Fractal Design Define R2 not made for Hot Climate?

[Matrix110]

So today I opened my Define R2 clean up a bit.
I was a bit shocked.

I have the Define now for quite some time(May 2010) and I was quite pleased with it besides the flimsy side panel mechanism.
But this is the first time I have seen this, might be because I placed my PC differently this year....
Iam pretty sure this has to do with the Hot Climate currently (upto 30°C room and around 40°C in the case)

It started with the Side Panel, there was some sticky amber substance on the dampening panel(both sides), obviously its perfect for the dust to stick on that gets through the filters....

The dampening panels at the top even fell off the one above the Mainboard Connectors/CPU was lying on the CPU cooler partly the other side still being glued to the case, the other one was lying on my DVD drive not attached to the case at all anymore.

Especially the panel above the mainboard worried me....
it seems the dampening material is sweating out some resin/glue above certain temps and gets loose.

I made some pics after I ripped the top Panels out:
http://imgur.com/a/v9JbH

Not really sure if I want another case with such panels again to be honest...

Anyone else had this experience?

 

[lehtv]

Haha wow, that looks awful

 

[paul878]

I bet your PC run a lot cooler now with that insulation stuff removed.
Sound dampen panel is a joke anyway what you need to do is get to the source of the noise.

 

[lehtv]

Sound dampen panel is a joke anyway what you need to do is get to the source of the noise.

No it's not a joke. Sometimes there's nothing you can do at the source of the noise, e.g. 7200 RPM hard drives.

The effect of sound dampening panels on temperatures is not a large one, and definitely worth it for quiet yet high performance computing

 

[nsafreak]

Are you sure that you have the room temperatures correct? The glue that's used doesn't exactly flow back into a liquid state at room temperature or heck even around 80 degrees. Frankly at the high room temperatures you have to be experiencing I have to wonder how you're keeping components cool since there seems to be a definite lack of cool air to circulate.

 

[JimmiG]

That looks pretty bad. Fractal Design are a Swedish company, but temps inside the case can be quite high regardless of the ambient temperature. Looks like poor manufacturing and bad quality glue. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on that with my Fractal Design XL R2 though so far I have no complaints with the build quality.

My room easily hits temperatures of 28-29C during the two days that summer lasts here in Sweden.

 

[smitbret]

I bet your PC run a lot cooler now with that insulation stuff removed.
Sound dampen panel is a joke anyway what you need to do is get to the source of the noise.

Don't be naive

 

[Matrix110]

Sound dampening was not something I bought the case for, I bought it because of the Design/features and price point, the Sound Dampening was just something the case had by default, it wasnt a requirement for me at all, but if you get it "for free" in the case you like? Why not....

My temps are as I said totally within normal range in Summer, obviously they are alot worse than in Winter where the Case Temp is below my ambient temp in Summer

I contacted Fractal Design(or rather their german support). After some research with Fractal Design he found out that this apparently was a known problem for a batch of cases produced which used different glue. Very little cases were affected according to him.

The support solved my concerns to the fullest satisfaction and even beyond that :thumbsup:

 

[beginner99]

I have the R2 too. The new one ship with different dampening material but the R" had this "Tar"-like stuff that came with this distinct smell. It was also known that even new out of the box those pads could be lose or not attached correctly. All in all it isn't great.

I did not notice anything last time I had my case open but that is actually quiet some time ago...maybe I need to check.

Also i always thought people posting their temps here had way better temps and I have an NH-D14...plus additional case fans. So maybe it in fact does not have great airflow for whatever reasons.

 

[Charlie98]

The support solved my concerns to the fullest satisfaction and even beyond that :thumbsup:

What exactly did Fractal do?

I have 2 Define Mini cases (with sound-deadening panels like your R2) and I haven't had any problems with mine. Just a note... if you encounter any problems like that in the future, 3M makes a spray adhesive (Super88 if memory serves) that will fix it up in a jiffy. It's a bit messy to work with, but it works very well.

No it's not a joke. Sometimes there's nothing you can do at the source of the noise, e.g. 7200 RPM hard drives.

The effect of sound dampening panels on temperatures is not a large one, and definitely worth it for quiet yet high performance computi

Absolutely right. I swapped my desktop build from an open case (HAF922) into the Define Mini and not only did it knock the noise down to a more tolerable level, but because of more efficient airflow... lowered my case temps as well... and with fewer fans at that, and better filtration.

 

[Matrix110]

What exactly did Fractal do?

My expectation was maybe to get new Side Panels and some of those Dampening Pads to close off Vents if even that after 3 years.

What I received: A brand new R4 even including the fans

After 3 years getting a new Case is pretty awesome support

 

[Charlie98]

My expectation was maybe to get new Side Panels and some of those Dampening Pads to close off Vents if even that after 3 years.

What I received: A brand new R4 even including the fans

After 3 years getting a new Case is pretty awesome support

Very good. I put my first build in a CoolerMaster case, and thought that was pretty nice, but when I built my HTPC, I defaulted to the Define Mini because of dimensional requirements... even given the $100 price tag... but I was very, very pleased with the build quality of the Fractal case. I liked it so much I bought a second Mini to swap my desktop build into. It doesn't surprise me Fractal backed up their product... :thumbsup:

 

[DSF]

Nice to hear they took care of you. I'm hoping that since I have an R4 and not an R2 I'll be fine.

 

[Rvenger]

Wow, I should consider one in the near future.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

The early batches of the Define XL R2 were shipped with standoffs that were too short. I emailed them, gave them my serial number, and a little less than two days later they shipped out a set of replacement standoffs. Not from Sweden, but from some warehouse in Dallas.

And they threw in a free 140mm fan, too. I don't think I've ever had an issue with the manufacturer be resolved so smoothly and quickly. Great support (and great case).