My ATI SUNPOWER "Quieter" fan mod.

[phi delt reefer]

step 1 - design the upgrade - designed a shroud to hold two quieter fans that pushed more air;

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/fanmockupdual.jpg


step 2 - cnc the piece - 6061 aluminum block. Notice the bevel...

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010076.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010077.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010070.jpg
.
step 3 - spice it up... my buddy milled out part of the plastic fan casing so the fan would blades would sit flush with the adapter bevel. Subtle touch but it looks awesome!

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010079.jpg

Step 4 - hack the shroud - we cut the openings bigger. Going from 60mm units to 92mm units.

old fan; http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010069.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010067.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010073.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010074.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010075.jpg

Step 5 - drill and tap holes... secure the adapter

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010081.jpg

DONE!

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010086.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010084.jpg

http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af43/vinceispatel/P1010099.jpg



soooo....how quiet is it? Its not silent but thats because the back pressure from the air hitting the aluminium sub frame. Its loads quieter than it was before - anyone who says the fans in the ATI units are quiet is a liar - they need to hear my modded unit to understand what quiet is. These fans push out 2-3x more air than the old fans.


Cabinet fans are now annoying though. So those will be swaped out with a couple noctua 120mm units. After that - the only thing making noise will be the damn vortech and the air intake on my skimmer.

special thanks to my CNC Guru Blob-79 for hooking me up huge on this project.

[cwatkins]

I have two of those exact same fans running in my hood. Silent. :biggrin: As in you cannot hear them at all. But $18 each or something around that.

[Bblinks]

I have retro fit every single one of my fixture to that fan except for the Biocube which I used silent x fans, man it is the best thing you can do. What a difference it makes. Also keeps the wife happy.:mrgreen:

[phi delt reefer]

Yeah the Noctua fans are expensive but worth it. I think these were $15 each... the 120mm ones i want for the cabinet are almost $25 each and I need 2, plus another two to cool the tank in the summer time. Its somewhat deceiving as to how much air these suckers push cause they are so quiet but man, what a change!