Fan shrouds, and radiator mounting

[Charr]

This is my first go at WC, and I need some suggestions. I want to use 25mm fan shrouds on my PA120.3, but I only have one POS 120 fan that I would willing to junk for a shroud. Where can I get 2 more shrouds for this?

Also, I'm not sure how to mount all the fans together on the rad. I have three San Aces with corner braces. I was thinking of using zip tipes to secure the fan + shroud together, then using a very short screw to mount the fan combo to the rad.

[Nibs]

You could always make a shroud/spacer out of wood/plastic/cardboard/metal/whatever..... If you did that you could space the fans a little further than 25mm which would probably improve performance and you could also make one large shroud that all three fans mounted to. Put some paint on it and it would look nice. Obviously more work than using the shrouds off of old fans but that's part of the fun! ;)

[ascl]

Buy the cheapest fans you can (yate loons from jabtech?) and gut them. Its actually cheaper than buying the dedicated fan shrouds!

I'd suggest you get long enough screws to go right through the fans + shroud in to the rad.

[baditude_df]

Yep, you will need ~66mm on the screw to make it through the fan body and make the bite into the rad body. I typically buy a 2.5" screw for this and countersink the hole in the fan body to get the extra few millimeters.
Your idea with the zip ties works, I just got done doing that for some testing on my TRUE.
Those two shrouds are no longer in use. I could ship them to you if you'd like.
As for the short screws, as long as the screwdriver is skinny enough to fit through the hole, or bite the screw head at an angle, you should be good.

[Spawn-Inc]

Buy the cheapest fans you can (yate loons from jabtech?) and gut them. Its actually cheaper than buying the dedicated fan shrouds!

I'd suggest you get long enough screws to go right through the fans + shroud in to the rad.

+1, was going to recommend that too.

[Boulard83]

+1, was going to recommend that too.

+2 !

[Bobnova]

I would make a shroud personally, that gives you a more open plenum between fans and radiator to let the air flow equalize.

[Charr]

Thanks for the offer, but I'll probably go with a custom shroud. Would just standing off the fans, and wrapping the outer distance between the fans and rad be sufficient? ALso, what would be a good material to work with?

[Bobnova]

You could make a totally functional shroud using bamboo BBQ skewers for mounting posts, hot glue to hold the fans, and then wrapping the sides of the whole shebang with plastic wrap.
Or cutting up a cheerios box and using duct tape.

Now if you want it pretty, that's a different story.


I may be slightly ghetto about performance mods, i like functionality and low cost.

[BeHappy]

You could make a totally functional shroud using bamboo BBQ skewers for mounting posts, hot glue to hold the fans, and then wrapping the sides of the whole shebang with plastic wrap.
Or cutting up a cheerios box and using duct tape.

Now if you want it pretty, that's a different story.


I may be slightly ghetto about performance mods, i like functionality and low cost.

That's one of the most beautiful things I've read today... I love ghettomods!

[atomic ferret]

I would probably not even bother with a shroud. PA120.3's have a bit of space between where you mount the fans and the fins.

If you really want to, I would buy cheap fans from jabtech and gut them.

[Gilgamesh]

Shrouds are a waste of space and/or money, and will never outperform push/pull, it takes unnecessary space in the case.
Push/Pull with undervolted fans outperform pull/shroud or push/shroud without any noticeable increase in noise.
Push/Pull full speed outperforms full speed pull/shroud or push/shroud.

[CharlieCS]

If you are still looking Charr i can give you 2 crappy fans that you can feel free to gut . :beer:

[Gilgamesh]

can't believe people are recomending buy and gut perfectly working fans to get less performance:eek:.:screwy:

[Bobnova]

Can you prove less performance?

[Gilgamesh]

Can you prove less performance?
Ljnk (http://martinsliquidlab.i4memory.com/Radiator-Fan-Orientation-And-Shroud-Testing-Review.html)
http://i36.tinypic.com/n2g77a.png

[Bobnova]

Ljnk (http://martinsliquidlab.i4memory.com/Radiator-Fan-Orientation-And-Shroud-Testing-Review.html)
http://i36.tinypic.com/n2g77a.png


You just proved that in any fan configuration a shroud helps. Thanks!

Yes push/pull beats single fan shrouded, but the shroud itself gains significantly over the same fan configuration with no shroud.

[Gilgamesh]

I just said push/pull beats push/shroud or pull/shroud. Of course having 2 shrouds is the best but i don't think you can house it internally. Now for using push/shroud/rad/shroud/pull you can house another radiator with its own set of fans, now tell me how you going to beat that, may be with another set of shrouds?:santa: if we take space into consideration when building a WC system, the shrouds are not really helpfull.

So let me c you want to run 25mm x2 for the fans + 30mmx2 for the shrouds then 50mm of a rad just to beat push/pull. I think another Rad+ fans is a better choice less space and less of a hassle to mount.

You just proved that in any fan configuration a shroud helps. Thanks!

Yes push/pull beats single fan shrouded, but the shroud itself gains significantly over the same fan configuration with no shroud.

[jediman]

that is at the same speed. You are talking about undervolting to get the same noise level which will lower performance. Shrouds are obviosuly useful when you want increased performance with the same noise level according to the image you posted. It is obviously under contention because noise doesn't scale linearly with added sources but unless you have more data you should not be presenting your opinion as fact and criticizing those who suggest shrouds.

[Gilgamesh]

that is at the same speed. You are talking about undervolting to get the same noise level which will lower performance. Shrouds are obviosuly useful when you want increased performance with the same noise level according to the image you posted. It is obviously under contention because noise doesn't scale linearly with added sources but unless you have more data you should not be presenting your opinion as fact and criticizing those who suggest shrouds.

Take my opinion or leave it, if you still believe shrouds are the way to go instead of a push/pull then go ahead i don't think you'll be disapointed. I just chimed my opinion and found funny to gut some new fans for shroud when you can have them run in serial with added benefit. Now i'm not going to start splitting hairs because push/pull vs a pull/shroud at the same noise level i don't think there is an easy way to test that so taking the extreme the push/pull wins over push/shroud or pull/shroud although shroud has proven to help i don't know anyone running such a set up (push/shroud/rad/shroud/fan).

[Bobnova]

There's cost to consider too, a shroud can be as cheap as a $2 roll of plastic wrap and $2 of bamboo skewers, hard to get another set of quiet fans for $4 :D

[Otter]

A shroud can also cut down on noise slightly by reducing air turbulence at the fins.

Whether or not a shroud is worth the space depends on what you're trying to achieve. Like most things, there is no single solution that is best for all.