03 September 2010
1/1
difficulty rating:
- easy/medium
article by:
- carloshax
related www:
- forum thread
"I know there are a lot of guides out there that tell you how to cut a blowhole, but so many people still constantly ask the best way to do it. This is the easiest and quickest way to cut a blowhole..."
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Article ©2004 Modtown
I am going to be cutting a blowhole into the top of a standard beige case so that hot air can be extracted easily. Cutting a hole in the top stops the build up of hot air, as you all should know hot air rises and when it does it needs somewhere to go, this little mod ensures that hot air is not re-circulated around the case.
For this article I am going to be fitting an 80mm Sunon case fan (Model# KD1208PTB1(2).H) (80x80x25) supplied by THERMACO they are the sole UK Import agent of Sunon products as well as other manufacturers. So if you’re a reseller or want to find a reseller contact these guys and the will be able to help you out.
I have to admit I have got a soft spot for Sunon fans they offer a good amount of cooling and not a great amount of noise.
specs of the Sunon fan:
- Voltage: 12 VDC
- Bearing Style: Sleeve
- Current: 0.19 amps
- Input: 2.3 watts
- Speed: 2700 RPM
- Airflow: 65.5 CFM
- Pressure: 0.16 INCH H20
- Noise: 30 DBA
- Weight: 92.5g
what you need:
- Masking tape
- Marker
- Sunon fan + grill
- 4mm metal drill bit
- 76mm tank cutter and arbour
- File
- Ruler
I now have to give you a word of caution about cutting holes in your case. Modtown accepts no responsibility for damage caused by electromagnetic interference. All electrical and electronic equipment have to meet certain requirements, cutting a hole in your case can cause your pc to no longer meet these requirements. Sunon have a quick fix for this in the form an EMC filter screen, that can be mounted over the fan cut-out. For more information please contact THERMACO and they will be able to assist you in this matter.
The first thing you should do is cover the top in masking tape so that you don’t scratch the top and also you can mark out where you going to be drilling.
Next what you need to do is work out where you
want the blowhole to be located. So many people go wrong at this point and don’t
even realise until they go to put everything back into their case.
You need to allow for your power supply and your top drive bay, if you cut in
the wrong place you might find you cant get either of these back in, this is the
way I do it.
Roughly hold your power supply in place and put a mark where it finishes, then
add 10-20mm this will allow for cables etc… The blue line is where the power
supply ends and the red line is where my marking out begins.
The next thing to do is centre the fan on the red line as shown below and draw a line around the fan and mark the position of the holes.
You should end up with this:
Now you need to find the centre point by running a line from corner to corner:
The next thing to do is drill the fixing holes and a pilot hole on the centre
point, for this I use a 4mm metal drill bit, I say metal bit because I can
imagine some plum using a masonry bit.
Now I come to the bit I love, cutting a big hole in your case. For this I use an 76mm Tank Cutter and arbour. You can get these from almost any hardware shop but for the UK folk go to Screwfix they are the cheapest place I’ve seen.
Screw the tank cutter onto the arbour and attach to drill. Now place the guiding drill bit on the centre pilot hole you drilled earlier, now with a steady hand start drilling out the hole. Once you have done that you should end up with this:
Now peel off all the masking tape and file any rough bits down and you should have something that looks like this:
If you want you can put some blowhole trim
around the edge to hide any imperfections there maybe. But I was happy with mine
and just fitted the fan and grill.
Here are two examples of the finished article.
Well done you have now finished cutting a
blowhole.
This mod only takes about 30mins from start to finish, and it is nerve racking
if this is your first mod but I love cutting up cases and if you are a true
modder you will too :)
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