How much "unbalance" is normal these days?

Control: management of fans, temp/rpm monitoring via soft/hardware

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

Post Reply
BrianF
Posts: 151
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2005 2:59 am

How much "unbalance" is normal these days?

Post by BrianF » Fri Jun 08, 2018 9:16 am

Just opened a couple Fractal X2 140mm and holding them I can feel a slight vibration consistent with an unbalanced rotating assembly (and ironically thanks to its white blade color you can see a slight unevenness in its rotation). Is this normal these days for a fan of this level or should I expect "perfect"? Would we think a Noctua (redux or standard) to be any better in this respect?

Abula
Posts: 3662
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:22 pm
Location: Guatemala

Re: How much "unbalance" is normal these days?

Post by Abula » Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:02 am

The thing is that fans are not balanced post production like car tires, you might get some that are perfect or close and others that vibrate, in my experience Noctua is solid but not perfect, they even introduce rubber inserts in their none redux line to minimize what vibration might transfer, so they also vibrate, weather its better or not will depend on how are yours. Personally i would try first rubber screws, it should help minimize the transfer of vibrations, and then see form there if you move to better fans.

NeilBlanchard
Moderator
Posts: 7681
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2002 7:11 pm
Location: Maynard, MA, Eaarth
Contact:

Re: How much "unbalance" is normal these days?

Post by NeilBlanchard » Mon Jun 11, 2018 4:40 am

Like all manufacturing processes, there will always be tolerances and inconsistencies. It is the luck of the draw.

EsaT
Posts: 473
Joined: Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:53 am
Location: 61.6° N, 29.5° E - Finland

Re: How much "unbalance" is normal these days?

Post by EsaT » Wed Sep 05, 2018 4:43 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Like all manufacturing processes, there will always be tolerances and inconsistencies. It is the luck of the draw.
Well, Noctua sure seems to have evenly crap quality.
Both NF-P12 bundled with NH-U12P and NF-F12 bundled with NH-U12S are the absolutely worst fans I've ever touched in their vibration level.
Those must have miniaturized vibrating roller inside them!

At the same time I have experience from about dozen 1200rpm Scythe SlipStreams, which are lot cheaper than any Noctuas and only couple of them had any detectable vibrations.
Couple Glide Streams have been basically vibration free.
And two Gentle Typhoons with their ball bearing also rotate very smoothly.

Post Reply