While I’ve always given the air assist fan a good cleaning frequently, it didn’t seem to be blowing as well as it used to, so I thought I’d given it a thorough going over. Here are the steps for doing it your self.
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Remove the print head from the GF in the usual way.
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Unscrew the scoop from the fan head. This takes the usual 2mm hex allen key
The scoop itself is in two parts, so separate them out to clean as well
What I found on mine though was a lot of compacted gunk caught between the fan and the scoop. This need a dental tool to break down, then did a clean with pipe cleaner and simply green.
After I had scrubbed it out dry first, this was the pile of gunk that I got out.
You can imagine how compacted it was in there.
I don’t normally use simply green, but the whole thing looked really clogged and scraping it and brushing it wasn’t really doing the job. I’m a bit wary about putting water based things on an electric fan but it was all I had that would work. I dried it quickly and then gave it a really good squirt of electric contact cleaner and lubricant.
Finally, screw the scoop back on again, making sure you put it and the fan on the right way round (not that I have ever put it on backwards or anything).
The fan goes on so the label of the fan is against the scoop.
Then do the bloody knuckles and 25 minutes of swearing getting the print head cable back on the machine again.
Hope this helps
Edited to correct name of fan from Print Head to Air Assist