Conclusions on Panaflo FBL (louvered) vs FBA?

Control: management of fans, temp/rpm monitoring via soft/hardware

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Ephemeral
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Conclusions on Panaflo FBL (louvered) vs FBA?

Post by Ephemeral » Sun Jan 18, 2004 4:05 am

I've searched the forums and read several posts guessing that the panaflo L1A model starting with FBL would be quieter @ same CFM compared to the FBA in the mid-range voltage (and with some backpressure).

Anyone able to verify this? Some of the posts said they saw no difference between the two designs in terms of noise and a couple that said the FBL was a tad louder (and with more airflow than FBA), but it looked like those comments reflected the fans at 12V.

I'm particularly interested in using a panaflo 120mm for case exhaust, likely 5 to 7 volts, and I'm wondering if the FBL buys anything (at the $10 premium over FBA)...

FBL at Digikey
FBA at Digikey

Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Sun Jan 18, 2004 6:03 am

My experience with the augmented Panaflos is limited to the 80L version, but here's what I found:

I tested these a couple of years ago so my recollection might be a tiny bit rusty, but you'll get the general drift here. At 12V the FBL did flow more air than the 12V FBA but it was also quite a bit louder too. It was air turbulence noise, not mechanical noise. I then lowered the FBL to 7V and it then became about as quiet as the FBA at 12V, and flowed about the same amount of air as the FBA at 12V! So my conclusion was "why bother"? At the same voltage the FBL flowed more air, but was louder, not quieter. If I slowed the FBL down to where it was as quiet as the FBA, the airflow dropped to the FBA's level too. I couldn't see any advantage to using the FBL Panaflos seeing as how they basically performed as well as a regular FBA but cost twice as much.

My 2¢, YMMV! :)

silvervarg
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Post by silvervarg » Sun Jan 18, 2004 7:23 am

It sounds strange that the FBL would push a lot more air and be a lot more noisy. According to Panaflo specs (from the links Ephemeral posted) the nominal RPM is the same, as is the noise level. The shape of the fan blades look identical, so it should be almost the exact same fan.

The difference that I can see is:
1. The FBL has the wires fieds to the fan, while the FBA has the 3 pin connector on the hub.

2. The frame of the FBL looks considerably different. It will be able to draw a small amount of air through the frame. The FBL does only have mounting holes on one side of the fan, so it almost impossible to mount it in sucking mode (as you would like to mount it if used an intake fan for instance).

Ephemeral
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Post by Ephemeral » Sun Jan 18, 2004 5:10 pm

Thanks for the replies.

Ralf, so you concluded basically all the noise was due to sound from flow of air (whooshing?) and that both fans had same noise per flow rate (dBA / CFM), with the FBL able to top out at higher rate, correct? Sounds like the FBL/L1A is closer to the FBA/M1A then (at least for the 80mm you had)...

Silver, from the links desribing LAC, the louvers are intended to remain on the low pressure side (or half in/out), which is why the mounts would only be on the one side of the fan (so inside of the case for exhaust, and outside of the case for intake - requiring leaving off or cutting the front bezel)...

Guess I'll have to pay the money to get both 120mm and compare :) ...

Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Mon Jan 19, 2004 5:42 am

Ephemeral wrote:Thanks for the replies.

Ralf, so you concluded basically all the noise was due to sound from flow of air (whooshing?) and that both fans had same noise per flow rate (dBA / CFM), with the FBL able to top out at higher rate, correct?
Yes.
Ephemeral wrote:Sounds like the FBL/L1A is closer to the FBA/M1A then (at least for the 80mm you had)......
Yes, exactly!

And after these TT "SilentPower" (or whatever their ripoff of the Thermalright SLK-xxx + rebadged LAC M1A Panaflo is called) started showing up as "noisy" and were found to be using a rebadged M1A LAC Panaflo, I went back and looked at my LAC PAnaflos to make sure that wasn't also the case with mine, but they are infact marked as "L1As".

Ephemeral
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Post by Ephemeral » Mon Jan 19, 2004 8:44 pm

Gotcha, thanks again.

TheScarf
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Post by TheScarf » Mon Jan 19, 2004 9:58 pm

A recent practical experience:

Tt silentboost with supplied 'flo - noisy @ 12V, a bit too whooshy @ 5~7V

Antec case fan - Slightly better, more 'whiny'

Zalman case fan - Better again, hint of bearing noise

'flo L1A - lower pitched bearing noise, best yet.

All were tested in an open case(milk crate in sig), with a silicone sheet between the fan and HS, and silicone washers under the screw heads to isolate the fan further. The descriptions of fan noise are noted while at 5~7V for all fans. This is subjective of course, but hopefully of some use..

Ephemeral
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Post by Ephemeral » Mon Jan 19, 2004 11:48 pm

Thanks Scarf. I'm also keeping my eyes open for Nexus and AcoustiFan reviews as people try the 120's (Nexus 120 isn't out yet I think)...

HammerSandwich
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Post by HammerSandwich » Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:22 am

silvervarg wrote:According to Panaflo specs (from the links Ephemeral posted) the nominal RPM is the same, as is the noise level.
Something's weird here. I looked at the Digikey pages, and the FBL120 is specced to use more power while moving less air and making more noise than the FBA120. Anyone?

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