Distance between radiator and fan?

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Supreme [H]ardness
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Feb 5, 2003
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Is there any point in placing distance between a fan and radiator if you have no shroud? And does the above answer change if the fans blow air onto the rad instead of sucking air off the rad, or vice versa? (Pull seems unlikely to be a good idea for this, but push is conceivably better).

I'm going to be using a radbox and I want to know whether I should buy longer screws to place some distance between my fans and the radiator. Doesn't seem to be a shroud for this particular radiator, though (MC320). Or for that matter most other rads, which leads me to think that maybe this is no longer an issue with today's fans/rads?
 
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http://martin.skinneelabs.com/Radiator-Fan-Orientation-And-Shroud-Testing-Review.html - This article will be useful for the push vs pull scenarios.

From the article: "It also appears the shroud depth of 30mm is nearly optimal in both push and pull, this was obviously designed at this depth for good reason."

I probably would not space the fan from the radiator w/o a shroud, but I would much rather try to find a way to add SOME space for noise reduction (and some performance gain).

Some people, including myself, have successfully utilized gutted fans as shrouds/ducts. I'd use 25mm thickness fans.
 
Thanks. Also, am I retarded or are these brass worm clamps a pain? It's easy enough to rotate one way or the other (though why the flathead screw??) but once you open the clamp, it's a pain the ass to get it back in. Maybe it's because I'm not holding it against a surface; I'm just practicing as I wait for more gear to arrive.
 
Brass, nice, haven't seen them around, the stainless steel ones I use you can get with all kinds of heads, I like slotted hex, can use a screwdriver or even better a nut driver. But in general yes they are a pain to get threaded back if you loosen them all the way. A little practice makes it easier. Mainly you slip them over the tubing before you assemble and never need to "unscrew" them all the way.

To be clean, fan should be sealed to rad with as little or no air leaks as possible/practical shroud or no shroud.
 
Yeah sorry I should have said steel. Just the typical 'breeze' brand at Sidewinder.

Thanks for the heads up. Think I'll just try some electrical tape as a shroud. I don't have a saw to hack up a fan, or any tools at all really besides screwdriver, hammer, wrench, etc.
 
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