I was shopping online and happened across a very cool fan grill, it was a square metal panel with the center hole covered with hex mesh. It look VERY cool, so naturally I have no idea where I saw it...

Has anybody seen anything like this anywhere? If so, would you please send me a link??



I appreciate it.

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but check out what Xoxide has to offer

http://www.xoxide.com/allfangrills.html

fan grills?? what are those?


Ohhh..those things that block air flow and create xtra noise... Got ya!

Sounds like this: FanGrill

yeah I like the look and airflow is still very good:

I'm not a fan of fan grills, but that is a nice looking one. Too bad they're $17-22 though, jeez! I know the reason for the price is that it's billet, but it's still a hefty fee for a fan grill.

Yea those moddders mesh fan grills are kinda like saxonpcs setups..

Dude, that was exactly the one! TYVM!!

Don't fan filters screw up the air flow too?

saxonpc
I've always wondered whether this guy got his idea from modders mesh?
I mean honeycomb material is by no means new...

Yep

The SaxonPC dude sent me a sample, that stuff really is quite amazing If you want the airflow to stay straight and go further than just right behind the fan, these things rock! I tried one in between my fan and the U-120 Extreme, but that made it worse actually. With a little distance in between the fan and the target, they work great though

These honeycomb products are intended for case fans and not really CPU fans. But that sure does not stop people from trying them on the CPU. CPU fans are pretty low RPM. And you do have to have the proper spacing for a CPU. That will add considerable flow in the center dead spot. For case fans they stop the flow from dissipating so quickly as kingdingeling described.

"I've always wondered whether this guy got his idea from modders mesh?"
I wish anything came to me that easily. To ensure I had quiet and efficient cooling on my case (photos at saxxon.net )I read for days about fluid dynamics. Then I read this page from Stanford windtunnel honeycomb and still I did not piece it together until I made one out of drinking straws plastic honeycomb
That plastic handmade one I strapped to a 120mm fan after blowing through it. I was quite shocked at that point.
I am not sure how long aluminum honeycomb has been around, it is mostly used for aerospace sub-flooring and panel spacing. And it is quite difficult to get in small quantity.

Here is my best results using honeycomb on a CPU fan. It was running a stable 20C with the honcycomb on the CPU fan, then I removed the honeycomb and with fan only it climbs to 33C.

That was a Pentium 805D with stock heatsink. Higher end heatsinks with downdraft instead of side draft seem to work better with honeycomb attached.

As a fanless intake application I took this photo of smoke going through the case. This was still experimental when I completed this case, but it has proven to be work quite well cooling all the hardware and keeping the PC hardware heat from mixing with the LCD heat.
clear top with smoke

Thanks for posting some results kingdingeling. Let me know any more details you come up with.

6061 Aicraft Aluminum is expensive, but we also keep our machinist busy.

It's been awhile since I've popped in here.. I'll have to check in more often. Thanks!