Replacement Dynamic Brake and Radiator Fan Housings

[fishbelly]

3D printed fan housings. Over the years I have collected a number of Cannon & Co. fan kits. None from the Gordon Cannon era nor from the early Dave Hussey era. All from the era when the molds have started to show signs of wear. I know Mr. Hussey has fixed some of the molds, but I still have in the upper $100's of dollars in kits that have broken fan bases, short shot fan guards and so on.

Recently I made the jump into 3D printing and thought it might be a good challenge for me to replace all those parts and be able to use the fan kits.

Here are some of the fan housings I have printed. All fit the Cannon & Co. fan hub, blades and grills.

Starting from the left I have the fan base that matches kit # 1854 48 Inch Cap Top. Fortunately I do have the EMD drawing for this fan base. The Cannon & Co. kit has the wrong fan motor supports. I corrected this with my part. I had to get my own fan grill photo etch done because the Canon & Co. grills are defective in ALL of my kits. They are over etched and when I form them, the fan grills that attach at the center ring break apart. There is only 0.002" or less material holding them together.

Moving to the radiator I have the fan base and fan guard to replace the parts in kit #'s 1701, 1702, 1703, 1704 & 1705. I made the fan base and fan guard one piece. The motor support is a separate piece. I built into my part that the fan motor does not stick down into the shell. I was able to obtain superb bolt detail with these printings. Including the mounting post that sticks up through the bolt. I built in an indent line to represent the split between the fan base and fan guard.

The center 36" radiator fan is to replace kit #1707.

For the two cap top fans, the Cannon & Co. kits do not have the ability to auto center the cap. It more or less floats a little. When Assembling you need to make sure yo can hold the cap center while gluing. I built into mine a feature to make sure the cap is on dead center.

I have other fan housings such as the dynamic brake fans to match kit #'s 1851, 1852 & 1853. I also have the cast version of the radiator fan housing of kit #'s 1701 thru 1705. I have the EMD drawing for that one.

One of the housings I need to make is just the 48" fan radiator base as you see in the photo and it will accept the fan grill top from the Atlas SD24. I bought a bunch of those parts from Atlas a long time ago. I also want to build the standard 36" fan housings for the GP30 and GP35.

[locomotivebreath]

I know Dave is trying to improve his fan kits, but the new lighter gray ones are still not as good as Gordon's. It seems the top rings shrank and etched grills don't fit so easy, I almost prefer them to be split how mant come. I like how your top rings are part of bases, eliminates fitting those parts together too, especially after painting them. 
And good luck trying to bend those 36" fan grills, I've put in the jigs that come with it, clamped together for days and they still flatten out. 

[fishbelly]

I have not had any issue bending the grills. If you are referring to the GP35 style 36" fan, they are only supposed to have a very slight arc to them. Slightly noticeable. Now the 36" cap top fan grills for the GP7 and such. Those bend beautifully with the included bending tool.

I just made payment to PPD for the new 48" cap top grills I am having made. The grills for the DB fan in the photo above.

One of the things I was worried about with the fan housings I made is how thin the top of the fan guard is. That portion that the grill sits in. On some of my early examples while fine tuning this part, that portion would easily chip off. I found out that is only at the early stages of curing. After a couple days of cure time I have found this portion to be very robust. I gave it some test by flicking my finger at it and also pulling on it much more than would normally happen and it is extremely solid and strong.

Brian

[markfj]

Brain, would you ever consider become a partner brand with 3D Central and offering some of your printed parts through them? These fan housings look great and appear to be much easier to install than the multi-piece Cannon design. I wouldn’t mind trying a set on my next project and I'm sure others would too. It's just a thought.

Thanks, Mark

[GP40P-2]

Feb 19, 2024 16:27:27 GMT -8 markfj said:

Brain, would you ever consider become a partner brand with 3D Central and offering some of your printed parts through them? These fan housings look great and appear to be much easier to install than the multi-piece Cannon design. I wouldn’t mind trying a set on my next project and I'm sure others would too. It's just a thought.

Thanks, Mark

Let's see if 3D Central can start getting existing product out the door first, before signing them up for more projects.

[fishbelly]

Mark,

It is what you do not see that would make you not want to buy them. Because there is some post machining work that needs to be done. I did give it some thought, but my designs would not work for folks who could not do the post machining work on them. If you have the right tools, it is not an issue at all. Otherwise it is a waste of money to buy them. Some of my parts do not come out of the printer ready to go and to explain why would take a couple pages. I am putting together an RPM presentation on all this for Tony Sisson's Carolina RPM meet this weekend in High Point, NC. I am also thinking of putting out a video on this as well. 

Brian

[locomotivebreath]

Feb 19, 2024 6:47:48 GMT -8 fishbelly said:

I have not had any issue bending the grills. If you are referring to the GP35 style 36" fan, they are only supposed to have a very slight arc to them. Slightly noticeable. Now the 36" cap top fan grills for the GP7 and such. Those bend beautifully with the included bending tool.

I just made payment to PPD for the new 48" cap top grills I am having made. The grills for the DB fan in the photo above.

One of the things I was worried about with the fan housings I made is how thin the top of the fan guard is. That portion that the grill sits in. On some of my early examples while fine tuning this part, that portion would easily chip off. I found out that is only at the early stages of curing. After a couple days of cure time I have found this portion to be very robust. I gave it some test by flicking my finger at it and also pulling on it much more than would normally happen and it is extremely solid and strong.

Brian

Brian, I tried the 36" fan kits for GP7/9s, more for the Dewitt "geeps" rebuilt RS-3s. I've also had the same issues as you with Cannon's. Sure, the fan kits look great and desired by many, but they haven't tried building them, dealing with broken rings or all the flash. Plus shipping locos with fan kits resuklted in smooshed fans because of the foam cradles Atlas and Kato come in. I started to discourage my guys from them and got tired of saying no. So now I charge for all that labor and ask them to supply kits as Cannon seems to sell them directly. 

John