Dual Blowholes

[J-Hood]

I started my blowholes today, 2 92mm blowholes on the top of my case.

Here's the top of my case:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00239_small.jpg

Here's it masked up for protection against scratches:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00240_small.jpg

[J-Hood]

I cut out my 92mm fan template and marked where the 2 fans will be:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00241_small.jpg

I'm using a Dremel to cut my holes out because I can't afford a hole saw. I'm using some standard cutting discs that came with my Dremel, probably not the best idea, but I'm impatient and that's all I got until tomorrow.

Here's half way through the first rough cut:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00242_small.jpg
This is one of my first times cutting a design with a Dremel so I started very rough.

[J-Hood]

Here's the full rough cut of the first hole:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00243_small.jpg
I went through two cutting discs on the first hole. One broke right at the beginning, and the other grinded all the way down.

Before and after pic of the cutting discs:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00244_small.jpg

[J-Hood]

Half way through the second hole, I dropped the top of my case and reached to grab it and caught my thumb on the spinning at full speed cutting disc, and broke it. I'm really lucky that it didn't saw my thumb off, just a minor scratch because it broke right away:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00245_small.jpg

That was my last cutting disc that I have on me, so this is how far I got for tonight:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00246_small.jpg

I'll probably go and buy more cutting discs tomorrow, and hopefully finish tomorrow night or Monday night. I'm drilling the holes tonight and mocking the fans on to see how it'll fit.

[wudjalike2no]

i hate dremel cutting discs

[TheDistur]

Good job on the thumb. That's the blue painters tape again isn't it? *scary* Hope you get those dual fans in soon =P

[AuD1073cH]

I remember when Yoshi modded his thumb with a utility knife. - I believe he was working on the Corrugated PC mod.

Mine was with a soldering iron.

.....I'll be interested in seeing the finished product. :)

[J-Hood]

Ok, just got back from the store and I got a nifty set of cutting discs:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00252_small.jpg
I should be finished or near finished by the end of the night.

[Adamt]

the second set of disk's on the bottom work really good that is what i used on my case

[J-Hood]

I finished! Yay!

And picking up where I left off, I finished cutting out the second hole and cleaned up the first one:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00253_small.jpg
I didn't bother to make a perfect circle because it wouldn't matter with the molding on it.

Here's the first hole's molding in place:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00254_small.jpg

[J-Hood]

And here's the second hole with the molding:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00255_small.jpg

Here's the fans mounted in:
http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00256_small.jpg

[J-Hood]

And here is the final product:http://www.jameslena.com/images/blowhole_mod/DSC00257_small.jpg
I'm really pleased with it except that I cut the molding just a hair short on the second hole and made it look a little funny. And the scratch on the top of my case isn't from this, just from stupidly putting stuff on my case.

It also dropped my case temps from 23*C to 18*C and it's still going down.

Now all I need to get some LED fans and some custom grills.....ahhh the possibilities....

[Adamt]

yeah grills would look awsome

[J-Hood]

I don't know, every app I d/l for that isn't compatible with my stupid proprietary Dell mobo.

[magnum]

o_O Don't you have a grinding stone or something to smooth out the circle?

GJ though so far.

5/10 For neatness

8/10 for catching your thumb. :P

[zeLupin]

Dude, i've already told you this on IRC but its worth repeating...

Smooth out the octogons into circles and get some better molding instead of the overdone noob coax molding. Hell, if you put a grill just put it on the outside and smooth out the circle that it is covered under the grill so it doesn't show the inperfections. thats what i did on my PS2:
http://img63.exs.cx/img63/3757/IM000136.jpg

[zeLupin]

80mm I just got lucky that i had a grill with a thick outer ring. it covers the hole perfectly.

[J-Hood]

I'm not worried about perfection, I probably will make it better later, but I love how it looks right now with the coax.

[Fudsey]

Nice job!!

[Megatron1977]

Nice job, I agree with Lupin though, loose the molding and clean up the sides of the holes. It will look so much cleaner.

[merritt]

im bout to put a 92mm tornado f5 in the top of my case, should it suck or blow?

[J-Hood]

Most definitly have it suck air out of the case. Heat rises, and you want to get that out when it reaches the top.

[magnum]

Plus dust will not be pulled in..... Since dust has a tendency to "fall" on things.

[Adamt]

Any heat that rises on your case will be sucked out by the psu

[J-Hood]

It noticably raised the noise level, but I both fans on my fan controller so I turn everything down when I sleep and it's good and dandy.

[magnum]

What are the dba ratings for those fans? If you want quieter, I think you can pick up 2 zalman 80mm "silent" fans for 8 bux each.

[J-Hood]

No clue what they're rated, but they're 92mm's by the way.

[magnum]

My bad, I was shingling all day, didn't have to go to school either. :p

Zalman also has 92mm out there, my bad.
www.coolerguys.com (http://www.coolerguys.com/) has good/small selection. (Best in my opinion.)

**Also, they are having a sale that if you have at least $15 worth of stuff in the cart you get a fan controller free. (Have to add it to cart first.)
pcToys 5.25in Fan Controller (black) (http://www.coolerguys.com/840556041481.html)
pcToys 5.25in Fan Controller (silver) (http://www.coolerguys.com/840556041498.html)
***Also, at the same place you can also add 2 FREE IDE cables, just put the name(s) of the product in the comments part of your order. (Excludes UV reactive.)

[MSX2k6]

Cool job on the blow holes. I'm hoping to get a dremel pretty soon within my next few pay checks, and then hopefully doing something like this.

[Megatron1977]

I'll be doing this to my Cowboy Bebop case as soon as I get my fan controler/temp probe. I figure I'll have to take my case apart to set all the temp probes and hook up the fans, so I might as well wait and cut then.

[kennyt772]

im soon going to seriously mod my case with wood and im going to put two blowholes in the top but which are better fans 92mm or 80mm?

[Megatron1977]

The bigger the fan the less it has to spin to produce the same amount of airflow. Less spinning usually means less noise.
Example.
80mm-5000rmp-82cfm-52Dba
92mm-3000rmp-82cfm-46Dba
120mm-2000rpm-82cfm-34Dba
(These are made up figures intended to show relation)

[yoniz2]

i cant put blow holes in the top of my comp because thats where my mouse and mouse pad are :D

[magnum]

That can help INSULATE heat....

So my desk annoyed me, the keyboard tray... Sucked.

So I bought a thing of this "no slip" stuff, now my keyboard won't fly off it when I push my tray back! WOOT!

I also got a thing of acrylic to replace that taped floppy disk over that empty fan hole...

I only needed a tiny bit, not some 3'X 5' sheet. LOL!

[kennyt772]

thanx for the info i think i will go with 120mm fans then and what im planing to do is make a wood case bolted onto the metal box that all the hardware bolts into. i will put some pics out as i get it going. im going to put to 120s in the front, two 80s in the side over the vid card and pci slots. two 80s in the back and two 120s expelling air out the top. and anyone who has a link to quad blue led fans. o and nice case color.

[magnum]

www.newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com)
www.coolerguys.com (http://www.coolerguys.com)

Try coolerguys first, they have a smaller selection which makes it easier to find what you are looking for. If you go to newegg, use the search or "Shop by catagory."

[kennyt772]

personally i like xoxide.com but thanx for the two sites.

[magnum]

Xoxide is a bit more spendy than the other two.

[kennyt772]

thank you for the information.