Shrouds on BIX-3, push and pull or just single action?

Hi, just got my self 2 BIX-3s and was wondering if shrouds can help the performace of this radiator? If so, what would be a sufficient height? Would you guys even recommand this http://www.voyeurmods.com/index.php?action=category&id=2&subid=236 ?Since I got 12 129CFM delta fans lying around right now, would you guys recommand doing a push and pull and use a rheobus (if so, what would you recommand?), or a single action, push or pull? Thanks a lot for your time~

you technically do not need a shroud however getting one is not a bad idea. Since you seem to have the fans laying around I would use push and pull 3 per side for ultimate performance. You can put em on a rheobus if you want.

Has anyone gotten one of these? I was wondering if they fit black ice pro II radiators as well as black ice extreme II radiators. It's cheap but I hate sites that make you log in to view shipping.

The shrouds at Voyeurmods are just 1/8" plexi with holes cut into them. Having a shroud like can help because it gives you an easy way to seal the fans to the radiator but 1/8" isn't really enough height to increase performance. If you're going to do this, however, it's a lot cheaper to just buy the plexi and drill the holes yourself--Modern Plastics has 1/8" x 12" x 24" colored extruded acrylic for just over $12 which is enough to make two of these, which, in turn, would make them less than half the cost of the same thing at Voyeur mods.

nice~ thanks a lot for the feedback~ Now I'm just wondering if you guys could recommand a good solution to control 12 fans~ @@''

Those shrouds will do nothing imo. They will only hold the fan off another 1/8" which is barely going to effect the dead spot. You need to either find another one to buy or build one yourself, it needs to hold the fan off a good inch off, otherwise it is just a waste of money. I mean couple spacers could do what that will for a fraction of the cost.

Also I would do a push/pull. With that big rad you could run the fans at 7v and still get good cooling and at 12v the cooling is really good if you have a good pump to match.

bluewolf97 said:

nice~ thanks a lot for the feedback~ Now I'm just wondering if you guys could recommand a good solution to control 12 fans~ @@''

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maybe if you angle the fans so that you have a triangle shape with the rad being the bottom and the fans being the two legs. I'm not sure how it would work out performance wise if its shallow enough it could just work. Also you would need to properly seal everything so it could be a pita to do.

The ideal Shroud is a Venturi design, simple explenation is to angle the sides into the Fans. Shroud is wider at the point of contact with the Rad that at the point of contact with the fans.

You won't see a big difference going with a push and pull configuration when using a shroud, except at low speeds. And even less so if using fans with good static pressure.

wannaoc said:

Those shrouds will do nothing imo. They will only hold the fan off another 1/8" which is barely going to effect the dead spot. You need to either find another one to buy or build one yourself, it needs to hold the fan off a good inch off, otherwise it is just a waste of money. I mean couple spacers could do what that will for a fraction of the cost.

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I agree that an additional 1/8" in "space" won't help performance, but that's not what these are good for. The BIXIII provides a very uneven surface for mounting the fans and there is nothing sealing the space between the fans. In order for the fans to work as efficiently as possible, there can't be giant air gaps between the fans or between the fans and the radiator. Using a thin piece of plexi between the fans and the radiator can solve these problems since the plexi can be easily sealed to the raditor with RTV sealant and the cut holes provide a sealing surface to mount the fans to.

A shroud that raised the fans 1.5 inches off the radiator would help performance quite a bit more, but even these thin ones have their uses.

if I was to built one out of aluminum sheet, any suggestion on what I should use to seal off contact surface?

Um... about the 1/8" acrylic... That's just the material thickness. If you look, it says it comes with 1 1/2 screws.

1.5"=38.1 millimeters
(assumed) fan thickness= 25mm
1/8" acrylic= 3.175mm

38.1-25=13.1-3.175=9.925 = 0.390748031 inches, almost 4/10ths or 2/5ths of an inch.

1/8=5/40"
2/5=16/40"

Edit: opened my package... We'll I'll be damned. It is just a piece of 1/8" acrylic. Very misleading, especially with the picture. I'll be sending mine back!