bssunilreddy
Luminary
Thanks I might use a 3D printed 120mm fan on stock stealth wraith cooler or my own AK400 with push pull setup. So MX4 is sufficient I guess.
OC & Modding AK400 cooler
- Thread starter bssunilreddy
- Start date
OMEGA44-XT
Innovator
bssunilreddy
Luminary
I have AK400 with Arctic 120mm PWM fans in push pull using a y splitter but it's big and cumbersome to clean every 3 months these days. Thats why I thought of that 3D printed concept of 120mm fan on wraith stealth cooler.
Tracer_Bullet
Herald
1) Use a leaf blower or similar for cleaning ( a. Make sure that fans are prevented from moving when cleaning and b. that humidity is not very low, say > 60% or research static electricity low humidity )
2) Use dust filters around intake fans and make sure intake airflow > exhaust fan airflow.
3) Use an airpurifier, Its good for lungs too.
4) Use low idle fan speeds as much as possible.
These things have reduced dust in cabinet quite a bit for me, and its mostly smallest of dust that goes away very quickly with a leaf blower.
I'll still try to clean 2-3 times a year, but its just disconnecting + remove glass panel + take out of home door + 1 min max use of blower and we are done.
We can clean fans with brush too but i dont bother too much, maybe do that once a year if needed.
Which reminds me, i haven't done this in a while ..
Tracer_Bullet
Herald
Use fingers / tape if needed. Fingers are enough as i clean it in a focussed way when over fans.
Only need to do this when air is flowing quickly through the fans ofc.
Have heard that it can damage the fans and also it could send current back if it spins backwards.
Dunno about 2nd one but leaf blowers push crazy strong air and it makes sense to protect the fans.
hitomi
Discoverer
rr9
Forerunner
I had a similar issue but then I moved to Corsair 4000D. It has filter on all the intakes and I have a high pressure inside the case with more intake fans than exhaust. Dust inside the system has gone down by a very huge percentage compared to my previous case. (SilverStone Glass FARA R1)
Karthik G
Contributor
Many ways like other said and I use a straw to ensure that the duct tape does not tear off due to the vacuum used a blower.
There is back EMF generated by any motor when rotated without circuit current. It's a vast topic, but I learnt of it when my vacuum caused the CM sickle flow LED to glow while on the porch!!!!!!
I fortunately did not ruin the fan nor the GPU cooler and other fans / rotors.
I find the effort to clean worth every quarter since it helps with the temps and noise soooo much in turn.
Also, I set up the air flow favouring physics & thermodynamics - hot air tends to rise up.
All my exhaust are facing upwards and near the top
My intakes are towards the bottom and front below (HAF-X FTW
)Can this be avoided if one just detach the fan headers on mobo?
Tracer_Bullet
Herald
Probably, but would the fans get damaged by spinning well beyond rating ?
Why take chance. Just use fingers or pencil and the like. Its fairly easy and leaf blower can quickly clean up dust even in lowest speeds, so we don't have to run it for long.
