View Single Post
Old 10-17-2011, 05:21 PM   #11
mithrilG60
Feeling at Home
 
mithrilG60's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
First Name: Geoff
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Posts: 733
Trading: (2)
Cuaba
mithrilG60 will become famous soon enough
Default Re: Quick question for those of you with Aristocrats

So, having now received my Mini Tall and let it season and whatnot I can sort of see what you guys were talking about in terms of noise however I still think it's a bit loud. I don't mean there's anything wrong with the system or the physical fans, they're just louder than I really like.

I think part of that is that (I assume) all of you have much larger cabinets than I do and therefore you've got Bob's larger reserviours which means you've got 60mm fans attached to them instead of the 40mm in the Mini-sized version... and that 40mm fan in mine is rated at 25dBa which is quite loud as fan go. I'm also someone that replaces every fan in new desktop just to install aftermarket low RPM fans. If I can hear a fan it's too loud. Unfortunately the options for aftermarket low RPM fans in 40mm sizing that still move close to the small amount of air as the stock fan are few and far between.

So, here's my solution:

I've had Bob prepare a new reserviour top for me with the lid drilled for a 60mm fan instead of the normal 40mm. He's pre-installing a 60x10mm fan that has about 25% more airflow than the stock 40mm which should be a bit quieter (bigger fans usually equal less noise). The nice thing about having the bigger fan is there are LOTS of options for ultra-quiet fans in the 60mm size so swapping to aftermarket (if necessary) will be a lot easier. I may just swap anyways and install the 60mm coming with the new lid in place of the 40mm independent recirculation fan for more airflow. The recirc fan is very quiet though.
mithrilG60 is offline   Reply With Quote