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Intake/Exhaust fans (Cabinet Fans)

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April 20, 2014 5:49:20 AM

Hi,
I went through the article "Airflow 101".
I want to create negative pressure inside the cabinet, for proper airflow and better cooling.
My Questions:
1) How will I know that cabinet fan is working in intake mode or exhaust mode? i.e. it's sucking in cold air or blowing out hot air.
2) If there are three fans in the cabinet, how can i configure them as intake fans or exhaust fans?
I am sorry, if I am asking silly/wrong questions.
It's just that I am concerned about the temperature inside the cabinet.

More about : intake exhaust fans cabinet fans

April 20, 2014 6:14:20 AM

Hi
1) many fans have an arrow moulded into the plastic surround to show the direction of airflow,if this is not present you can power up the fan and take a small strip of single ply tissue paper and hold it in front or behind the fan and it will show the direction of airflow.
2) the standard configuration is front and bottom intake,rear and top exhaust.
if you want negative pressure and all your fans are the same size then you will need one intake and two exhaust.
By the way negative pressure of itself has no bearing on airflow or cooling as any excess air pulled by the exhaust fans comes from all the little holes in the case and can cause dust problems.
For best cooling you need a good stream of air from front to back of the case.
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April 20, 2014 9:22:02 AM

makkem said:
Hi
1) many fans have an arrow moulded into the plastic surround to show the direction of airflow,if this is not present you can power up the fan and take a small strip of single ply tissue paper and hold it in front or behind the fan and it will show the direction of airflow.
2) the standard configuration is front and bottom intake,rear and top exhaust.
if you want negative pressure and all your fans are the same size then you will need one intake and two exhaust.
By the way negative pressure of itself has no bearing on airflow or cooling as any excess air pulled by the exhaust fans comes from all the little holes in the case and can cause dust problems.
For best cooling you need a good stream of air from front to back of the case.


Ok. But, so if I want to buy 1 intake fan and 1 exhaust fan for cabinet, what to search for? I mean in catalogs what I find is 120mm fan, 80mm fan etc. there is no classification into intake or exhaust.

One more question:
About the dust filter, is it exhaust?
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April 20, 2014 9:50:44 AM

Ok,there are no specific intake or exhaust fans,it is just which way round you install the fan,so you would for example fit a fan to the front of your case which would pull air in from the outside and exhaust it to the inside of your case in this orientation it would be called an intake fan.
If you were then to remove the fan and turn it around then refit it it would pull air from inside the case and exhaust it outside,in this orientation it would be called an exhaust fan.
So if you require one intake fan and one exhaust fan for your case you would buy two fans of the same size and fit them opposite ways around.
For instance if you find that the label on the center of the fan points to the intake side of the fan then you would install that fan with the label pointing to the outside of the case at the front of the case and to the inside of the case at the back of the case.
The dust filter would be used on the intake side of the intake fan this prevents dust being pulled into the case.

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April 20, 2014 12:16:54 PM

makkem said:
Ok,there are no specific intake or exhaust fans,it is just which way round you install the fan,so you would for example fit a fan to the front of your case which would pull air in from the outside and exhaust it to the inside of your case in this orientation it would be called an intake fan.
If you were then to remove the fan and turn it around then refit it it would pull air from inside the case and exhaust it outside,in this orientation it would be called an exhaust fan.
So if you require one intake fan and one exhaust fan for your case you would buy two fans of the same size and fit them opposite ways around.
For instance if you find that the label on the center of the fan points to the intake side of the fan then you would install that fan with the label pointing to the outside of the case at the front of the case and to the inside of the case at the back of the case.
The dust filter would be used on the intake side of the intake fan this prevents dust being pulled into the case.



Ok. I get it.
Why didn't I think about it earlier? I though there should be some concept about polarity...
Anyways you solved my problem. Thanks mate.
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