Brand New Damper Design - "The Micro Damper"

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Tom O.

TVWBB Member
Bob Walters said:
I have printed a few versions of an adapter plate in PLA for various grills; however, it's not quite right to claim that they won't melt.
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First no one claimed "that they won't melt".

Second, I SPECIFICALLY said NOT to use PLA. My PETG printed plate, or one printed from ABS, works fine. And although the highest temperature longer cook I've done was holding 400°F, it has not suffered from MUCH higher temperatures during full-open burn-off to clean the heat deflectors and grill surfaces.

Tom
 
Bryan Mayland

Bryan Mayland

TVWBB Hall of Fame
I should have clarified that I meant that the plastic of the damper did not deform at high temperatures. I think that it might be interesting to do some tests with PLA and PETG plates that are have a lot of strength built into their outer surface (for the strength) with a hollow section and a thin inner surface that blocks convection of hot air. The thin section could get hot and possibly soft, but it is just there to keep the outer section cool enough so there's no chance it can deform. The inner bit could also just be a cutout for a square of corrugated cardboard from a box which holds up real nice to heat-- my original blower was a cardboard cereal box cut to hold the fan. Lasted several years before we started with 3D printing.

If that works, the bottom of the damper can actually be printed directly on the plate, which would be pretty sweet since you can just make a big square hole. At the very least you could print a large tube or external threads on it to mate with the damper.
 
B

Bob Walters

TVWBB Member
Tom O. said:
First no one claimed "that they won't melt".

Second, I SPECIFICALLY said NOT to use PLA. My PETG printed plate, or one printed from ABS, works fine. And although the highest temperature longer cook I've done was holding 400°F, it has not suffered from MUCH higher temperatures during full-open burn-off to clean the heat deflectors and grill surfaces.

Tom
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Give your CAPS LOCK key a rest Tom. I wasn't responding to your post.
 
G

Greg Petersen

New member
Ron Willis said:
What is my best bet to getting a micro damper printed?
I emailed Steve but guess hes not doing it anymore.
Thank you.
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Hey Ron - I'm in the process of making one now for myself. My printer is pretty well dialed in, and the fit on the damper halves is a good friction fit (doubt I'll need glue to hold it), but the damper disc doesn't seem to fit the servo horn without trimming, so I printed the disc 5% larger and was able to snap it in. I also had to trim the servo tab (sg90) a bit to make it fit, but now there's a little bit of play between the servo and the body. I also printed some parts for the Adapt-a-Damper and those fit the servo like a glove, so I spent a little time modifying the .STL to add the small mounting blocks. I'm printing a new one now...
MicroDamper.png
I've got a few other changes in mind, we'll see how adventurous I get:
- Making room for a CAT5 socket (though it's admittedly HUGE compared to the entire damper itself, I may abandon this).
- Make the servo horn fit without modification.
- Other ideas?

Either way, I'm sure I'll have enough "Original" or "Modified" parts leftover from my experimenting to send you one if you want to cover shipping.
 
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Gary V

TVWBB Fan
Great idea for the microdamper. Now you can get all those wires which can reduce flow and cause other issues out of the body. I might have to print that and install it on my microdamper and give it another try.
Well done
 
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