E.A.R Grommets on a Tri-Cool?

Coolin · Post by **Coolin** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 1:15 pm

I was building my system yesterday, and spent over an hour trying to fit on the Tri-Cool on the back of my 3000B using E.A.R grommets. I broke one (and they're pretty strong rubber too), and eventually gave up and simply went with hard mounting it.

I was wondering if anyone else had experience with using E.A.R grommets (the blue ones) on a Tri-Cool? How did you do it?

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 1:26 pm

C,

You could try some kind of lubricant like dish washing detergent and water. Or maybe you need a smaller size. - FG

Never tried it on a tri cool, but a hole is a hole unless the corners are filled in.

Coolin · Post by **Coolin** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 1:37 pm

I'm kind of hesitant about using a lube because that means I'd have to take my motherboard and everything out again. =/

A hole is a hole, but some are smaller.

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:13 pm

I used the blue E.A.R. mounts on my 3000B. I used pliers to pull the mount into the case (no fan yet), as this stretches the mount, makes it thinner, and it popped right through. I then used needle-nose pliers to pull the mount through the Tri-Cool hole as well. It took all of five minutes tops and I never felt like I was going to break anything. It was a bit awkward to reach the Tri-Cool holes on the motherboard side.

Maybe there are different-sized E.A.R. fan mounts floating around? I got mine from Silicon Acoustics.

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 3:03 pm

ilh wrote:Maybe there are different-sized E.A.R. fan mounts floating around? I got mine from Silicon Acoustics.

McMaster-Carr has them in 3 different sizes. I've used the K6 for 80mm and the K8 for 120mm. Information originally provided by Ralf Hutter many moons ago.

I find it helpful to enlarge the hole slightly with a file or a drill bit that's slightly larger than the existing hole, and in some cases to thin the mounting frame on the fan (esp. the 120mm fans).

I guess Antec has the right idea with their isolators (with the Sonata) where you first mount it on the fan, then pull it through to the outside of the case, before you snip it short to make it tidy. Also means you can't re-use them, so you'd need to buy more

JimK · Post by **JimK** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 6:37 pm

ilh wrote:I used the blue E.A.R. mounts on my 3000B. I used pliers to pull the mount into the case (no fan yet), as this stretches the mount, makes it thinner, and it popped right through. I then used needle-nose pliers to pull the mount through the Tri-Cool hole as well.

I did it just like Lee did, case first then the fan onto the four blue mounts. But I did it BEFORE installing the PSU or motherboard. That way there is a big hole to reach through to get that one corner where the motherboard and PSU will meet. Used hemostats rather than needle-nose pliers.

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:16 pm

http://www.earshockandvibe.com/cmsPage/ ... Mounts.asp

You should be able to take some measurements and if yours are too big, get a size smaller.

Spod · Post by **Spod** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 5:14 am

Someone here (I forget who) suggested immersing the fan mounts in hot water to soften them before installing - this makes them easier to pull through small holes.
Don't forget to dry them off before installingnthem if you're doing this with the motherboard in place!

OmegaZero · Post by **OmegaZero** » Fri Apr 01, 2005 6:21 am

I have an Antec 3000B and was able to mount the Tri-Cool on the EAR ISODAMP mounts with no trouble. I think the problem may be, as lenny said, that you have the wrong size. For 120mm fans you will need EAR's F-345-1 mounts (McMaster-Carr #5801K8); the F-344-1 (#5801K6) is made for 80mm and 92mm fans with thinner flanges.

E.A.R Grommets on a Tri-Cool?

E.A.R Grommets on a Tri-Cool?

right size

It comes in these sizes