Fan Vibration Solutions?

[Silverel]

Personally I use rubber grommets, and haven't really tried much else.

I bring this up because I was looking online for more of them little rubbery chunks of gold and came across some interesting alternative solutions...

1.
Thermaltake A2383 80mm Fan Noise Dampener - Retail

This just looks like a chunk of rubber that goes in-between your case and fan. Not too expensive with enough for two fans, at only 2$... +6$ shipping.

2. Vantec
VANTEC VDK-80 80MM Fan Vibration Dampener Kits - Retail

From the description given by a reviewer, this is a different take on the vibration dampener, instead of absorbing, it isolates the fan from the case. I would interpret this as giving it more wiggle room before it touches the case. There's a bunch of different sizes and shapes, but this cheap one comes out to 3$ for a single fan... +6$ shipping

3. Coolink Anti-Vibration Bolts

Wandering off the beaten path, moddersmart has these rubber pull-through bolts. I've used these on CPU fans, and they seem sturdy enough, though I worry about the long term effects that rubber goes through exposed to heat. Dried and cracked rubber bolts tend to shrink. Not a bad price for 4 fans worth, these set ya back around 4.25$... 2-6$ shipping

4. Rubber grommets 1/8 groove 4 pack

Lastly, my personal favorite, and what I'll be ordering in a couple moments. Standard rubber grommets. They work, they bounce, they're cheap as dirt. How cheap you ask? I've put 10 4-packs in my cart, with shipping, and it came out to 8.10$ with 3-day shipping included. 10 fans worth of anti-vibration, granted it doesn't include screws, but that's the kind of deal I like to work with. After fitting my current case exclusively with em, it's noticeably quieter, which I'd imagine leads to more efficient and longer living fans.


This is just one of those things that most people might not consider, or the cost doesn't justify the returns. I was wondering everyones thoughts and methods, if anyone else had tried these other things and how well they worked.

 

[MKmods]

Very nice post, remember the grommets can be used for Hdds as well.

Arctic Cooling has a series of fans that have the rubber suspension built in (very quiet fans)

Also the rubber mounts listed are available in different colors, a cool detail when modding.

(I dont know about #1 though, if you connect the fan to the case using the gasket with screws the screws will transfer the vibration to the case)

 

[mrw1986]

Eh, been using the Vantecs for years. BTW, they are a pain in the ass to apply. I also use those rubber push-pins...both very much so a pain in the ass. But I rarely change my fans out.

 

[Silverel]

Never had problems with the pins, just some needle nose pliers to pull em through the hole. I use bolts and nuts with the grommets though, only difficult part is getting the nuts tightened up at the front back corner of the case. Tiny tools are essential

 

[mrw1986]

Haha ya, I agree!

 

[keakar]

i use these and find they are the best IMO and easy to adapt for all types of fan mounts

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5...s_-_Black_RS-OC-BK.html?tl=g7c111&id=DQ3hLC9V = 4 for $1.50

 

[Silverel]

I actually found somewhere online you can buy 100 of these rubber grommets for 10$ shipped. 25 fans worth of dampening...lol

Is there anything else people use? Howbout opinions on Fan Filters... I'll take some of those. I've never used one in my life so I'm a little curious.

 

[Spacegoast]

I actually found somewhere online you can buy 100 of these rubber grommets for 10$ shipped. 25 fans worth of dampening...lol

Is there anything else people use? Howbout opinions on Fan Filters... I'll take some of those. I've never used one in my life so I'm a little curious.

i bought 2 fan filters from Fry's electronics a while back. they are the ones that come with a plastic frame and a sponge type filter. well i didnt use the plastic frame and just stuck the sponge filter over my intake fans on my P180. they catch a lot more dust than the other filters that it came with. i will have to take a pic of it. i really dont think those mesh filters are very good since they do allow smaller particles through. the sponge filter gets more and doesnt restrict airflow either since they are thin, but not too thin.

edit: this is similar to what i bought

but i just used the filter part and not the plastic frame.

 

[jacobi]

If you are going to spend $10 here and there for all the rubbers/filters... id suggest just going with a new case

the Antec P182SE, is great with out power its $168.00 canadian... 3 120mm and u can add one more to the HDD

each with there own control High/Medium/low

 

[Silverel]

I get cases for free, and turn em into something pretty to look at. Saving 170$ on a case kinda makes the 10$ here and there worth it. Not to mention I do anything I want to em without going over budget.

Last case I bought was a Coolermaster Mystique, and still have mods and tweaks done to it to fit my liking. Lol. There's no retail case out there that will satisfy my lust for tweaking things to the point of just right.

Besides, 100 rubber grommets for 10$ I could repackage them and sell to people for 1.50/4 pack. Ahh... free market air. Ain't it great?

Thanks for the post though!

 

[jacobi]

i want free computer cases..... hahahaa

so what kinda mod's do ya do to u case then????

got me intrested

 

[lemonadesoda]

What causes noise from a fan?

1./ Air flow, wind turbulence

2./ Vibration from fan due to non-perfect fan balancing

3./ Vibration from fan due to unequal fan pressure

4./ Fan bearings wear out over time. The cheap ones wear out faster. Replace fans after a year if cheap ones.

So how do we fix these problems?

A./ Reduce fan speed - this improves all 3 problems. Better to buy a fan that operates at a lower RPM than to stick a resistor in series, or use cable mod to run a 12V fan at 7V. A resitor wastes power... and a volt mod or resistor has a risk of the fan NOT STARTING due to a lower operating volatage.
B./ Get a high quality fan - solves point 1 and 2
C./ Make sure air flow is not hindered - improve the cut out... or obstructions that exist "close" to the fan. If you are using a fan to send air through a cases pre-punched polker dot holes... this is a NO NO. Cut out the fan space completely. Use a fan guard. You have improved the "hole" by about 100% airflow "space"... but improved airflow by, as fluid dynamics tell you, by a factor of as much as 800%.
D./ Dont fix the vibration... just hide the effect... by using rubber mounts
E./ All of the above

 

[Silverel]

Most of my case mods are practical and cheap. I get free cases from people who toss out their old Dell computers, just plain, beige, and boring. Usually involves cutting slots in the board for better wiring, cutting out the holes at fan locations, and adding spots for 120mm fans in the front, side and top. Right now I'm working on a case, adding a 120mm in the front bottom, an 80mm at the HD rack, two 80mm's taking up two of the 5.25" bays and adding a 120mm to the PSU. I've got a sheet of plexiglass that I'm going to make a side window with, possibly top window since I think there will be enough left over.

The front plastic bezel on it is ugly as hell, so I've been cutting it up to make more intake room, and I'll be painting the whole thing once the average temp here gets over 50F. Likely going to rewire the front panel to the lower side of the case, and get different switches for the power on. The one on it is fake plastic chrome, and it just looks bad. Also doing a stealth mod for the CD/DVD drive that involves rewiring the Eject button to one on the case. I just never like the idea of having to push the corner of the bay cover to open it up. I'm thinkin' some kind of remote to trigger it, and maybe put the button right inside my keyboard. Depends on how expensive that'd be though, lol.

A lot of the little mods I do don't make things pretty and flashy, just more efficient. After I modded my first case a couple years ago, the increased airflow dropped my processor temps some 4c on average, and adding those two 80mm fans to the front of it dropped em another 4c avg. Now that I'm getting free stuff, I just want to do it more often. My wife likes it cause it's cheaper than going out to the bar 2-3 nites a week What she doesn't know is I usually mod with a case of beer next to me

I'm not a professional by any means, and I don't have a lot of cash to drop on projects like this, but I do get inspired by the stuff I see here. For now it's all practice and developing methods. Figuring out what works, what doesn't, how to make things better.

Which brings me to my next question... lol. I am a cheap bastard, and I found that fan filters made for PC's are typically overpriced. Therefore looking at fish tank filters... I can get a 2' square filter for a couple bucks, which would cover 7 80mm fans or 5 120mm fans. I was thinking, since fish tank filters are made for water, the flow rate on them should be quite a bit better than fiber-based air filters, but just based on the design, it should catch all the little bits of dust and cat hair that I don't want inside my case.

I don't like the idea of restricting my airflow a whole lot, but if a filter extends the amount of time between cleaning out my case, it'd be worth it I think. Apparently these are dishwasher safe as well Anyone have comments to using sponge filters over fiber filters?

 

[jacobi]

wow.. wish i had time to tinker around like that.....

i just have the antec 192 case fans are set at low and i have water cooling....

well i was thinking about the filter... (go to ur dryer and pull out the lint tray.... u can buy that mesh at any hardware store and that grabs everything)

idea or is it just dumb???

 

[jbunch07]

wow.. wish i had time to tinker around like that.....

i just have the antec 192 case fans are set at low and i have water cooling....

well i was thinking about the filter... (go to ur dryer and pull out the lint tray.... u can buy that mesh at any hardware store and that grabs everything)

idea or is it just dumb???

thats sound s like a good idea lol i was thinkin bout that while doing laundry one day, it would prob make a good filter...but who knows

 

[Silverel]

wow.. wish i had time to tinker around like that.....

i just have the antec 192 case fans are set at low and i have water cooling....

well i was thinking about the filter... (go to ur dryer and pull out the lint tray.... u can buy that mesh at any hardware store and that grabs everything)

idea or is it just dumb???

Oooh, not a bad idea at all. Makes a lot of sense, I'll have to look into that. Probably much better airflow then stupid sponge filters anyways

 

[jacobi]

well thats what i was thinking i mean if u are really really wanting to keep the microfibers out... then i think the sponge will work great... (but airflow might be limited)