Discovered a new way to mount fans - Quieter! :)

Twigathy · Post by **Twigathy** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 6:27 am

Wait for it.....................................poster mouts. In my cheap-as-chips £10 case, mounting the 80mm exhaust using screws was unbearable. Note that this was using screws. So, I tried the ziptie method but didnt really get very far (Ran out of zipties). Finally, I ran across some poster mounts in the bottom of a tin. Quite soft, double sided stickyness. Mounted the fans on this stuff (1 small square cut up into four even smaller squares does for an entire fan. The price on the packet was £1.15, so you could probably mount a LOT of fans for that price (There were originally 8 in a pack). My only concern at the moment is that the sticky mounts might lose their stickyness. Other parts in the system:

2x80mm Nexus fans
1x92mm Nexus fan
1xNexus 4090 PSU
1x Western Digi Caviar, FDB, Hardmounted (!)
1x Western Digi Caviar, old style so not FDB...Mounted in cooldrive 6 (Fan off)
1x 80GB Seagate, soft mounted on foam at the bottom of case
MSI K8N Neo2 w/ Zalman on the Northbridge
XP-90 Heatsink
Tyan Radeon 9600 pro, fan set to "silent" (3k RPM)
1 very crappy case, with "speed holes" in the side, holes covered on the inside using sellotape and anti-static material from 2 motherboard packaging thingies

My next purchase is probably going to be the passive gigabyte geforce 6600GT, because my 9600 pro is starting to show its age a little

xenithon · Post by **xenithon** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:24 am

Got an pictures perhaps? I have just tried searching for 'poster mounts' without luck

Do they perhaps have an alternate name?

Twigathy · Post by **Twigathy** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:28 am

Well, on the back of the little square things it says "Magic Removable Mounts" although a google search for those only brought up 2 results. I dont have a digicam that works / has batteries right now so no pictures

[Another] quick google later threw up these, although thats an american site...

xenithon · Post by **xenithon** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:35 am

Is it these here perhaps: Poster Mounts

X

Twigathy · Post by **Twigathy** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:39 am

Amazingly, you just found exactly the same poster mounts as I used. Good job dude

And yes, they are what I used. If you wanted ExtraUltraUberDampening then i suppose you could stack a couple on top of each other but they might be less strong and prone to falling off...!

xenithon · Post by **xenithon** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:41 am

Thanks for the tip. Will try it out. Won't be the same as those though as I am not in the US. But I have just found these which are available locally (the linked site is a different one as it has pictures

): 3M Mounting Squares

X

Twigathy · Post by **Twigathy** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:58 am

Cool, dont expect miracles but it reduced vibrations transferred from case-->fan by a LOT. Best of luck with it!

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 8:12 am

In hot locations the adhesive will loosen......and whatever it's holding can fall off. Be fore-warned.....

Twigathy · Post by **Twigathy** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 8:50 am

heh, I'll have to remember to check my fans regularly. Or I'll know about it when temperatures shoot up

BrianE · Post by **BrianE** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 9:16 am

Isn't that stuff basically foam backed double sided tape cut into squares?

Unless you use better quality semi-permanent (maybe automotive grade?) stuff though, I'm not sure I would trust it in the long run. I've had double sided tape come off over time, but it can depend on the surfaces being mated.

I like this idea though (if you can guarantee adhesion). If you were to cut out 2 or 3 layers of the stuff and stick them together to make a full fan gasket it would both attach the fan and assure an air-tight seal.

xenithon · Post by **xenithon** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 9:19 am

What about just using silicone sealant? That stuff should be fantastic, either using 4 blobs, one in each corner, or even around the entire perimeter to completely seal it off.

X

mrzed · Post by **mrzed** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:22 am

xenithon wrote:What about just using silicone sealant? That stuff should be fantastic, either using 4 blobs, one in each corner, or even around the entire perimeter to completely seal it off.

X

Exactly right. I've been using a thin bead of silicone around the perimeter of my fans for a while. In my case, I combine it with a modified form of the ziptie method (I dip the ends of the ties in silicone to help isolate further). An added benefit is sealing more completely around the fan openings.

Twigathy · Post by **Twigathy** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 11:34 am

hmm, well next time im around a hardware shope I'll look out for some of that silicone sealant stuff. I'll see how long this somewhat ghetto method of fan mounting will last without falling apart (Literally)

Jaer · Post by **Jaer** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 11:45 am

Just be sure to use the right kind of silicon that does not give of acetic acid. Acetic acid is corrosive.

swivelguy2 · Post by **swivelguy2** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 4:24 pm

i've been doing the double-sided foamy tape thing all along, and have mentioned it a few times on SPCR, but nobody seemed to care at the time...

Now you get all my fame

Oh well.

One piece of info though: double-sided tape uses two kinds of adhesive compounds. One type bonds better and better as it gets older, if applied properly. The other weakens with time and will eventually fall off. As far as I know, there is no way to tell which kind of adhesive your tape has, but if it's designed for hanging things, it's likely the former type. Cheapo "general purpose" tape may have the inferior adhesive type.

For proper application, make sure both surfaces are clean (rub with IPA, perhaps), then apply and press tightly together for at least 30 seconds.

Twigathy · Post by **Twigathy** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 9:57 am

Awww, sorry dude....

Its not quite double sided tape, its quite a bit thicker and provides a nice bit of padding

luminous · Post by **luminous** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 12:13 pm

I love the sound of this method, as I have just found out that my Acousticase has none standard fan mounting holes. They supply one of their own plastic fan mounts that you screw into the case, then put your fan in the mount.

Turns out that none of the holes in the case are made to fit any sized fan

Also turns out that although there are 2 120mm places to mount fans, they only supply one plastic mount

Love the idea of the double sided pads, may even have some

cpemma · Post by **cpemma** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 2:45 pm

There are some sold for fitting glass mirror tiles, I've not used them for fans but ones in the bathroom have been up over 10 years...

swivelguy2 · Post by **swivelguy2** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 6:03 pm

When I say "double-sided tape" I mean something like this:

Long Office Depot URL not shown

which is what I have - a big roll.

For a more removable mounting method, anyone try self-adhesive squares of Velcro?

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 9:52 am

Twigathy
I'll see how long this somewhat ghetto method of fan mounting will last without falling apart (Literally)
It will last forever if you do everything the right way

.

Discovered a new way to mount fans - Quieter! :)

Discovered a new way to mount fans - Quieter! :)

Re: Discovered a new way to mount fans - Quieter! :)