Case Fans

[munruss]

I'm about to ask a stupid question. I just want to confirm that I am installing my case fans correctly. I have two 120mm case fans. One in the front and one in the back. What is the rule of thumb when installing so the air is flowing in the right direction? If I am correct, the company logo always faces you, right?

 

[CalvinHobbes]

The fans almost always have arrows on them that show the rotation and air flow direction.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: munruss
I'm about to ask a stupid question. I just want to confirm that I am installing my case fans correctly. I have two 120mm case fans. One in the front and one in the back. What is the rule of thumb when installing so the air is flowing in the right direction? If I am correct, the company logo always faces you, right?

Easiest way i learned direction is look at the fan directly. The side with the sticker to list the vendor on the fan is the direction of which air will be pushed out.

Example, if you got a AF fan, and the AF sticker is on the top side, then the fan will push up.

If you dont have a sticker, then look for the BAR that connects the circle and the middle. The side with that BAR is the side AIR comes out. The back side should have NO bar.

 

[Zepper]

front fan blows into the case - rear fan blows out of the case. IOW both fans should be mounted to blow in the same direction - toward the rear of the case. The plastic spider that holds the motor in place is on the side of the fan toward which the air will flow.

As was said above, most fans will have a pair of arrows embossed into the plastic on the outside of the frame/venturi: one points in direction of air flow, the other in direction of rotation. Sometimes they are very faint and sometimes they don't exist (e.g. the one that was in my Lian Li EX-34). Can't go by label as some have labels on both sides (e.g. yate loon). But the motor spider is diagnostic.

.bh.

 

[aigomorla]

ahhh its called a motor spider??? thanks for the vocab. I always called it the funky bar thingy

 

[trOver]

if you have any engineering capability at all, you could look at the fan blades and figure out pretty easily if they are designed to push or pull given a certain direction...