PRUSAVENT - Upcycled Desk Cooling Fan

Keep yourself cool in summer with the help of PRUSAVENT!

The next heatwave is coming, you'd better be prepared! PRUSAVENT is an upcycled Desk Cooling Fan which reuses all parts of an empty Prusament spool. Oh, you're also having a 140mm computer case fan laying around? Let's build a PRUSAVENT then!

Video

Materials you'll need

• Empty Prusament spool
• 140mm Computer Case Fan (with high air flow rate m³/hr - the higher the better)
• Toggle Flip Switch [Buy at Reichelt DE]
• Potentiometer for Fan Speed Control
• DC PWM Speed Controller* [Buy at AliExpress]
• LED Installation Socket [Buy at Reichelt DE]
• LED 5mm with Resistor [Buy at Reichelt DE]
• DC Jack [Buy at Reichelt DE]
• Power Supply with DC Plug [Buy at Amazon DE | Amazon US]
• 2 Pcs. M3x18mm Bolts
• 6 Pcs. M3x10mm Lens Head Bolts
• 8 Pcs. M3 Washer
• Glue (I've used 2K Epoxy Adhesive)

* I highly recommend using a pwm speed controller instead of a potentiometer. By setting the potentiometer to the lowest value (max. resistance) it will produce a lot of heat inside the cardboard barrel. It will even likely kill the potentiometer after some time. Thanks to Josef Prusa and Mikolas Zuza for pointing this out!

How to build it

Step 1: Disassemble the Prusament spool, cut off the outer ring (the one which was holding the cardboard barrel) of the spool side. Drill out all tiny hexagons with a 6mm drill to maximize airflow. The picture below shows a before-after comparison, you'll need to do it with both sides of the spool.

Step 2: Cut off the fan housing like shown in the picture. You won't need it and it will save weight. Keep the arm with the cable inside at max. length, it will protect the cable from the fan blades.

Step 3: Place the front guard cover inside a Prusament spool side and glue the fan to the back.

Step 4: Place the back guard cover inside the other Prusament spool side and attach it with the clamp ring and two M3x10mm bolts. You should use lens head bolts since there is not much space inside the casing. If you don't have lens head bolts glue the back guard cover to the spool and ignore the clamp ring.

Step 5: Glue both Prusament spool sides into the casings.

Step 6: Solder the electronic components like shown in the pictures and install them in the top part of the base. Attach the arm to the base with two M3x18mm bolts.

Step 7: Make a cutout for the DC jack in the cardboard barrel and install the DC jack to the bottom part of the base.

Step 8: Attach the front fan casing to the arm by bending the arm slightly. Guide the fan cable through the arm into the base, connect the fan to the electronic components.

Step 9: Place the back fan casing on the front fan casing and attach it with four M3x10mm bolts. You may have to redrill the holes, depends on the orientation of the spool inside the casing.

Step 10: Assemble the knob (feels familiar, right?) and you have just finished your build! :)

Modification Ideas

• Place a battery or a small power bank inside the base and convert it into a portable fan
• Use an Arduino or a Raspberry Pi to control the fan

Updates

• 2020-08-20 Updated the list of materials.

Print instructions

G-code files provided are sliced for a MK3S and Prusament PETG. The parts in the photos above are printed with Prusament PETG Galaxy Black.

Guard_Cover_Front_MULTICOLOR_0.2mm_PETG_MK3S_1h11m.gcode will print a dual color front cover without the need of a MMU. Start printing with the color of the inlay, there will be three manual filament changes during the print (in the first three layers).

If you don't want a dual color front cover use Guard_Cover_Front_SINGLECOLOR_0.2mm_PETG_MK3S_1h4m.gcode instead.

I've used the following print settings (0.20mm QUALITY):