P180: Fan on Lower chamber

dxx · Post by **dxx** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 11:00 am

My system running good and quiet with the stock fans (as quiet as they allow). Cooling's fine on upper chamber, but the 4 hard drive's on the lower chambers are running hot, even with the lower chamber fan running. I have the Seasonic S12 380W in there as well.

Are there any other fan I could put there instead that might help keep the lower chamber cooler? Has anybody tried putting a fan in front of HDD's in the lower chamber?

By the way, how do I remove the fan in the lower chamber?
This link shows how, but I can't figure out what he's referring to as a lever, cause I don't see anything resembling one. I just want to see whether than fan disrupts the airflow rather than aiding it by being in the way.

Hope to hear any suggestions you might have.
Thanks.
Dxx

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 12:20 pm

The "lever" is the large plastic piece that covers the side of the fan. In the article he says to push on it (I think), but I took mine out by pulling the lever towards the rear of the case and sliding the fan towards me. The four tabs all latch towards the right side of the case so you have to pull towards you to free them.

What HD temperatures are you getting? (Close to 50-ish I assume?) I don't have much advice in this area (one HD), but if you're already running the lower fan you might have to move one or two drives up to the top chamber. The way the lower chamber is set up should ensure that air is pulled through the HD cage, so I don't think another fan in front would help, but maybe someone else with a loaded cage will know better.

Shadowknight · Post by **Shadowknight** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 12:31 pm

dxx wrote: By the way, how do I remove the fan in the lower chamber?
This link shows how, but I can't figure out what he's referring to as a lever, cause I don't see anything resembling one.

It's the big plastic piece of the fan housing you see when the case is open. Push on it gently, then pull it to the left and straight out.

AntecRep · Post by **AntecRep** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:54 am

Turn the fan speed up on the lower chamber fan?

I say this since you said you have the stock fans running as quiet as they'll allow. Should be a switch on the fan, bump it up a notch and see how the HD temps are and how the noise is.

Raygers · Post by **Raygers** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:11 pm

dxx wrote:My system running good and quiet with the stock fans (as quiet as they allow). Cooling's fine on upper chamber, but the 4 hard drive's on the lower chambers are running hot, even with the lower chamber fan running. I have the Seasonic S12 380W in there as well.

Hope to hear any suggestions you might have.
Thanks.
Dxx

I'm not familiar with the Seasonic but you don't by any chance have the fan plugged into a "fan only" molex do you ? I tried that with my Antec PSU and the fan speed wasn't enough to cool the drives. But I did find that the stock fan on low, provided excelent cooling both for the drives and the PSU.
The PSU by itself was not enough though, my drive temps were higher that I wanted.

Ray

dxx · Post by **dxx** » Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:37 am

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I'll try them out.

Dxx

psionic · Post by **psionic** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 4:43 am

I have (3) 7200rpm SATA drives in the lower chamber of my P180 and I noticed the middle drive getting a little hot (~50C). The other two drives on the outer sides of the HDD chamber are fine, hovering in the low 40's.

I was using a Nexus D12 @ 12V as well as the Enermax Liberty 620W to pull air across the drives. These temps are with the front door closed.

I tried the stock Antec @ Low, and got the same temps. The stock Antec @ Medium was a couple degrees cooler, but the noise was too loud for my tastes. I ended up cutting out the wire grill that the front air filter clamps to (not all of it, you have to leave some so that the filter can attach) and switching the Antec 120mm back to Low. I then taped up the rear vents around the PSU with aluminum HVAC tape, forcing the PSU to pull all of its cool air from the front of the case. Overall, I am now seeing 42C on the middle drive. It may be worth trying for you.

Another thing to help is to configure Windows to power down your drives after a short amount of inactivity, say 15 mins. That way, they spin down, cool off and product less noise when they are not being used--just a thought.

andrewscarella · Post by **andrewscarella** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:22 am

the bottom chamber of the p-180 is set up like a wind tunnel. I once read on this forum about a guy who place a aerocool turbine 1000 fan in place of the stock tricool. This fan has 16 blades, more than most 120mm fans. But it spins at the same speed and is only 19 dBA. The fan will pull more air through this wind tunnel because it has more blades.

Andrew

psionic · Post by **psionic** » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:32 am

I'm very familiar with the Aercool Turbine 1000--I actually own 3 of them. I use one as the top 120mm blowhole fan in my P180B. They spin at ~950 rpm @ 12V and are very quiet. If you undervolt it to 5V, it is SILENT. And yes, I actually mean silent. I held my ear up to it (< 1cm) and I couldn't even hear the slightest hint of even air movement. Then again, at 5V this fan moves very little air.

However, even with the 16 blades, it does not move any more air than a Nexus D12 at 12V. They are very comparable fans as far as noise/performance, but the Aerocool's offer more "bling" if you're into that, 3 blue LEDs, chrome paint and a detachable chrome noise.

I own probably 20+ 120mm fans in the quest of finding something quiet, and the 3 quietest fans @ 12V, in my experience, are the Nexus D12, the Aerocool Turbine 1000 and the Scythe S-FLEX D (800rpm).

P180: Fan on Lower chamber

P180: Fan on Lower chamber

Re: P180: Fan on Lower chamber

Re: P180: Fan on Lower chamber