Fan airflow testing question - barriers?

[TPCEA]

Hi, I'm wondering how many different barriers I should test with. I am testing computer fans to see how well they push through barriers.



At this time, for 120mm fans, I have:

a very fine, metal mesh housed in a 22.5cm, circular, plastic frame;

*a fine, plastic mesh with honeycomb grill (Silverstone SST-FF121);

a fine, rippled, metal mesh (OKGear 12MGAR);

a somewhat coarser metal filter with 1.5mm holes spaced 0.5mm apart (OKGear?);

*a very thin sheet of foam rubber sandwiched between two plastic grills as a frame (Gardtec SC120-P15/45);

a standard fan grill to protect fingers (seems quite pointless to test with as it will not be a wind barrier); and

a finer plastic grill with 1mm holes spaced .25mm apart - it's awkward to use because its 22cm2 and very flexible.



*I also have a super-fine mesh (the holes are so small I cannot measure them, but it's a DEMCiflex square filter 120mm) with magnetic sides that I can't apply because most fans have plastic frames.



I have similar but not identical options as I wasn't able to get some of the above items for 140mm, but perhaps they are out there somewhere. The ones above with an asterisk I don't have for 140mm or larger. The SST-FF121 doesn't seem to be available in other sizes on the Silverstone site.



Should I just stick with the ones I have for 140mm fans, too? That would be 3 barriers, plus the 22cm filter if I can figure out a convenient way to use it on my wind tunnel, which is round. Should I try to find larger versions of some of the unique ones?



Which filters should I use?



Your input is appreciated!

[freeagent]

I don't use mesh or filters, they are a waste of time.

 

And like condoms, they just get in the way..

 

Best way to tame dust? Clean your house, and buy an electric duster 

[TPCEA]

15 minutes ago, freeagent said:

I don't use mesh or filters, they are a waste of time.

 

And like condoms, they just get in the way..

 

Best way to tame dust? Clean your house, and buy an electric duster 

I'm testing fans. It's not for my PC.

[freeagent]

Right.. 

 

I am saying you should go bare back. Its better.

[TPCEA]

10 minutes ago, freeagent said:

Right.. 

 

I am saying you should go bare back. Its better.

That's not what I asked, dude. 

[freeagent]

Happy testing.

[Lurking]

I'd use honeycomb, meshfilters, thin and thicker radiators. Basically all the things a PC fan has to push through in real life.

 

I don't have the link on my phone. But some months ago we had a fan testing discussion about tests done by one of the good magazines. They basically tested fan performance with all the typical barriers in a case. I think they did really well and for practical use.

 

No point in testing setups that will never happen in a case, IMHO.

[TPCEA]

9 hours ago, Lurking said:

I'd use honeycomb, meshfilters, thin and thicker radiators. Basically all the things a PC fan has to push through in real life.

 

I don't have the link on my phone. But some months ago we had a fan testing discussion about tests done by one of the good magazines. They basically tested fan performance with all the typical barriers in a case. I think they did really well and for practical use.

 

No point in testing setups that will never happen in a case, IMHO.

There's a small problem with the honeycomb. Silverstone doesn't make it in larger sizes. Do you know of other products that are the same?

 

Also, I need a thin and thick rad that are inexpensive, preferably 140mm wide. Do you know of any?

[Whatisthis]

5 hours ago, RevGAM said:

There's a small problem with the honeycomb. Silverstone doesn't make it in larger sizes. Do you know of other products that are the same?

 

Also, I need a thin and thick rad that are inexpensive, preferably 140mm wide. Do you know of any?

I’d probably call local pc repair shops. They probably get bad AIOs that they just throw away - could ask if they can donate the rad to you next time they get one.

[TPCEA]

5 hours ago, Whatisthis said:

I’d probably call local pc repair shops. They probably get bad AIOs that they just throw away - could ask if they can donate the rad to you next time they get one.

I'll try that. The cheapest 140mm rad I could find online, so far, is this AGPtek. Aliexpress didn't even have anything that cheap.