To shroud or not to shroud? Martin!

[eclypse]

I seen this article when hunting for a shroud. http://www.clunk.org.uk/martins-liquid-lab-articles/radiator-fan-orientation-and-shroud-testing.html

Martin? Why did you not test with push/pull with the thinner 25mm fans. Seeing the test also with a shroud on both sides would of been nice as well.

Wondering if i should get some shrouds for both sides of the rads as i'm gona be using a push/pull setup of GT 1850RPM fans on HW Labs 480GTX and 2 360GTX rads.

Would be extremely expensive to do so though using those Feser one - 120mm fan shrouds.. :(

[MagisD]

find el-cheapo 120's and rip the guts out. Instant shroud.

[eclypse]

find el-cheapo 120's and rip the guts out. Instant shroud.

Excellent idea there! :) Thanks.. will look into that.

[afireinside]

I took four old LED fans that I can't stand and chopped the fan part out. Threw them on my MCR220 that is already running push/pull. Temps appeared to be 1C lower but I also blew some dust off the rad and room temps were not held constant or anything. I wouldn't go out and spend money to do it I had the fans lying around so I figured "why not?". You already have a TON of radiator as it is.

[MagisD]

No he has a lot of rad .... I have a ton (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=4392963#post4392963) :rofl:

[eclypse]

I took four old LED fans that I can't stand and chopped the fan part out. Threw them on my MCR220 that is already running push/pull. Temps appeared to be 1C lower but I also blew some dust off the rad and room temps were not held constant or anything. I wouldn't go out and spend money to do it I had the fans lying around so I figured "why not?". You already have a TON of radiator as it is.

Was the fans quieter after adding the shrouds?

[eclypse]

Found some old used fans for $2 each i could buy.

[Martinm210]

I seen this article when hunting for a shroud. http://www.clunk.org.uk/martins-liquid-lab-articles/radiator-fan-orientation-and-shroud-testing.html

Martin? Why did you not test with push/pull with the thinner 25mm fans. Seeing the test also with a shroud on both sides would of been nice as well.

Wondering if i should get some shrouds for both sides of the rads as i'm gona be using a push/pull setup of GT 1850RPM fans on HW Labs 480GTX and 2 360GTX rads.

Would be extremely expensive to do so though using those Feser one - 120mm fan shrouds.. :(

SHROUD..SHROUD...SHROUD...you should always shroud if you can, especially if you have a pile of fans just waiting to be tossed in the trash. Or if you want something nicer looking, the TFC shrouds work well.

I'm using mine to also help pull the rad away from the torture rack since it's only designed for a double and I'm running dual quads:
http://www.martin.skinneelabs.com/img/Worklog14.jpg

I didn't run gutted fans in my test because all I had was the TFC shrouds at the time. This was before I did any fan testing and I really didn't have any spare fans to get rid of at the time. Recycling fans into shrouds is good IF you have the fans to destroy, I also assumed they perform similarly enough testing both would be a wasted time....:D

I did test with a shroud on both sides, top test in this chart:
http://www.martin.skinneelabs.com/img/FanShroudTest3-38mm2000.png

I just didn't do it with 25mm fans, because that was just a follow up check to the first 38mm fan test...plus I was getting bored.:D

If you have a pile of old fans that are worn out or that you no longer plan to use AND you have space for shrouds on both side, then YES you should shroud both sides:yepp:

Can't answer any questions about noise comparisons as I've never done anything on noise measurements, but subjectively I do believe shrouds help reduce noise. I will try to do some of that in the future..:up:

[afireinside]

Was the fans quieter after adding the shrouds?

I run my radiator fans at 600RPM so it's kind of hard to tell...

[eclypse]

I run my radiator fans at 600RPM so it's kind of hard to tell...

lol.. Yeah that would be tough.

Thanks Martin!