Hey everyone,
I'm looking to upgrade my cheap projector by replacing the current blower fan with a DIY blower fan to reduce the noise. My plan is to 3D print something similar to this design and use a Noctua case fan as the motor.
I have a couple of questions:
I'm looking to upgrade my cheap projector by replacing the current blower fan with a DIY blower fan to reduce the noise. My plan is to 3D print something similar to this design and use a Noctua case fan as the motor.
I have a couple of questions:
- Does this idea make sense from a noise perspective? Is the blower fan noisy mainly because of the motor, or are there other factors involved?
- If I match the RPM of the new case fan to the original blower fan, will it provide sufficient airflow?
The shape of the fan blades play a big role in how noisy the fan is. Apple has a patent on that, which is one of the reasons their computers are so quiet.
I would imagine that the bearings have a large impact as well.
If you want a low-noise fan, I suggest finding a quiet fan that fits rather than trying to 3D print something. One could consider 3D printing some cowling.
Tom
I would imagine that the bearings have a large impact as well.
If you want a low-noise fan, I suggest finding a quiet fan that fits rather than trying to 3D print something. One could consider 3D printing some cowling.
Tom
Hi, SuperKid:
Sounds like a fun experiment... As AVWERK stated: be prepared for some unexpected failures if you're approaching this from a purely experimental direction! The radial-flow blower will have different performance characteristics than the axial-flow Noctua fan - pressure/volume, power, and efficiency will be different. Not only will the airflow in the installation likely differ, but the motor may be overloaded as well. RPM is only one of several variables at play here. What is the style of the noisy blower currently installed? Aerodynamics (blower type & details of the component shapes) is by far the significant factor in blower noise generation. Then you have (as tomchr pointed out) mechanical noise from bearings, rotor imbalance, etc. that can be transmitted through the blower mountings & be radiated by housing surfaces. Resilient mountings might help with that. For sure: the best solution is to start with a quieter blower. (Yes - I've found Noctua fans to be generally good for that in PC cooling applications.) Following that, you could consider an external acoustic enclosure for the blower with absorption and/or baffles on the inlet and outlet, and duct that to the projector housing. Of course, the added flow resistance of that will need to be factored into the fan pressure requirement. Sorry - it's never a simple solution!
Wilf
Sounds like a fun experiment... As AVWERK stated: be prepared for some unexpected failures if you're approaching this from a purely experimental direction! The radial-flow blower will have different performance characteristics than the axial-flow Noctua fan - pressure/volume, power, and efficiency will be different. Not only will the airflow in the installation likely differ, but the motor may be overloaded as well. RPM is only one of several variables at play here. What is the style of the noisy blower currently installed? Aerodynamics (blower type & details of the component shapes) is by far the significant factor in blower noise generation. Then you have (as tomchr pointed out) mechanical noise from bearings, rotor imbalance, etc. that can be transmitted through the blower mountings & be radiated by housing surfaces. Resilient mountings might help with that. For sure: the best solution is to start with a quieter blower. (Yes - I've found Noctua fans to be generally good for that in PC cooling applications.) Following that, you could consider an external acoustic enclosure for the blower with absorption and/or baffles on the inlet and outlet, and duct that to the projector housing. Of course, the added flow resistance of that will need to be factored into the fan pressure requirement. Sorry - it's never a simple solution!
Wilf