Painting my Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm fans

Hey All,

I've gotten a wealth of info here for my upcoming WC build. Much thanks to everyone who's helped :)
I started the first step today by painting my Scythe Gentle Typhoon fans. Here's what I used:

Krylon Fusion Green [no prep, meant for plastic. bonded really well, sets up very quickly for many coats in a short period]
White masking tape
Hair Dryer
Snap ring pliers
Precision needlenose pliers (no teeth)
Retractable magnet
Sharp Knife

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/9049/dscf2431.jpg
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/4970/dscf2434.jpg

I started by warming up the labels on the back for easy removal. I wanted to keep them clean for re-installation. Be careful not to burn the label. Once warm, peel back with sharp knife, pull slowly. This will reveal the snap-ring that needs to be removed:

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7073/dscf2459k.jpg
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/8708/dscf2461x.jpg

Snap ring pliers make removing the snap ring a... snap. Fair Warning - if you don't keep a good hold on the snap ring it WILL go flying. This is why I kept the magnet directly above the fan-axle so if it did pop (which two did) it was trapped on the magnet. If you lose these you'll be hard pressed to find another.

The snap ring clips into this small ridge on the end of the axle. You need to spread it out and remove it. Installation is reverse of removal; the snap ring will "click" into the groove, holding the axle in.

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/3241/dscf2457.jpg

Slide the fan out, being careful not to lose & get dirty the two bearings. These both pop right out for safe keeping.

http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/2388/dscf2444.jpg
http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/7921/dscf2451.jpg

On the fan axle is a spring. Remove this for safe keeping as well. Note the direction the spring is installed for re-installation later.

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9941/dscf2443.jpg

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/8231/dscf2438.jpg

End result:
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/7817/dscf2435.jpg
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/9964/dscf2433.jpg

Make certain you tape over the back side well. You don't want any paint on the magnet or the axle.

I would highly recommend making MANY LIGHT passes at the fans with the Krylon. I made about 7-10 coats on each side. I went through about 3/4 of the can on just 4 fans. You want the paint as even as possible to avoid throwing the fan out of balance. The paint sets up to "tacky" in about 15 minutes. It can be handled with care at this point. I did a new coat every 15 minutes.
Have patience with this one!
Have fun.

Cheers!

Thanks for this very useful guide :)

Awesome, I have 2x Gentle Typhoons, this looks like a fun mod! Great work!

Um, yeah.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=224297;)

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Originally Posted by Waterlogged

Um, yeah.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=224297;)

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Yeah, but honestly, this set of pics and instructions are much cleared than Snipes.

I agree :D great work :up: My Dissection was really just to practice my photography and show the fan off because at the time I was one of the only members to be using them.

I love the magnet idea, I have bout 3 dead AP-15's and a dead AP-14 at my house in a drawer

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SNiiPE_DoGG

I love the magnet idea, I have bout 3 dead AP-15's and a dead AP-14 at my house in a drawer

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1 word SNiiPE. . . . . . Mcmaster. ;)

true, true - too bad flow just bout ran me broke haha (in a budgeting sense of the term)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Waterlogged

Um, yeah.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=224297;)

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no need to be snide :shoot:


yeah my cam sucks in comparison, sniipe. i def need a new one soon. sry didn't mean to try and steal ur shine

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dullers

no need to be snide :shoot:


yeah my cam sucks in comparison, sniipe. i def need a new one soon. sry didn't mean to try and steal ur shine

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Sheesh.:rolleyes:

No need to take my post out of context, I was merely pointing out that a similar tutorial was already posted.

^_^

Anybody ever figure out where to get replacement snap rings for the Gentle Typhoons (not that I, ummm, would ever, you know, lose any of them :p:)

I've searched McMaster Carr but can't seem to find anything that would work.

Also interested in replacements but in australia. Also does anyone have a closeup of the special pliers? Thanks.

ok im gonna tell ya guys exactly what i told shazza.

The GT is perfectly balanced.
When you paint over that, you lose the balance.

Now why is balance so important? Its like your car wheels, when the blades arent balanced they will cause more vibration and unwanted noise.

This is why i usually discourage people from painting the blades on the GT.

If your gonna paint the blades, do a light coat, and from a distance.
If you kill the balance on the GT, you were better off going with a Yate and painting that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

ok im gonna tell ya guys exactly what i told shazza.

The GT is perfectly balanced.
When you paint over that, you lose the balance.

Now why is balance so important? Its like your car wheels, when the blades arent balanced they will cause more vibration and unwanted noise.

This is why i usually discourage people from painting the blades on the GT.

If your gonna paint the blades, do a light coat, and from a distance.
If you kill the balance on the GT, you were better off going with a Yate and painting that.

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would spraying it while it's rotating help?

And if you do paint them, make sure you do it in a good painting environment and with care. I painted 7 GT's and :banana::banana::banana::banana:ed up the paintjob on like half of them because I tried doing it in my bathroom :ROTF:. So lol yeah not gonna do that again. Plus one of the started making noise. I didnt find anything that would hit the "wall" so I suppose the balance just got :banana::banana::banana::banana:ed up and it is causing the noise like NaeKuh said.

The other 6 fans work just fine though also I screwed the paintjob so that the surface isnt really good. But in the end I just ordered new GT's and not gonna paint them. This time I'll let the looks go (the grey color) and just be happy with the performance.

You can paint them without messing up, but you really have to be careful. And the snap rings are a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:. I lost one and felt like jumping of a bridge after that :rofl:.

Spraying while rotating wont probably really help with anything. You just gotta make sure that you spray from far enough and not too thick layers. A few thin layers should be fine. And then they need to dry without any spray dust or so on falling on them. That's where my fans went bad. Since I did it in a small space which wasnt well air-conditioned, the dust fell on the wet paint and caused the result to be bad.

If I ever paint fans again, I dont think I'll spray them. I'll rather ask some professional painter to do it or atleast buy a spraygun and ensure the good environment.

Did this a while back on a 1U cooler from a socket 603 hooked up to the old p4 on the original 423 socket. Painted the casing dark blue with some silver sparkles and the fan silver, looked great over the solid copper ht. Fan painting is always fun and really can be a great accent in some builds.

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Originally Posted by zeroibis

Did this a while back on a 1U cooler from a socket 603 hooked up to the old p4 on the original 423 socket. Painted the casing dark blue with some silver sparkles and the fan silver, looked great over the solid copper ht. Fan painting is always fun and really can be a great accent in some builds.

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yeah but the thing is no other fan blades have weighted balance on them.

Look at the blades on the GT, you will see tiny weights which balance it.

That is why i dont mind paying the 10+ dollars for GT's over yates.
You do get the quality in what your paying for.

What if he just does not paint the weights? Or he could just paint it perfectly evenly so the weight ratio is the exact same!











Just kidding....

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Originally Posted by zeroibis

What if he just does not paint the weights? Or he could just paint it perfectly evenly so the weight ratio is the exact same!











Just kidding....

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LuLz.. while ur at it.. why not take it down to an tire shop and have them throw it on the balance machine. :rofl:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

LuLz.. while ur at it.. why not take it down to an tire shop and have them throw it on the balance machine. :rofl:

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I just did, they even threw in the rotation for me. :p:

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Originally Posted by millertime359

I just did, the even threw in the rotation for me. :p:

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Free rotation!!! :shocked: I got ripped off!

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Originally Posted by Sadasius

Free rotation!!! :shocked: I got ripped off!

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u didnt get your windows cleaned either? :rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

u didnt get your windows cleaned either? :rolleyes:

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Did you get the steam cleaning too? They bling now. :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

u didnt get your windows cleaned either? :rolleyes:

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Wah!!! :shocked: GOD DAMNIT!!! :mad: Last time I am taking my fans to Canadian Tire!

dullers? can you add a pic on how you taped over the magnet shaft side? If so then I vote for sticky! Great job!

Mod, possible sticky here.

WTB UV Blue Krylon.

I like what you have done but dont like the colour :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Conumdrum

dullers? can you add a pic on how you taped over the magnet shaft side? If so then I vote for sticky! Great job!

Mod, possible sticky here.

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there were many more pics when i originally made the thread...

I'm not sure what happened. I'm fairly certain I up'd them all to imageshack.us
it's possible i didn't use an account and they "expired" or got removed.
I'm pretty sure i have all the pics at home still, i'll try to re-upload them and edit my original post.

I will side with (whoever said this above) that the balancing is pretty important for noise, etc. Unless you've painted the fans *perfectly even*, you're going to unbalance them. I spin my fans around 1000rpm and they're not too loud. They're quiet enough for me. call me what you will.. but I wanted the nice looks :-P

anywho.. you're probably rite. I should've gone with a cheaper fan and "ruined" those instead. *shrug* oh well. The more you know...


cheers, thanks for the kind words + advice

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dullers

anywho.. you're probably rite. I should've gone with a cheaper fan and "ruined" those instead. *shrug* oh well. The more you know...


cheers, thanks for the kind words + advice

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sorry to hear about that bro.

yeah i noticed its bad to paint the fan blades.

It gets worse when you paint high speed ones.

Eventually they rattle so much, they start hitting the walls on the fan internally.

:shakes:

I had a buddy over who spilled my little parts cup and I now am missing 2 of the c clips from my fans. what is the diameter of the rod/shaft so I can order replcements.....thx!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BringerOdeath

I had a buddy over who spilled my little parts cup and I now am missing 2 of the c clips from my fans. what is the diameter of the rod/shaft so I can order replcements.....thx!!!!

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Took apart 1 of my AP-15's, it's difficult to measure the groove area on the shaft so I used the ring itself. Closest I could find is Mcmaster 98541A111, not 100% certain but I'm certain enough that I'd definitely buy a bag to try them out if I found myself needing some. :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

ok im gonna tell ya guys exactly what i told shazza.

The GT is perfectly balanced.
When you paint over that, you lose the balance.

Now why is balance so important? Its like your car wheels, when the blades arent balanced they will cause more vibration and unwanted noise.

This is why i usually discourage people from painting the blades on the GT.

If your gonna paint the blades, do a light coat, and from a distance.
If you kill the balance on the GT, you were better off going with a Yate and painting that.

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people paint their car wheels. :shrug:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NKrader

people paint their car wheels. :shrug:

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They also usually rebalance wheels after changing tires. And for almost same reasons, lesser noise and more ride comfort. So far i doubt that anyone who repainted their GTs had sent them to Scythe or Nidec Servo to rebalance their moded fans :)

I'm thinking about dying the blade unit with a food coloring. While it still adds a teensy bit of weight, it shouldnt be a real concern I would think. Of course it would never look as solid a color as paint would, but when its running it might not look so bad. Anybody have any details of something like that?

Waterlogged, I am going to buy a bag of those, if anyone needs any I can mail you some if they work.....I painted my fans white and I don't see any difference in noise at all!! My PC is so much quieter with 10 of these ap-15 fans vs the 10 zalman zmf-3's I had before. I actually though my computer was off at one point, lol

Well, waterlogged! I ordered those from mcmaster and they work perfect!! They are a tad thicker than the originals, but it didn't make a difference. Thx! If anyone needs replacement clips for their gentle typhoons, I have about 98 and can send some to you!! :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BringerOdeath

Well, waterlogged! I ordered those from mcmaster and they work perfect!! They are a tad thicker than the originals, but it didn't make a difference. Thx! If anyone needs replacement clips for their gentle typhoons, I have about 98 and can send some to you!! :P

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Good news indeed! :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Captain_Harlock

I'm thinking about dying the blade unit with a food coloring. While it still adds a teensy bit of weight, it shouldnt be a real concern I would think. Of course it would never look as solid a color as paint would, but when its running it might not look so bad. Anybody have any details of something like that?

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You can use 'Rit' Dye for fabrics, etc. or vinyl day (in a spray can). Both seep into the plastic and change the color without adding layers over the top.

Sounds good headala, but would that work to dye white on to the grey blades?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BringerOdeath

Sounds good headala, but would that work to dye white on to the grey blades?

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Doh, probably not. Sorry. :(

nice work!

This is how mine came out, camera is a bit epic. It matches the Dominator GT's color pretty good, most important is fans don't rattle or make any funny noise.

Compared the dyed one to the undyed GT and they both sound the same. I used VHT Vinyl Dye about 5 light coats.


http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6877/1020902d.th.jpg

Looks like I'll be doing the dye mod then. Glad somebody else tried my idea for me so I didnt have to kill my GT's. Thanks corpses3! \m/ ^_^ \m/

I just starting painting some of my GT fans. It became obvious to me that the center portion and magnet were only held to fan blades by pressure. I easily pushed them out with a couple taps with appropriate sized socket from the front and rubber mallet.

You can see that the blade section and center section are marked and must match up again when re-assembling. I assume that is for balance purposes. See the black marks in the pic ( I didn't make the marks)....

Makes for much easier painting.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...y/DSC_0010.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...y/DSC_0009.jpg

Matte black

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/5592/ee7q.jpg

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/2518/img0053poh.jpg

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4756/img0057dw.jpg

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/7086/img01271.jpg

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5752/img01801b.jpg

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/6...ngeffected.png

I dont know if I would push out the hub if its held in by friction. It seems that since its plastic, each time you do that it is gonna be every so slightly loser than the last time. Once at teh factory should be enough. But here is the million dollar question. Would soaking the balde in a dye bath (with the hub and magnet still in it) have any effect over the magnet at all. Were talking about water and dye. Id guess that most consumer grade dyes are pretty benign to most things and magnets and the glue that holds them in should be included on that list. The hub looks like its just steel and if you dry it as soon as your done with the dye, rust shouldnt be an issue either. Or am I just missing the obvious on this one.

By the way BringerOdeath, I managed to lose three retaining rings. I dont know what I was thinking. I was working on my GT's getting them ready to dye. I had pulled out the TV try as I wanted to watch a movie while I worked on a number of things. For some reason (and I clearly remember me doing this but cant figure out why I did) I just tossed the rings in with some junk. Then I threw the junk out when I was cleaning up. If I have to lay blame on something, it wont be my aged brain. I think I'll stick with sticking it on the movie I was watching. '78 Dawn of the Dead always takes something from you when you watch it. Anyway, do you still have a few of those rings? I would gladly give you a drawing of a happy face and a SASE for a few of them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

ok im gonna tell ya guys exactly what i told shazza.

The GT is perfectly balanced.
When you paint over that, you lose the balance.

Now why is balance so important? Its like your car wheels, when the blades arent balanced they will cause more vibration and unwanted noise.

This is why i usually discourage people from painting the blades on the GT.

If your gonna paint the blades, do a light coat, and from a distance.
If you kill the balance on the GT, you were better off going with a Yate and painting that.

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I really have never been able to stand your tone. Your arrogance and "I know better than you" attitude are atrocious. I'm sure most people would at least agree with me silently. I even recall hearing about a health condition known as naekuhidis.

I've tried not to say anything but you wore me down. Good for you. And I know more than you- at least it's possible I do. Chew on that for a while.


@Unreal - unreal shots there. What kind of camera is that?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Captain_Harlock

I dont know if I would push out the hub if its held in by friction. It seems that since its plastic, each time you do that it is gonna be every so slightly loser than the last time. Once at teh factory should be enough. But here is the million dollar question. Would soaking the balde in a dye bath (with the hub and magnet still in it) have any effect over the magnet at all. Were talking about water and dye. Id guess that most consumer grade dyes are pretty benign to most things and magnets and the glue that holds them in should be included on that list. The hub looks like its just steel and if you dry it as soon as your done with the dye, rust shouldnt be an issue either. Or am I just missing the obvious on this one.

By the way BringerOdeath, I managed to lose three retaining rings. I dont know what I was thinking. I was working on my GT's getting them ready to dye. I had pulled out the TV try as I wanted to watch a movie while I worked on a number of things. For some reason (and I clearly remember me doing this but cant figure out why I did) I just tossed the rings in with some junk. Then I threw the junk out when I was cleaning up. If I have to lay blame on something, it wont be my aged brain. I think I'll stick with sticking it on the movie I was watching. '78 Dawn of the Dead always takes something from you when you watch it. Anyway, do you still have a few of those rings? I would gladly give you a drawing of a happy face and a SASE for a few of them.

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You're in trouble now.

My o-rings didn't jump out as I took them out carefully, but I missplaced one of them when doing the second GT fan. I looked about 30 mins for it, only to find about 6 inch near the fan. It's that small guys :)

@Unrealer: Great job, looks nice, nice camera too :hrhr:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NaeKuh

ok im gonna tell ya guys exactly what i told shazza.

The GT is perfectly balanced.
When you paint over that, you lose the balance.

Now why is balance so important? Its like your car wheels, when the blades arent balanced they will cause more vibration and unwanted noise.

This is why i usually discourage people from painting the blades on the GT.

If your gonna paint the blades, do a light coat, and from a distance.
If you kill the balance on the GT, you were better off going with a Yate and painting that.

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No unwanted noise here so far :)

Works just like the vanilla one :)

beautiful work in Gentle!

No need for any personal friction here.

Naekuh is entitled to express his opinion - and the rest of us are entitled to ignore it if we choose :)

I would prefer not to paint my GTs, but I've been known to have a fondness for pretty colors. So far, I haven't noticed any performance hit on the painted fans, but that's strictly anecdotal / qualitative judgement.