Bad airflow with this fan grill?

[Snee]

Just mounted this today, replacing a lounder 80mm fan and a caseblower with two quieter fans (one 80mm on the inside, blowing into the radiator and this 120mm pulling out behind it).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/snorlax/smallergrill.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v38/snorlax/grill.jpg)
click it for a bigger pic

I need a grill, 'cos there are sometimes dogs visiting. I don't want any little noses getting stuck in the fan or anything.

The question is how much I'd gain by getting a standard grill ( http://www.pccasegear.com/images/chromegrill.gif ), as I think this one stops a bit of air from passing through.

Is it worth looking for a new one (I know they are dirt-cheap, but I have to order them as I can't find any place that carries them locally for some unfathomable reason, and the freight costs more than the grills themselves), are we talking a hugely improved airflow with a standard fan grill here?

[TheDave]

i couldnt imagine it having much effect. could you analyse the fan speed and temperature? :unsure:

[Snee]

Well, I guess I can run it without any grill at all for a bit, and I'll prolly have to switch it back and forth before I'm sure. (I don't have the other to test with so this would mean that I expected the other grill to not be an obstruction at all, which I'm not sure of.)

Was wondering if anyone had tried one of these before or so. Might save me a couple of reboots. And it's getting colder pretty rapidly just now, so I don't think I'd get the best results. Fooking hot today, 'til the sun went down.

I know some other spiral shaped ones do screw up airflow, but I don't know about these.



Another thing is that the 120mm fan isn't showing up in mbm (I know it's working). Dunno' what's the matter there, works fine in bios.

[Virtualbody1234]

I use those: http://www.pccasegear.com/images/chromegrill.gif

I think it would be worth the effort to get it.

Test it without a grill to see how the airflow changes and if it's quieter.

[Snee]

'k will do tomorrow.

The freight-cost will be annoying if I order them, but if it's better, it's worth it.


EDit: hmm, I wonder how tricky it'd be to drill holes all the way round the one I have to improve airflow and decrease surface that way.

'cos if I got it right it'd look pretty cool.

Prolly way too tricky. :unsure:

[Virtualbody1234]

If you start drilling you need to remember to keep it structurally strong.

[Snee]

Will do, if I try. Thanks for the reminder.

Now I can't even find regular 120mm fan grills online, in this country. Pitiful :dry:

Well, now I could, but they had no information about shipping or anything.
Gonna' look in the city, might be somewhere I missed.

[Virtualbody1234]

Will do, if I try. Thanks for the reminder.

Now I can't even find regular 120mm fan grills online, in this country. Pitiful :dry:
That sounds strange to me. There is a local store that has those not far from me. A large electronics wholesale outlet. I even have some in my own stock.

[Snee]

Your country is slightly bigger than mine :unsure:

Small market I guess.

Not the first time I've had problems getting hold of parts that you'd think would be available everywhere.


Great, found another site that had it, overcharge much? nah, only three times what it's worth. :dry:

Meh, the city it is.
tried every store in the City proper, but maybe there's something in the periphery.

[fkdup74]

lookin at it from a kind of extreme perspective....
i'd say the the normal grilles would be better,
as your current grille has flat surfaces,
possibly deflecting air back towards the fan
if anything, creating turbulance, hence noise
true, the surfaces arent huge in area,
but it could make a difference
the normal grilles' surfaces are rounded, more aerodynamical if you will

i just cant believe its that much of a pain to obtain them :blink:

-edit-
as for the drilling idea...
dont know if it would be worth it
yeah, you may relieve some of the "deflection",
but as VB pointed out, you will weaken the integrity somewhat,
and possibly create a whistling effect or something ,
or maybe a rattling from the weakened grille

[tesco]

i'd buy the ones vb1234 posted.

I fgound that the ones that came with my case made noise (air rushing past it or something) so i switched some of them to those that vb posted, and others just have no grill on them. :)

[Snee]

i just cant believe its that much of a pain to obtain them :blink:
Trust me, it has been so so far :dry:

I've been waiting over a month just to get hold of the blue fan-adapter on the pic too. It finally got here yesterday. I've had the fans for two months I think.

[lynx]

If you ran your dogs without covers on the ends of their noses would it improve their sense of smell? :unsure:

[Snee]

:blink:



Anyway, looking for a proper grill now, I've decided there's no reason to not go for one.

I mean, the current one looks pretty, all cromed and fancy as it is, but I don't care about that. Better if I can drop temps a degree or two.

It's not markedly noisier tho'.