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I have mounted two radial fan on my printer as a part cooling solution.

radial blower fan

As you can see, the fan has input on the left side and blows air down. Does a mirror construction exists? With outlet on the right.

I can even print my own casing, but I'm not sure if the fan will work, if I change the rotation direction.

I'm using this print cooling fan duct: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1850163

The fan on the right side has the opening facing the hotend, and there is not much space, so the impeller can catch on wiring etc. If the right fan had opening to the right, there would be no such problem.

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  • $\begingroup$ Please explain by edit why you cannot flip the fan, e.g. the fan cannot be attached mirrored because the opening is then covered by the backplate. Else you simply flip it. Changing the direction of the fan will not work with a new housing. $\endgroup$
    – 0scar ♦
    Sep 27, 2019 at 6:06
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    $\begingroup$ the integral part of the fan in the impeller, the spinning part. A lefthand fan needs to have also a mirrored impeller. $\endgroup$
    – Trish
    Sep 27, 2019 at 7:04
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    $\begingroup$ Looking at the cooling fan ducts, I see no reason why to look for a mirrored fan. For that size they do not exist, I've seen larger fans which are mirrored, e.g. for projectors. $\endgroup$
    – 0scar ♦
    Sep 27, 2019 at 8:05
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    $\begingroup$ If "wires catching" are the main concern, you could probably print a fan cover that mounts to the two holes instead. $\endgroup$
    – towe
    Sep 27, 2019 at 9:51

3 Answers 3

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Yes these do exist, but I've never seen them in the size you are interested in, see e.g. these projector fans:

enter image description here

An alternative are fans that attract flow from both sides, like:

enter image description here

but I've not seen them in the small size you are interested in.

Considering the placement of the fans in the printed cooling duct you posted, I see no problem in using 2 similar fans. There is enough free space to suck in air and if you are afraid that the wires are caught by the impeller, you need to properly fasten the wires, ty wraps work wonderfully in securing cables. If I'm not mistaken, you could even use the holes in the fans to secure the cables or otherwise design and print a small bracket for attaching the ty wraps.

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https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/120mm-Small-Squirrel-Cage-Exhaust-Plastic_653850349.html?spm=a2700.7724857.normalList.14.23834341IiKFAu&s=p

After quite a bit of searching the above link from Alibaba was all I could find. I suspect that they don't make them like that because of the direction of the rotation of the blades. Perhaps they are made so that the rotor can be swapped around if necessary. Centrifugal Fans with different rotors (https://i1.wp.com/www.homeintheearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/CentrifugalFanTypes.jpg) The different curving of the blades affects either the volume or the pressure of the airflow (or both).

Alternatively how about one that is more agnostic: https://www.amazon.com/2Packs-Wathai-40x40x10mm-Brushless-Centrifugal/dp/B07RNZF97F/ Wathai 40x40x10mm 40mm 12V Brushless Turbo Blower Centrifugal Fan 2Pin

Or just 3d print your own housing!

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  • $\begingroup$ Worth noting that those "more agnostic" fans are the same as used on Creality printers. $\endgroup$
    – ikrase
    May 19, 2020 at 7:35
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I did also some research on this and decided to go with this solution. This fan only measures 50x50x10mm and is easy flippable: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005001894771961.html

enter image description here

Another option was this: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/4001185014078.html

enter image description here

Also found a Thingi, where people tried to flip the existing 5015 blower fans. It seems very difficult, since you have to print the fins in flipped direction and they tend to break.. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3716277

enter image description here

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