Shoutbox

I just got a new desk today that has a shelf + door to hide the PC. It looks nice, but I'm worried about overheating in the confined space (even though the back is open). So, I'm thinking about a little bit of modding. I need some help finding a decent fan solution to mount in the desk door that connects via molex (standard or mini floppy) or USB.

Color must be black, and I'd like to have some sort of grille for the front. No LED's! Something similar to the fan on the top of the Antec Nine Hundred would be ideal, with slighty smaller grille holes. http://img.ncix.com/images/21123_TV.jpg

A link to an online dealer would be pro.

Pics of the desk may inspire people, aswell.

1) Get any black fan (running on 12V) from your hardware store (or old PC)

2) Pull out a grill (bigger than the fan) from old PC or other hardware. Many many devices and equipment have fan grills or something similar; don't just think about PCs but stuff like most industrial machines, TVs, other electro equipment, whatever.
eg: http://www.google.be/images?q=fan+guards

Instead of a real round grill you can also use a meshed plate; this is used in even more equipment. It usually has smaller holes too than a grill. And if you don't find one on the scrapyard, you can buy this too in any decent DIY store (and often cheaper than a grill btw, at least here... and you are not limited to any size either, or shape for that matter, with mesh plate). They come in black too...

Another alternative is to use grills used for air vents in houses, airco's and machines like a washing machine or similar. eg:
http://www.google.be/images?q=outlet+grills
http://www.google.be/images?q=air+outlet+or+inlet
They come in all sorts of colors and are circular as well as square or rectangular.

3) Buy a can of black metalic spray paint (eg: car paint) and spray the grill or mesh. Do several thin layers and let it dry in between each layer. Don't spray just one thick layer.

tip: if you know someone who knows someone who knows some friendly car dealer (or any other metal workshop guy), you can opt to let the grill or mesh be powder coated together with their stuff which they want to get painted. There isn't anything better than powder coating. The grill or mesh needs to be from metal though (it needs to conduct electricity)

4) saw a hole, slightly smaller than the diameter of the fan in your desk with a figure handsaw. This one can be tricky to make it look nice and round. Take your time and don't rush it. Sand it down afterwards.

tip: make it round if you do it by hand. Strait lines are very hard to saw by hand and strait lines which aren't so strait catch the eye immediatly.

tip: If the diameter isn't too big you can usually find special 'hole sawblades' for big diameters in the hardware store; this is preferred over manually cutting the hole with a handsaw. You can also opt for more than one smaller hole for example if you don't find a hole saw that big.

Remember that the diameter of the hole will always be slightly bigger than the diameter of the hole saw. Always do a drill test first with a hole saw into a similar piece of wood (similar thickness and hardness).

And remember to always drill from the outside to the inside in wood and never force the drill.

5) mount grill on the inside with 2 or 4 small screws... Or use a strong 2-sided tape.

6) mount the fan on top of that with 4 small screws

7) connect fan to wire with molex.
etc...

All pretty easy to do actually, and cheap, but it takes some DIY and patience (eg: don't rush the painting or sawing!!) and some searching for second hand material in trashcans etc...

I don't think you'd find a 'all-in-one kit' which you can buy though. If you don't want to do the painting, you could look for black meshes or grills of course, but all the rest (like cutting the hole and the mounting) stays all the same though, you need some elbow grease for that.

PS: if the backside is open, I don't think you need to worry too much about heat though. More air circulation is always better, but I doubt it would make that of a difference.

Happy modding

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EDIT: even more cheaper: simply drill small holes in a rectangular pattern in the door. No painting needed (unless on the inside of the bore holes maybe) and if the holes are small enough it will look just as good (maybe even better). Much quicker too...

Variation on this theme is to drill small holes in a thin piece of plywood (or plastic sheeting or ...). This has several advantages:
- In that way, if you fuck the drilling up or if you're not satisfied you can always try again on a new piece of plywood.
- You can cut the plywood exactly strait with a machine saw (let it cut to size in the DIY/hardware store).
- Easy to paint too with any type of paint (tip: use acrylic paint).

After that, saw a rectangular hole 1 or 2 cm smaller than this thin plate in your desk. It doesn't matter if the lines are not 100% strait because:

Mount the plate on the _outside_ of the desk with four black screws. Thus over the hole you cut in the desk. In this way, any errors or slightly bend lines will be completely covered.

And last but not least, mount a nice blue led behind it... Oh wait... 

As requested:



Cookie: the back side is against a wall, with about 8 cm clearance. There is a radiator along the baseboard. The cabinet is going to become a sauna without some more air flow.

quote:

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Originally posted by MeEtc
Cookie: the back side is against a wall, with about 8 cm clearance. There is a radiator along the baseboard. The cabinet is going to become a sauna without some more air flow.

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In that case I think you better close up the backside (even better with some insulation material), and make a hole on the left side of the cabinet near the top with a fan which blows out. And in the front door** just the grill/mesh without the fan, near the bottom* (unless you really want to stick a fan on it too; but in that case let this fan suck air into the cabinet).

*EDIT: But just not in that horizontal woodbeam, otherwise the door might fall appart (depending on how it was made).

**EDIT: Or, maybe for a better look (and less damage to the desk!), since the cabinet has enough clearance from the floor, instead of cutting in the front door panel, make holes in the underside. This is just as effecient (and far less to worry about as far as 'looks' go).

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EDIT3... where is the intake and outlet of air on the PC? This might be important too.... Or is it just a single fan on the backside of the case blowing out? If the latter, you might think about removing a side panel of the PC (since it is in a cabinet anyways), or put a hole in it too.

Putting a fan on the bottom is not an option, there's not much room that's not already covered by the case. Covering the back is also not an option, the chassis is against the back edge and wiring is in the way.

Air intake is via sides of the chassis and empty 3-1/2 bay at the front. Exhaust via video card, chassis fan and PSU all blowing out the back. I probably will be getting a new case at some point too.

quote:

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Originally posted by MeEtc
Putting a fan on the bottom is not an option, there's not much room that's not already covered by the case.

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You don't need to put a fan there. Just several 0,5 to 1cm holes on either side of the case. That would be more than plenty for air to come in.

Also, you can elevate your case 0,5cm or so with small wooden struds if it is flush on the cabinet floor and if it doesn't have already feet. As such you can drill even more holes under the case.

Elevate it even more (eg: 1,5cm) and you could put a fan there for sure. Or instead, the fan could be on the outside of the cabinet too though, doesn't need to be on the inside, as long as it is sucking air into the cabinet. The floor panel of that cabinet seems to be like at least 5cm from the floor, so there is more than plenty enough room to even install a massive big fan there.

Seeing the photo's of the desk I would realy go for that option though (holes on the bottom plate instead of in the door panel and a fan and hole on the side of the desk) so you don't damage the nice front look of the desk. For the airflow it is just the same if it comes from underneath or from the front of the cabinet.

quote:

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Originally posted by MeEtc
Covering the back is also not an option, the chassis is against the back edge and wiring is in the way.

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Can't you shift the case a bit forward? Also, you don't need to cover all of the back though. Obviously leave some hole for the wires and plugs to go thru. But the more it is covered the better to hold back the hot air from the radiator as much as possible.

quote:

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Originally posted by MeEtc
Air intake is via sides of the chassis and empty 3-1/2 bay at the front. Exhaust via video card, chassis fan and PSU all blowing out the back. I probably will be getting a new case at some point too.

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oh, good, as long as intake isn't on the back side (because of the radiator problem)

quote:

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Originally posted by MeEtc
No LED's!

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Even if it did, you can easily remove them. In the case of my Antec 1200 I just opened up my case and cut one of the 2 wires that go to each LED.

I think I found what i've been looking for:
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=38067

quote:

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Originally posted by MeEtc
I think I found what i've been looking for

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That will probably work. 

However, what I would like to try, instead of going for the fans, would be replacing the entire center panel of that door with a simple black metal grill.  If you could find the right material and do it well, I think that would look better and provide adequate ventilation, without the noise and wiring challenges of the fans.

Computer desks is a topic I could rant about for hours on.  I've been through several and not liked any of them.  I have looked for another replacement for a while and can't find anything that doesn't have obvious usability flaws.  Clearly, they are all designed without consulting anyone who knows anything about computers. 

Your ventilation issue is universal for anything with a door, they never think of this.  Another problem with the cabinet designs is there usually isn't enough depth.  The next thing that invariably gets screwed up is the keyboard shelf -- either not wide enough for larger keyboards + mice or not enough clearance from the desk top.  Lastly, various shelves/pedestals for monitors are only useful if you have just one and it's the exact right size.

TBH, the answer is probably to say "f*** computer desks", get a plain one with four legs, and attach a generic third party (or home made) keyboard shelf to it.