A Warning For Those Thinking of Dying Noctua NF-F12's

[Eric1024]

Okay, so after reading the guide from OCN that has been floating around about dying Noctua fans different colors, I decided I'd try to dye my NF-F12's to black. When I went to remove the fan blades, however, I had a lot of trouble and ended up not being able to. I tried everything: brute force, prying, even heating up the fan until the plastic became soft and I STILL couldn't get the fan bladess off of the motor. I ended up cracking the fan blades slightly, but not to the point that they were un-usable, but I was okay with breaking a fan in my quest for knowledge so it didn't bother me. I then decided that I would drill the fan open so that I could figure out what was holding it together. It turns out the center of the fan is molded around the motor from both sides (the bottom of the fan chassis is molded into the bottom of the motor, and the center of the blades is molded around the center spindle of the fan).

The point I'm trying to make here is that the noctua-fan-dying guide that a few people have linked is for the older series of fans, the NF-P12's, not the newer NF-F12's. If someone has a way to disassemble the F12's I'd honestly love to see it because I'd like to dye mine, but to my knowledge there is not a good/safe way to get them appart.

Also, it's a bit hard to get emotion across through text, so just to be clear I'm not upset with the guy who wrote the guide or the people sharing it, I'm just trying to make people aware the the guide is for an older model of fan. :P

[razersum]

this is what I feel about it after reading your post

[eshbop]

Can you still remove the motor + fan blades off the frame without much trouble? Thanks for the post, saved me some headaches!

[eshbop]

this is what I feel about it after reading your post

Ahahaha he's even got the colour scheme right

[Eric1024]

Can you still remove the motor + fan blades off the frame without much trouble? Thanks for the post, saved me some headaches!

Not from what I could tell. I'm not at home right now but tomorrow I'll come back and try to get some good pictures of what I'm talking about and post them.

[Guest]

Thank you - I was about to go out and buy 20 of the, and was split with them vs AP123's because I was going to dye the Noctuas blue however that just put the nail in the coffin of the Noctuas.

[Lawson10]

I really do wish the fans where nicer to look at. I don't like the idea of having to dye them to make them look nice.

[iTonyy]

Thank you - I was about to go out and buy 20 of the, and was split with them vs AP123's because I was going to dye the Noctuas blue however that just put the nail in the coffin of the Noctuas.

Are the ap123 decent case intake fans? Or are they pressure optimized rad fans?

[Guest]

Thank you - I was about to go out and buy 20 of the, and was split with them vs AP123's because I was going to dye the Noctuas blue however that just put the nail in the coffin of the Noctuas.

From what I understand, they're static pressure optimized just looking at the blade setup.

And a glance at the page for them confirms this.

[Eric1024]

Thank you - I was about to go out and buy 20 of the, and was split with them vs AP123's because I was going to dye the Noctuas blue however that just put the nail in the coffin of the Noctuas.

No problem :P

[Yamuda]

Aww man. This sucks! (Not your thread, but the fact that you can't even take apart the fans!!) It's almost like Noctua doesn't want you to re-color their fans... :/

[Eric1024]

Aww man. This sucks! (Not your thread, but the fact that you can't even take apart the fans!!) It's almost like Noctua doesn't want you to re-color their fans... :/

Yeah it does suck, but I REALLY doubt that when they were building them they made them non-disassemble-able just so people couldn't re-color them. Honestly I think if anything this shows in part why Noctua's are such damn good fans as it kinda just attests to their build quality.

[X1XNobleX1X]

How to take apart Noctua fan?

What's the best way of taking the Noctua fans apart. 
How much powdered RIT dye would I need to dye 15 fans. Blades red and frame Black.

[Eric1024]

 

How to take apart Noctua fan?

What's the best way of taking the Noctua fans apart. 

How much powdered RIT dye would I need to dye 15 fans. Blades red and frame Black.

 

That's the point of this thread. You really can't.

 

If you want to dye noctuas, you have to use the older, not as good NF-P12s, the newer NF-F12s can't be taken appart. At that point you should just go with some other brand of fans.

[X1XNobleX1X]

Would anyone recommend any other fans? 

some suggestions have been the E-loops. Which are white. Also looking for PWM version. 

I'm going with a Black, Red build. Colors that match would be much appreciated. 

[melchiorvester]

Wouldn't dyeing your fans be bad for the fan adding some mm in the size and making the small instep design just filled?

[airdeano]

The point I'm trying to make here is that the noctua-fan-dying guide that a few people have linked is for the older series of fans, the NF-P12's, not the newer NF-F12's. If someone has a way to disassemble the F12's I'd honestly love to see it because I'd like to dye mine, but to my knowledge there is not a good/safe way to get them appart.

 

 

we have covered this in the modding section in great detail and expense.

 

How stupid is this idea? (dying my Noctua cpu fan)

Dyeing Noctua Fans.

 

i made many posts stating the only way to separate the assemblies was to break it and

that is not acceptable..

 

sorry you had to find out from another forum what we already knew..

 

airdeano

[Vic9mm]

C'mon guys if you like Noctua fans and want to dye them you might have to sacrifice 1 to learn how to dissemble it.   

[Eric1024]

C'mon guys if you like Noctua fans and want to dye them you might have to sacrifice 1 to learn how to dissemble it.   

Again you're missing the point. I sacrificed one (and it sounds like others have as well) to learn that they can't​ be dissembled without breaking them permanently.

[Eric1024]

we have covered this in the modding section in great detail and expense.

 

How stupid is this idea? (dying my Noctua cpu fan)

Dyeing Noctua Fans.

 

i made many posts stating the only way to separate the assemblies was to break it and

that is not acceptable..

 

sorry you had to find out from another forum what we already knew..

 

airdeano

Wish I would have known but whatever :P Thanks for the links. :)