Bluefront's Monster 120mm Slot-fan DIY. Ver 2.

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Bluefront
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Bluefront's Monster 120mm Slot-fan DIY. Ver 2.

Post by Bluefront » Sun Aug 13, 2006 8:16 am

I did the hard work for you guys....I built it. Now it's up to you to think of uses for it. I can think of a bunch. I'm going to try a few of these in a new project.

It's made from a Scythe 120mm axial fan...from a Ninja package. I cut the frame as shown. Use a hack saw or a dermel...no snippers. The frame distorts slightly when you do this....the plastic bottom and wood sides are screwed to the remaining three screw holes on the fan frame, which squares up the remaining frame section.

This is my first attempt at this thing....so there are no mounting points yet, but that will be easy, since the sides are wood pieces 1/4" thick.

As you see it, the overall dimensions are 29x170x130mm. You could make this shorter by about 30mm or so. The part of the frame that sticks into the slot opening is necessary to maximixe airflow. This follows smaller slot-fan design.

Far as I can tell, this setup is about as quiet as the original fan...can't tell any difference. It has a slightly lower cfm....not much though (it seems). I think this setup could make many new case designs possible....working on one right now. :D

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Last edited by Bluefront on Sat Feb 24, 2007 8:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

McBanjo
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Post by McBanjo » Sun Aug 13, 2006 9:31 am

ha ha are you bored? :-P

Just kidding, it probibly have some uses. Possibly Noctus new fan would be bether since it has straighter blades.
Just a thought, wouldn't it be bether if you covered those 25% of the fan that is blowing outwards so you don't "loose" that air into the case?

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Post by Bluefront » Sun Aug 13, 2006 10:27 am

I'll get bored when I run out of ideas..... I'm not sure what you mean here. There is no exhaust going out the intake hole on top...none. I've looked at plenty of slot fans. Most have paddle-wheel blades. The types that use a std axial fan, look similar to this Scythe.....no straight blades.

Here's an idea for a PSU with a 120mm fan....take out the std fan, make a housing like this for it. Mount the device over the now vacant fan opening, pointing toward the rear. Add a small exhaust deflector between the slot opening, and the normal PSU opening.....which now is an intake.

If you've got enough room in your case, you can have a PSU running on 100% ambient air.....without the hassle of running a duct inside the case, using up an optical drive opening....not to mention all the sounds are at the rear.

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Post by Bluefront » Sun Aug 13, 2006 11:50 am

I'll run another idea past you guys.....put some taller feet on your computer. Cut a 120mm hole under the HD cage, mount this device under the case hole blowing toward the rear. With a little ductwork, your hard drives will pull in ambient air from the front bezel area, and exhaust the heated air outside the case toward the rear. This requires the case to have only 30mm or so clearance to the floor.

This thing is a little too big for a video card cooler. A std slot fan might be a better idea there.....

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Post by McBanjo » Sun Aug 13, 2006 12:12 pm

Bluefront wrote:I'll get bored when I run out of ideas..... I'm not sure what you mean here. There is no exhaust going out the intake hole on top...none. I've looked at plenty of slot fans. Most have paddle-wheel blades. The types that use a std axial fan, look similar to this Scythe.....no straight blades.
Oops, my bad. I was thinking opposite fan-direction, the backside up. I'm a bit tired.
Bluefront wrote:I'll run another idea past you guys.....put some taller feet on your computer. Cut a 120mm hole under the HD cage, mount this device under the case hole blowing toward the rear. With a little ductwork, your hard drives will pull in ambient air from the front bezel area, and exhaust the heated air outside the case toward the rear. This requires the case to have only 30mm or so clearance to the floor.
It might bee unneeded to cut. Just a narrow duct from the fan (placed under the HDDs) to the lowerst slot should do the same effect. Cutting would only be needed if you need all your slots. And it would probibly be more quiet as well.
But wouldn't a normal fan placed behind the HDDs and blowing at the graphiccard be more usefull?
Still, it would work. No question about it.

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Post by mb2 » Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:29 pm

it took me a bit of time to figure out where the airflow was going and how it worked.. :P

So where is the PSU then?! :lol:
its definately the best idea for it IMO. get on it ;)

as for the hdd idea.. i was thinking the same as McBanjo..

any chance of trying this with one of your 80x15 fans? and how does it do the other way round? (hole=exhaust, slot= intake?)

and how does the cfm/noise vary with speed?..

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Post by Bluefront » Sun Aug 13, 2006 1:46 pm

Right now these are just ideas/suggestions....the only thing made is the fan as pictured. I already made one of these using a 80x15 fan.....it's installed and working in a sff computer of a relative.

I have a second normal Scythe fan...Side-by-side they sound the same at any voltage. At 5V this thing practically silent. This fan will only do 1200rpms, so it's pretty quiet at any voltage anyway.

I don't think it will work well the other way(with the slot opening as an intake). Haven't tried it though....

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Post by Poodle » Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:38 pm

Good stuff bluefront.


I've been drawing on a similar blower to use as a indirect exhaust i the top of the p180 and also to the venting holes next to the pci cards.


I've tried using the fan the other way around with a 80mm nexus. Didn't get much CFM out of it if any. May work with a noisy high speed fan though.

DrCR
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Re: Bluefront's Monster 120mm Slot-fan DIY.

Post by DrCR » Wed Aug 16, 2006 1:26 pm

Bluefront wrote: I think this setup could make many new case designs possible....working on one right now. :D
Exactly. SFF particularly could benefit, as well as novel airflow patterns in any ff.

DrCR

__________

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Post by nd4spdbh » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:13 pm

so the hole is an intake and the slot is an exaust... pretty sweet idea i may have to try this.

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Post by nici » Sun Nov 12, 2006 11:41 am

I made one.. No idea what im going to use it for, but i made one anyway. It's 3mm acrylic, and took about an hour or so to make. I used acrylic becaus i did'nt have nay suitable wood, and besides acrylic is very easy to snap so yu get straight lines and nice edges :) The fan is a coolermaster UV-led i had lying around. 1200RPM if i remember correctly.

I was under the influence of a few beers when i made this, so the finsih is not perfect :mrgreen:

Overall it seems to work fine, and it's easy to make :)

Image

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DG
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Post by DG » Sun Nov 26, 2006 4:01 am

Does it really work? All the slot fans i've seen (for ex this lian li blower fan: http://www.lian-li.com/Product/Accessor ... er_fan.htm)
, have diferent types of blades than a regular fan...

Anyway, if it works, i could use it in my next case, as a side exhaust fan, like this:
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Post by klankymen » Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:20 am

DG wrote:Anyway, if it works, i could use it in my next case, as a side exhaust fan, like this:
thanks for the idea, you and Bluefront, that's exactly what I'm gonna do, time to get a couple extra loons... :D

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Post by Bluefront » Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:24 am

Be assured....it works. How well depends on many difficult-to-explain factors. But the basic concept is fairly simple. I imagine some axial fan blade designs would perform better than others. It's easy to try out..... :)

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Post by McBanjo » Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:55 am

Wouldn't Noctuas fans be perfect for this?

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Post by nici » Sun Nov 26, 2006 8:25 am

Possibly. Hard to say without trying, but they do look like they would work well. I might try it with my noctua if i ever get the blower installed in my case.

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Post by Bluefront » Sun Nov 26, 2006 9:02 am

In case you guys haven't seen this, here's what this Scythe Fan turned into. It's the lower intake/HD cooler in my newest project. Been running for two months now without problems....and I don't expect any. :lol:

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Post by [F]bernZ » Fri Feb 16, 2007 12:24 am

Reviving a dead thread? Perhaps.. but I've got legit stuff to ask, and maybe Bluefront can help me out.

So, I'm thinking of using this layout in my SFF case which is extremely cramped. I managed to fit a suspended hard drive in there, but its now heating up quite a bit. I have a 120 mm fan pointed at it..but sadly, it doesn't really get much fresh air.

In your designs, I see that you use the slot part of the fan to blow out and the hub area to suck in. Do you think it would work if I flipped the fan around and copied the design, but instead, made the fan suck in from the slot area and blow out the hub area?

Would I just follow the same steps, except mount the fan backwards from your design? I want to suck in from the slot, opposite from you.

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Post by Bluefront » Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:30 am

Ok...this fan mod is still working just fine after almost five months, the sleeve bearing Scythe mounted horizontal. If I do this thing again, I'll use an S-Flex with better bearings for a longer life. And.....the filter in the setup hasn't needed cleaning yet. This fan usually is running about 700/800 rpms.

I have thought about sucking in through the slot opening, rather than blowing out. Probably would work about the same.....but. I think you would need to cut the fan frame differently. The cut-out should be on the trailing edge of the blades, according to the blade rotation. Look at the second picture in this post.....Imagine the cut being on the other side of the frame.

I haven't tried this yet, but it should work. It's a cheap experiment. Take an old fan and try it. Be aware that these plastic fan frames will collapse somewhat when cut like this. An aluminum frame fan would be an easier mod.

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Post by [F]bernZ » Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:40 am

So rather than the top of the side facing you (like you did), you'd cut the bottom of the side facing you?

Edit: And I'd cover up the frontside of the hub of the fan and have the hole open at the backside of the hub of the fan, right?

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Post by Bluefront » Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:33 pm

Errr...the fan will be blowing out the other side past the motor support struts, just like a normal fan. And will be sucking in through the slot. But the cut-out of the frame will be on the other edge. I suppose I could mark off a fan where the cut should be, and post a picture, if you're still confused. :lol:

As I said, I think this will work, but you never know till you try these things.

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Post by [F]bernZ » Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:45 pm

Well, I've sort of thought this over in my head and I finally know what you mean.

I'll be going out to get some thick poster board to hack up for this project. If everything works out I should have a new rear duct and a fan by the end of all this, =)

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Post by [F]bernZ » Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:37 am

So, I got around to cutting up a fan..

It doesn't work the reverse way, unfortunately. Its much more difficult to suck through the cut opening.

I believe this is caused by the fact that the size of the intake is MUCH more reduced compared to Bluefront's design. His, utilizes the entire blade area to act as an intake and blows out that air through the side. This generates in much higher air velocity. I'd say his design works very well as an intake which needs to limit where it blows.

However, mine is trying to suck air through the side of the fan [that wasn't what was intended in the fan's design to begin with] and blow it out like a regular fan with the entire frame being present.

I'm not feeling any breeze at all when I try to make the fan blow in the orientation I want it to - but doing it the way Bluefront did, makes all the air get blown out through the side.

I guess my own project was a failure, but it was a good learning experience to figure out what exactly happened. Thanks Bluefront for the inspiration!

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Post by Bluefront » Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:17 am

Arrg....Too bad. But I'll have to try this variation myself, I suspected the output volume would be reduced somewhat, but not eliminated. Humm. Post a picture of your setup, if you can. I need to think this one further......

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Post by nici » Wed Feb 21, 2007 6:42 am

I think the problem is that the intake of the fan is so close to the "wall" that it cant suck any air, i think it should work with an uncut fan and maybe 2cm more space under it. Maybe tilt it a bit.

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Post by [F]bernZ » Wed Feb 21, 2007 1:08 pm

I'm at school right now but I'll snap a picture when I get home, hopefully.

All I really need to do to test this setup is to place the fan so that the support struts face upward. When this happens, no air can be felt being blown away from the fan. However, if the support struts face down [ie, the setup that Bluefront has] then I get plenty of air being blown towards me where I cut the hole.




It seems to me that, the reduced airflow is caused by the fact that the fan blades simply weren't designed to suck air in from their side and also that the intake area is so reduced.

Edit: Nici, the whole point of this is to convert an axial fan into a blower fan, which Bluefront has done. I'm trying to make an axial fan into a blower fan too, except my version intakes through the blower portion and blows it out like a regular axial fan, whereas Bluefront's is sucking air in like a regular axial fan and exhausting it like a blower fan.

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Post by BrianE » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:13 pm

Has anyone got a good look at how the Antec VCool works? I've seen a few pictures of it in reviews (some pretty close) but I can't figure out how it intakes air fhrough the back. One picture I saw made it look almost like there is a shroud sealing off the fan from the rear intake, but this can't be right... It also seems to have traditional fan blades BTW.

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Post by [F]bernZ » Wed Feb 21, 2007 5:48 pm

http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/6453/dsc00048pq6.jpg
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/4260/dsc00049xs3.jpg
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4418/dsc00050lo8.jpg
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5245/dsc00051va3.jpg

Pics of my setup... Doesn't blow any air towards me in that orientation. But, if I flip it upside down, it behaves like Bluefront's setup - it'll blow air out the side.

I actually want to know how the VCool works too..

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Post by nici » Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:32 pm

[F]bernZ wrote: Edit: Nici, the whole point of this is to convert an axial fan into a blower fan, which Bluefront has done. I'm trying to make an axial fan into a blower fan too, except my version intakes through the blower portion and blows it out like a regular axial fan, whereas Bluefront's is sucking air in like a regular axial fan and exhausting it like a blower fan.
I understood that. When you have it like Bluefront and i did it, the fan tries to blow straight down but it can't so the air gets blown out the side where the bit is cut off. Now when you reverse the fan, the restriction is on the intake side, and a fan cant suck air from the side so it's starved of air. If you make the blower thicker, there will be more space on the intake side and therefore less restriction=more airflow. I don't think it will ever work as good as the original version though, even if you do make it thicker.

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Post by [F]bernZ » Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:58 pm

That's pretty much the problem. Fans just aren't designed to suck air from their side. Oh well.

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