some ?'s about fans and modding my case

[thelastmccabe]

Ok, first question is most important. For some reason I ordered 120 by 38 mm panaflos and ordered just the fans, with no screws or anything else (they do have wires and plugs). I think maybe I was supposed to buy some sort of thing that they are mounted on, like a bracket to hold them, is that correct, do i need that thing? Or can I just find some screws that fit and screw them right onto my case?

Ok, on the intake fan there's a little black screen/filter thing. This is do stop dust Im guessing? It seems like dust is smaller than it but who knows--at any rate, is there any reason to leave this screen thing on?

Then I was thinking maybe I'll mod it a bit more and just cut out the little fan vents so the fan is just naked and flapping in the wind--especially the ones on the intake fan which are these tiny slits. Later on I can buy or design a new vent to go over it. Is there any reason not to do this (besides injury from the bare fans)?

Thanks a lot for any help

 

[krcat1]

You will need case screws of some type.

With the panaflos, you will most likely want a fan tail. The Panaflo have two long bare wires coming out of them, without the fan connector on the end.

The fans will pull in alot of dust, cat hair, etc. I have fan filters just to keep the dust off my heatsink and out of the PWS.

 

[thelastmccabe]

hhmm ok thanks for the advice--and I hadn't thought of the cat hair issue

 

[JBDan]

These will work for you--->http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/case_fan_screws.html
Some cases do have brackets that hold the fans. Depends on what your case came with. If you want fans to be soft mounted I suggest a silicon gasket or silicon plugs. The filter keeps the bigger stuff out (some dust gets in inevitably), but it helps...I would leave it on. Removing the fan grills on the case is fine....I did it...it helps lower the "whoosh" sound of fan noise turbulence. Good luck mod on!

 

[drwngflies]

Use the filter, even if it has large openings, (larger than dust), still use it. It can attract dust as a magnet would, pos/ neg attraction. There are screws you can pick up at BestBuy or CompUSA that are made for fans, or just go to HomeDepot and select the size you need. The plastic mesh screen is Positive, I believe, and the dust is Negative. Like rubbing a balloon on your polyester shirt.
That's why there is always dust stuck to your plastic fan blades.