Cohesive Air / Hoot Chute: Read this

[mackstann]

Once I get some money, I am definitely doing this. And about the fan speed control--what I am going to do is go to the music store and buy a black volume knob for a guitar. You might want to consider it, I'm sure it would look alot cooler than an ugly knob meant for the pooper.

 

[McCarthy]

Great article, Hoot. Love the concept, especially since it seems to work.

Question I have is how adversely a couple feet of ducting would affect the performance. What I have in mind is this: Build an enclosure to hold the motor, make one side of the box a filter, duct from box to case, could even come through the back and use an elbow to blow onto CPU. Why? Looks, top of desktop space, and having a filter benfits the computer guts and air breathing residents of the room both, all good things. But not if it hurts performance such that the motor has to be run significantly faster and ends up creating more room noise from it's isolated position than the direct method you used.

First post here, your idea has already spread and got me enthused enough to register over here. Now, where am I going to get the time to read two site forums a day? <g>

Thanks!
McCarthy

 

[Hoot]

I don'y have enough time to even read one thoroughly. ;D There is nothing wrong with using duct to isolate the blower elsewhere, but most people make the mistake of using ducting made from some corrugated material. That is the worst thing you can do. It really knocks down the air velocity. If you can find ducting made from smooth-walled material, you should not see any reduction in effectiveness.
In my case, I use a mid-tower and towers work very well down on the floor. Also, the air is cooler down there. There are a million ways to take a concept and experiment with it. That is the fun thing about tinkering.

Hoot

 

[Froggy1]

Hoot (Jul 10, 2001 08:53 p.m.):
I don'y have enough time to even read one thoroughly. ;D There is nothing wrong with using duct to isolate the blower elsewhere, but most people make the mistake of using ducting made from some corrugated material. That is the worst thing you can do. It really knocks down the air velocity. If you can find ducting made from smooth-walled material, you should not see any reduction in effectiveness.
In my case, I use a mid-tower and towers work very well down on the floor. Also, the air is cooler down there. There are a million ways to take a concept and experiment with it. That is the fun thing about tinkering.

Hoot

If you are looking for good ducting, go to a "race/speed shop" and buy the right size brake duct. That stuff can turn 180 degrees with no velocity loss. Cuz cooling rotors is a VERY big deal for race cars. Not cheap though.

 

[ThatDumbGuy]

any eta on part 3 yet hoot? don't mean to bug you, im just electronically dumb thats all...


thanks for the articles!

 

[PDL]

Question for ya Hoot.
Would there be any negitive effects of using a blower with a round outlet. It would have the same fan characteristics as yours, but with a 2 1/8" round outlet. (grainger # 4C440)
I believe it is rated at 54cpm.(not sure how to read those ratings listed in the catalog)
I have access to one I can try and I already have a round hole about that size in the side of my case cover.
Thought I better get this done before it is pattened...hehe

Thanks Hoot!

 

[PDL]

Update on my "Hoot-Chute" setup!!

I have lowered my temps by 7 degrees(celsius)!!!
WOW

Using a "squirrel-cage" blower running at about half speed on a dimmer control. Noise is about the same as having the 26cfm fan on the heatsink and an 80mm exhaust out the top of the case. This is a 'used' blower to try out and I will get a new one later.
Better than I had hoped.
Also, this is with a Taisol aluminum base HS, can't wait till the SK6 gets here. I don't think I will ever use the Delta fan that I ordered with it. Should be interesting to see how much more efficient the copper base is on the SK6.

I'll post here later on that change.


Thanks again to Hoot........way ta go!!!

 

[befamfivh]

whether an AC light dimmer would work.

I'm not sure about using regular dimmers for AC blowers, but they seem to work fine for AC fans. I've been using a $4 dimmer switch wired to an extention/extra outlets cord to control a few AC fans for a while now. No problems yet...

I'm pretty sure that dimmer I have (and others in the same price range) wouldn't be able to handle the 115v .74a draw of that blower, though.

 

[Glint]

I have nothing but good to say about your cooling tactics. This being my first post I better get wordy d**n quick. Coming from a mechanics backround, using what amounts to a scaled-down supercharger for cooling is a marvel of ingenuity and thorough thinking. Ideas like this are the things that are drawing me to computers, that and my ever feverent roommate.

 

[NedClocker]

Does any body know what the part numbers are for these fans now? I can't find these part numbers in granger.com.

edit - Never mind. I called the Granger store and the parts numbers are still good. I'm going to pick up one of the DC fans today.

 

[Arkaine23]

Cooling

Gotta love that airflow!

Heya, Glint! Nice to see you on the boards. Welcome to these wonderful forums!! I can't wait to see what you come up with when you finally start building your own computer. I've been needing someone to make a custom uber-cool waterblock, not to mention someone to compete with for the fastest computer on the block.

<--Glint's roommate

 

[MEAT BAG]

Those fans are loud though

 

[NedClocker]

Those fans are loud though

They are not that bad when you are running them on 5v. And they do a terrific job of cooling.

 

[Randyman...]

You can use a standard "600Watt 5Amp 120VAC" Fan Speed Control for these Shaded Pole/Squirrel Cage blowers up to 4.5 - 5 Amps. You can pick them up at the local home improvement/hardware store for about $8-$10. Some will even have a "Low Speed Adjust" to keep the lower end of the adjustment from stalling the fan (or to use as a minimum speed for heat security).

I use a "Dual Blower/Single Motor" unit to cool my room (Exhaust), and it pulls 3.5Amps at full tilt. The Fan Speed Control works just peachy. I installed it in a exterior "Surface Mount Single Gang Box", and wired it accordingly. It will get a bit warm, as it is converting the leftover power to heat!

PS - Check eBay, as I just bought my 275CFM blower as "New Old Stock" for $10 plus $11 shipping (It is like a $50 blower!). Not bad...

Later

 

[clocker2]

I did not try a light dimmer, which cost considerably less than the fan speed control. The controller is rated for 3A of load and has EMI surpression built into it (unlike some cheap light dimmers).


Hoot

I have used the "cheap" light dimmer to regulate my Muffin XLs.
It works, but as you might suspect , the lack of suppression leads to fan hum.
At the time I bought it I was uncertain if the concept would work, so I was unwilling to spend the extra bucks for the more expensive fan control.
If I was still using those fans I'd definitely recommend the fan speed controller.

 

[Samene]

So... years later.... what was the eventual conclusion on the Dayton blowers? I have one but it runs hot whether it is speed controlled or not. Did everybody who tried this end up with the blowers burning out or are they still running for you?

 

[DaPoets]

cough cough hack weeez... *fans dust from old thread w/ some interest....

 

[Automata]

Thanks for the bump, I may have to try this in the future

 

[Tekko]

Holy thread necro batman!!