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I recently broke the cooling fan on my Voxelab Aquila while doing some maintenance, and I'm in the middle of a multi piece print that I would like to finish soon. I found the fan replacement I need, but it's not going to arrive for over a week. I was wondering if it would be ok to print a few things with the broken fan, or if that would be bad for the motor or anything else. enter image description hereenter image description here

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  • $\begingroup$ Is there some reason you cannot get it quicker than a week? That looks like two broken vanes, it's going to make something vibrate somewhere if nothing else. $\endgroup$
    – Kilisi
    May 5, 2022 at 6:54
  • $\begingroup$ @Kilisi It does make it vibrate a lot, and it's really loud. I can't find only the fan to buy anywhere, except for on the Voxelab website. There is a set of the print cooling fan and the heat sink cooling fan on Amazon that will come tomorrow, but they're for the Ender 3. They look identical to what I have, but I want to make sure they will still work for my Aquila. $\endgroup$
    – F Tyrrell
    May 5, 2022 at 13:03
  • $\begingroup$ Fans are much the same if the currents match. Haven't done it with a printer but used different fans a few times on other machines for temporary or in some cases permanent fixes. Vibration sucks badly on machines with fragile wiring and connections $\endgroup$
    – Kilisi
    May 5, 2022 at 13:33
  • $\begingroup$ If you can get the specializations on the fan, size, voltage, air flow, it;s probably a standard fan that you could get quickly. You would need to wire it however. $\endgroup$
    – Perry Webb
    May 5, 2022 at 17:35
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    $\begingroup$ The new fan works in case anyone was wondering! $\endgroup$
    – F Tyrrell
    May 9, 2022 at 22:30

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As long as your ambient temperature is not excessive and you're not using a very high bed temperature, you should be fine.

With insufficient cooling, there is a risk of heat creep - that is, of the heat from the melt zone working its way up to the area where the filament is supposed to be solid, potentially causing jams if it deforms and catches in crevices there. However, the hotend is made to operate in temperatures far above normal room temperature, e.g. in non-air-conditioned spaces, in enclosed chambers for printing ABS, etc.

Just keep the space you're printing in cool and go on printing while you wait for a new fan to arrive. Maybe reduce your bed temperature a bit if you usually use temperatures on the high end (over 50°C).

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If the fan is the part cooling fan, you'll have reduced cooling on the part as it is printed. This isn't necessarily going to be a problem, although you may have irregularities in the print surface.

If the fan is the heat sink cooling fan, reduced cooling will be problematic. This could result in heat creep and clogging of the hot end.

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  • $\begingroup$ It is, unfortunately, the heat sink cooling fan. Is there any way to temporarily get it to work decently? I only have about 4 hours of printing left to do. $\endgroup$
    – F Tyrrell
    May 5, 2022 at 0:19
  • $\begingroup$ It will probably work, but you need to watch for jams caused by heat creep, and if it happens, stop and wait for the replacement fan. $\endgroup$
    – user10489
    May 5, 2022 at 16:30
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I think you'll get weird print artifacts and strange surface errors.

The fan is not balanced and will buzz. This added vibration could be seen as an effect in the finish.

Personally I'd suggest patience and wait for the replacement to arrive before continuing. Or scavenge a suitable fan from something else in the meantime.

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    $\begingroup$ I just ordered a fan for the Ender 3 from Amazon, but it is practically identical the the one on my printer. It's coming tomorrow, so hopefully it will work. $\endgroup$
    – F Tyrrell
    May 5, 2022 at 21:08
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    $\begingroup$ @FTyrrell if this is a common problem, consider having a spare in stock. I have a paper box filled with fans of various ages and specs, though the 240V AC metal bladed 125 mm one is waiting for just the Right Project, which may be a vegetable slicer :)) $\endgroup$
    – Criggie
    May 5, 2022 at 22:32
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    $\begingroup$ Luckily, this isn't a common problem. I had everything taken apart, and I was testing the fan to see if it was working well. I dropped it, and the blades hit the edge of my printer. Hopefully this won't happen again. You should definitely make that vegetable slicer though! $\endgroup$
    – F Tyrrell
    May 5, 2022 at 22:49

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