Antec SLK3700BQE with McMaster PVC mounts

AceFace · Post by **AceFace** » Mon Oct 06, 2003 5:39 pm

I got an Antec SLK3700BQE recently. It looks like a good case so far but I have one major problem!

I got the McMaster 5801K6 (and the 5801K8 as a percaution) to mount my fans. I have a Papst 120mm 4412FGL which I am trying to mount in the front case but for the life of me I cannot seem to mount the PVC mounts on the case. I have tried both the K6 and the K8.

I have the following questions

1.) I read the SLK3700BQE mega thread and I noticed that Ralf Hutter managed to install a 92mm fan using the mounts. Wondering if he or anybody could tell me which mount (K6 or K8) he used and how he did it. On my part I noticed that the screw holes in front are much smaller than the rear exhaust fan where the K6 mounts are able to slide in relatively easily

2.) I noticed there are two "notches" should the fan be in the innermost notch? Also which way should the mounts be inserted. "nail" side facing out or in? Hope some one can post some pics if possible..

Thanks

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Mon Oct 06, 2003 5:46 pm

Wow, those McMaster EAR isolator fan mounts are a giant pain in the ass to install. Have a drill handy-- you're gonna need it. I have a whole thread on this here:

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... highlight=

I have NEVER been able to install anything using the larger of the two fan mounts. It is all I can do to squeeze the smaller ones in, and even that generates a lot of Q-bert ascii profanity..

AceFace · Post by **AceFace** » Mon Oct 06, 2003 7:10 pm

If I drill, do you know what drill bit size I should use?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue Oct 07, 2003 4:19 am

AceFace - Your problem is that you're trying to use a threaded hole to mount the fan isolators. The BQE is designed to have the fan mount onto the front of the bezel and Antec provided threaded holes so you can screw the fan to the bezel using those 1.5" long bolts that are included with the hardware. What you need to do is to drill out those threaded holes so they are big enough to fit the fan isloators (PN 5801K6) through. A 3/16" drill is the perfect size for this, just remember to deburr the holes after you drill them. It's fairly easy to rip the isolators as you're trying to pull everything into position so the less sharp edges you have to deal with, the better.

I mounted the 92mm fan to my case using the existing fan grill holes so I didn't need to do any drilling:

AceFace · Post by **AceFace** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 5:41 am

Hey thanks wumpus & ralf for the info. Going to buy a drill tonite!

One questions. What is deburring? I guess that would be some kind of smoothing process just from the way Ralf mentioned. But given that I dont' want to spend more money on a machine that deburrs (unless u can deburr from a Black and Decker Power tool which I'm going to get), is there any other way to get rid of the sharp edges? Sandpaper?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 5:54 am

Deburring is the process of removing the sharp edges of the hole that are a byproduct of the drilling process. If you use the correct speed and drilling pressure you can minimize the burrs but they'll always be there to some extent.

You can deburr them with a small round file, or sandpaper, or a hardened deburring knife, or a special deburring tool or a countersink attachement. You'll be able to remove small burrs with sandpaper but not bigger ones.

Drill the holes slowly, especially at the point just where the drill is starting to break through to the other side. Since you already have pilot holes the drill may have a tendancy to pull it's way through the steel so be aware of this when you start drilling and just apply pretty light pressure until you get a feel for what's going on.

Oh, and don't forget to clean up the metal bits and dust when you're done. God help you, the last thing you want is some errant piece of metal chip shorting something out on your mobo!

wumpus · Post by **wumpus** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 10:29 am

Ah, screw that, I live dangerously.

Also-- and this may be a factor-- I'm really lazy.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 11:10 am

wumpus wrote:Ah, screw that, I live dangerously.

Also-- and this may be a factor-- I'm really lazy.

Depends what's more important to you, living dangerously and lazily, or wasting money by tearing your fan isolators when you try to install them. They're only 50¢ each from McMaster-Carr but it's still a pisser to tear them.

AceFace · Post by **AceFace** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 11:38 am

I checked out a 3/16" bit and it's kind of big. As a basis of comparison.. it is almost as large as the fan grill hole which Ralf used to put his 92mm fan through. Obviously since Ralf manged to do it, the simple answer would be yes it works. But wouldn't u want to use a smaller bit size?

AceFace · Post by **AceFace** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 5:01 pm

After further research, the 3/16" does seem to be a good fit. The fan plate diameter of the K6 mount is 4.4mm. A 3/16" drills a 4.2mm hole. So in effect it does have a good fit.

Thanks all!