compare the sound levels from stock fan / Noctua at full speed, and what the fan sounds like at different temperatures.

I'm thinking of making a small run of these boards and could make them available for a reasonable cost (£15 or less, depending on number).

Do message me if you're interested so I can gauge whether to order some parts for more than just me! Be aware though that this design requires a 4-pin PWM fan rather than the 3-pin style (which will always run at full speed if connected to the Mac's 12V supply).

Hey Ross, this looks like a fantastic solution to compact Mac heat issues. Do you have any updates on this? I imagine many people would be interested in what you've built as you've put in a lot of effort to solve this. Thanks!

 

[JDW]

Here's a fan bracket I made for the Macintosh SE or SE/30...

I added your fan bracket to my JLC3DP price quote today, hoping to have in printed in PA12-CF (Carbon Fiber reinforced Nylon), but JLC says some portions of the bracket (as shown in red below) are 0.5mm or less. Do you think that is a non-issue and I can safely just tell them to print it anyway? (It is interesting that only one side is showing red and not the other. Imperfect symmetry?)

 

[alxlab]

I added your fan bracket to my JLC3DP price quote today, hoping to have in printed in PA12-CF (Carbon Fiber reinforced Nylon), but JLC says some portions of the bracket (as shown in red below) are 0.5mm or less. Do you think that is a non-issue and I can safely just tell them to print it anyway? (It is interesting that only one side is showing red and not the other. Imperfect symmetry?)

View attachment 22234


View attachment 22235

Yeah I wouldn't worry about it. It should come out fine. If it doesn't I'll pay for the print.

Personally if I was ordering from JLC3DP I'd try out out the SLS(Nylon). It would end up stronger than FDM PA12-CF but more flexible. Flexibility shouldn't be an issue in this application. It's also cheaper.

 

[JDW]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

I actually often buy JLC3DP prints in SLS Nylon because of the lower price. But it can be almost too flexible at times. For example, I had a 040 heatsink clip, created by @jmacz , printed in SLS Nylon but the protruding arms ended up not being straight enough due to the flexibility of nylon. He kindly printed one in reinforced carbon fiber and shipped it to my parents address in CA when I had my recent CA trip, and when I later tested that version, the increased rigidity make it clip onto the CPU perfectly.

I also printed a case created by @Javmast3r for the SPIISDv2 by @Kay K.M.Mods in Nylon, but Nylon ended up not being as good as JLC Black Resin, even though resin is comparatively more brittle. So I was glad I had the case printed in multiple different materials at JLC so I could compare, but I will admit that it did cost me more money to do that.

I suppose it could be argued that having a more flexible material for the SE fan mount could increase vibration dumping, but TPU would offer more damping than Nylon, at the expensive of even less rigidity.

Have you tried printing in different materials to see the difference, and determine how much rigidity is actually needed?