Tracking Air Flow

I just had this inspiration from watching a rerun of Home Improvement. Is it possible to "track" the air flow in the case by having smoke flow into the case or some kind of colored smoke/air where you can see it go through the case? Has this been done before? And if possible, how would one accomplish this?

If you want a simple way to do something like this, simply light a candle and put it in front of one of your intakes, then watch the smoke move through the case. You could also use a fog machine or something similar.

get some dry ice and warm water and do that - you'll see that pretty well

To track airflow through a case is easy with smoke or dense fog. To do it perfectly (cleanly) is much harder. Smoke will likely be safe for the electronics in the short-term, but it will stick to things, reducing thermal effectiveness and allowing dust to stick everywhere (look into threads showing the innards of a computer in a smoking household). Fog will not stick to things, but depending on a lot of environmental variables, could condense on the electronics and cause a short, which can destroy what you have.

If you have tons of time, and are willing to make the effort, I think testing with smoke (there might even be guaranteed safe smoke out there for just this thing) will work fine, but you will need to painstakingly clean every component. That means taking everything out of the case, including heatsinks, and bathing them in isopropyl alcohol. Not entirely necessary, but recommended.

Another thing you could do is remove all components from the case, and power the fans in a different way. You will need to simulate the AGP and PCI cards, possibly with cardboard inserts, and the heatsink will need to be somehow mounted, and the fans will need to be powered without a motherboard; but if you can do all that, you might be able to safely observe your airflow.

Know also that you will need a side window or a piece of clear acrylic to replace the side panel, because observing with the side off will not be at all accurate.

Disclaimer: I've never attempted this.

This is what most professionals use: http://www.labsafety.com/store/product.asp?dept_id=7774&pf_id=7177&cat_prefix=2WA

Ok, I might do this after i get out of school for break. I might attempt the "simulation" with cardboard. And yes, I do have a clear sidepanel. hehe why would I even think of doing this without a see through side panel.

Thanks for all your opions.

If you find any cheaper "clean" smoke generators please feel free to post

dry ice - local grocery store should sell it by the pound

I like the dry ice idea also. Its not water vapor so it shouldn't condense on anything (besides for condensation to occur there has to be warm air flowing onto a cold surface so I don't really see this happening). Also that smoke pack is $43 for a pack of twelve. I personally wouldn't be THAT interested. I mean "intake=outake" doesn't have to be that complicated. Of course if its only a couple bucks it might be interesting to find out.

Yeah, Ive seen this test before done with an incant...I don't know how its spelled its the Indian smell stick that you light up.
It gives out plenty of smoke and they are dirt cheap and smell good.

Skeen said:

I like the dry ice idea also. Its not water vapor so it shouldn't condense on anything (besides for condensation to occur there has to be warm air flowing onto a cold surface so I don't really see this happening).

Click to expand...

The "steam" you see from cold ice is indeed water vapor. When dry ice sits in air, it cools the air around it so that the air can't hold as much evaporated water, and the extra water in the air becomes fog. When you put dry ice in warm water, it produces a ton of fog that you can see, though I'm not sure of the exact process behind it.

What you say about condensation is true, and if the temperatures are right, using dry ice presents no risk; but the temperatures of all components are out of anyone's control. What happens when you've been testing for a while, and the cold air from the dry ice has cooled down the metal of the case surrounding the hard drives (or worse, the circuit boards of the hard drives themselves), and then you remove the dry ice? The air will suddenly be warmer than a surface, and condensation will form on that surface briefly, possibly dripping into sensitive areas.

you can try using very light threds of string and place them around the inside of ur case, observing which way each thred flaps in the airflow, or doesn't flap.

Restorer said:

The "steam" you see from cold ice is indeed water vapor. When dry ice sits in air, it cools the air around it so that the air can't hold as much evaporated water, and the extra water in the air becomes fog. When you put dry ice in warm water, it produces a ton of fog that you can see, though I'm not sure of the exact process behind it.

Click to expand...

It is true that the dry ice will cool the air around it, and precipitate water. However, the precipitated water forms on the dry ice. Dry ice is solid CO2. CO2 is special in that it has a very limited liquid stage. Dry ice, when placed in water or air, will sublime - change states from solid directly to gas. Thus, the 'smoke' from dry ice is in fact CO2. The reason that the process happens so much quicker in water is because of waters much higher thermal conductivity, thus, it is able to transfer heat energy to the dry ice much quicker.

The gaseous CO2 that will be flowing through the case will be a lower temperature than your components, so no condensation will form.

Its true that dry ice in water forms CO2 in gaseous state. ( I just did an experiment 2 weeks ago 'levitationg bubbles' haha crap with density ) anyways, since this is true, it shouldn't pose any risk to my system?

I have 3 92mm Tornado's in my case.. id need some thick smoke just to see it happen

Dry ice in water does produce gaseous CO2, and large amounts of it. But gaseous CO2 is colorless and transparent, and the fog you see is condensing water vapor.

Someone with access to dry ice should do an experiment. Place a bubbling cup (or even better, large roasting pan) of water and dry ice next to a room-temperature mirror. If you can see condensation on the mirror, electronics might be at risk too.

I was thinking of a toy I seen online and thought "fog juice". This seems to be cheap way to test airflow. Though I am not sure of how it would affect the electonic components of a heated pc, i.e.- adhering to the components.
http://www.zerotoys.com/newsite/products.htm
It is neat toy anyway.

Enablingwolf said:

http://www.zerotoys.com/newsite/products.htm
It is neat toy anyway.

Click to expand...

Thanks alot Enablingwolf. I checked out your link and ended up buying one of those Airzookas! Damn my poor impulse control!

Sneaky said:

dry ice - local grocery store should sell it by the pound

Click to expand...

I believe you are talking about typical Ice Cubes. Grocery stores don't sell dry ice, especially by the pound

Grocery stores around here used to, though now that you mention it, I don't recall seeing it lately.

some stores sell it, but you need a special container cuz no touchy or else youll burn your hand