Cabinet/Case Fans - Direction of Air Flow

[janitha]

Cabinet/Case Fans are a common subject in the forums. For eg. Inlet in the front bottem and exhaust/outlet in the top back.

So my two questions are-
1. Can the same fan be used as inlet and oulet, by changing the direction, since logically it seems so?
2. How to know the direction of air flow by seeing a fan. Is the label on the side any indication? I am asking since it seems difficult to find physically by sensing the flow.

with thanks in advance,

V.Prem Kumar

[phatratt]

1)I have swapped both the fans and din'nt find much difference in terms of performance and heating.
Make sure that u have not placed any hot/dusty object in front of the inlet fan.

2)most fans have an arrow mark indicating the direction of the airflow.

[janitha]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

1. But there should be difference. Otherwise, why everybody insist on installing additional fans?

2. You are correct. My Antec fan which I got today does have the arrow mark. But the ordinary ones that I have, do not have any marking.
regards,
V.Prem Kumar

[theraven]

the side that has the "safety rods" is the side from which air comes OUT ..
thats the general rule

[janitha]

Originally Posted by theraven

the side that has the "safety rods" is the side from which air comes OUT ..
thats the general rule

Thanks for the info.

[siriusb]

As far as I've seen, the side that has the manufacturer sticker is always the direction of flow. Only one cheap fan that I have seems to differ. But it has no sticker.

If u can't seem to find it still, you can make a primitive duct with a piece of chart or paper to better sense the air flow.

[janitha]

Originally Posted by siriusb

As far as I've seen, the side that has the manufacturer sticker is always the direction of flow. Only one cheap fan that I have seems to differ. But it has no sticker.

If u can't seem to find it still, you can make a primitive duct with a piece of chart or paper to better sense the air flow.

Yes, that is what I could find out from diff sources. ie. the sticker.
Thanks.
V.prem Kumar

[janitha]

Finally I fixed my new Antec Cooling Pro 80mm Dual Ball Bearing exhaust fan in place of the earlier ordinary one. Now the CPU temp (idle) has increased from the earlier 38 degrees C to 39-40 and the fan noise has increased considerably. The new fan is connected to the Mobo since it has Speed control which is suported by my A8N-E.

The rated speed of the fan is 2600 average but it is running at nearly 3000.

The fan was purchased online from E-Bay for > Rs.400 and came in the sealed Blister packing.

And my old fan was a Rs.70 one.

V.Prem Kuamr

[Kniwor]

Originally Posted by janitha

Finally I fixed my new Antec Cooling Pro 80mm Dual Ball Bearing exhaust fan in place of the earlier ordinary one. Now the CPU temp (idle) has increased from the earlier 38 degrees C to 39-40 and the fan noise has increased considerably. The new fan is connected to the Mobo since it has Speed control which is suported by my A8N-E.

The rated speed of the fan is 2600 average but it is running at nearly 3000.

The fan was purchased online from E-Bay for > Rs.400 and came in the sealed Blister packing.

And my old fan was a Rs.70 one.

V.Prem Kuamr

time to switch back....