DIY Duct/partition?

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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IDvsEGO
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DIY Duct/partition?

Post by IDvsEGO » Wed Jun 16, 2010 12:52 pm

I have an antek vsk2000 and was thinking htat if I segmented off the expansion bays and dedicated on intake fan to push fresh air into there, then used the rear ports as an passive exhaust it would imporve the cooling of my video card...assuming i have an aftermarket cooler on there that has an open fin layout.

Pardon the poor "editing" skills, but the picture below shows about what kind of structure I would be looking for. My drawing doesnt really convey that I am trying to completely segregate the top from the bottom. I would construct the partition to go from just short of the mobo all the way across to the case side. I wouldnt even mind a piece that totally boxed it off.

Image

the pic is from before I built my server and moved all the HDDs to that. By movign the hard dirves and ditching the old Xfi I now have a minimalistic setup that only has a 5830 in the expansion area and one HDD suspended in a vertical orientation inside the 3.5 cage. I also have a Coolermaster Hyper 212+ ont he CPU now and Yate Loons instead of those tricools.

so my question is what kind of materials should I consider for this? no cardboard unless its for mockups.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Wed Jun 16, 2010 2:26 pm

Why not cardboard? Autoignition point of paper is Fahrenheit 451 or 231 degrees Celsius. Highly unlikely anything would ever get that hot in a PC. I've used smooth thick poster paper for such things. All kinds of plastic sheeting material can be used, of course. Just look around in something like a school or art supply store.

frenchie
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Post by frenchie » Wed Jun 16, 2010 3:35 pm

Cardboard is the easiest solution. You can also try those thicker acrylic sheets once you have a cardboard model... But I don't see the point unless you're mqking something professionnaly.

swivelguy2
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Post by swivelguy2 » Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:14 pm

If you really don't want to use cardboard, an interesting option would be something like a huge block of styrofoam, which you can carve out into the shape that you want.

IDvsEGO
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Post by IDvsEGO » Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:35 pm

I dont want cardboard for the shallow reasons of aesthetics. I am not concerned withit igniting or anything. If my case is that hot, cardboard is the least of my worries. I could make it from cardboard and cover it in some foam. that would look fine and be cheap and effective. I liek the faom idea too. some good starting points guys, thanks

funklizard
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Re: DIY Duct/partition?

Post by funklizard » Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:55 pm

IDvsEGO wrote:so my question is what kind of materials should I consider for this?
How about corrugated plastic sheets? E.g.:

http://www.packandseal.com/c-838-2mm-pl ... heets.aspx

A bit classier and more durable than cardboard; and still pretty easy to work with.

swivelguy2
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Post by swivelguy2 » Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:01 pm

Cardboard covered in [color of your choice] adhesive-backed felt would look good. One could even argue that the felt might absorb some sound, but I doubt that would really have a non-negligible effect. You can actually line all the interior surfaces of the case with felt and make the look complete.

They sell this stuff for about $1/sq ft at craft stores like Michael's if you're in the U.S.

IDvsEGO
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Post by IDvsEGO » Thu Jun 17, 2010 4:21 am

I picked up a sheet of Elmers foam board in black. I liked it because the surface is black but the cross section is foam. should blend nicely inside the case. Was $3 cuz I was too impatient and went to walmart instead of a craft store.

http://www.elmers.com/product/detail/95 ... ience-fair

IDvsEGO
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Post by IDvsEGO » Thu Jun 17, 2010 9:48 am

I wanted t treat the interior of the case with some foam but the local craft store didnt have any that would work. I know the sonic effects are minimal, but I mainly want to cover up the kindof tacky looking sound deadener. so building supply store?

cmthomson
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Post by cmthomson » Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:02 pm

My preferred material for this sort of thing is styrene. It's a stiff white plastic that is easy to cut and glue, and can be bent using heat if needed. If you don't like white, you can paint it. It's also available in clear.

BTW, this is the material of choice of model railroad builders, so you know it's gotta be good. :lol:

IDvsEGO
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Post by IDvsEGO » Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:47 am

i like that. what type of heat? is a high power hair dryer enough or do I need a heat gun?

cmthomson
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Post by cmthomson » Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:33 pm

I use a small hair dryer on high. The plastic has to just get hot enough to be uncomfortable to touch. But it will tend to bend back about half way, so it may take a couple of tries to get the curve you want.

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