Computer External Cooler
Intro: Computer External Cooler
The idea of this project came when I was playing Far Cry 5 on my computer when I took off my head phones to hear the roar of the fans cooling the computer I felt behind the computer and was shocked at how incredibly hot the computer and the area behind it was, at this point hot air was sitting behind the computer I thought of how I could make the air move out from behind the computer while not making to much noise. So I came up with a plan to more or less trap the air in a box behind the computer and have it be expelled by a single fan that is held in the computer. The picture (shown above) shows the computer with the creation behind it, normally the box would be upside down.
STEP 1: The Design
The design was pretty simple, in order to have the box securely fit to the back of the computer I made a 17 x 2.5in square shaped gap in the back of the box in order to have the computer interlock with the box, I got the measurement by measuring the computers protruded part which could be considered a downside to this computer but a plus side in this case. (computer shown above) I made the part file with various holes in the side of the box to provide air flow out the sides and some style points.
STEP 2: Assembly
As for assembly I used wood glue to secure the various pieces of wood together, however if I was to do this again I would make interlocking tabs to make it a little easier to put together. The fan was put on with screws that would secure it to the wood (which was found to be a very difficult task). If you are making the cad file for the side pieces make a larger hole which you can use to feed the cord through to power this fan. You can also make a hole in the back for the cord if you are worried about aesthetics, but if ou are putting this behind your computer you are clearly not worried about aesthetics.
STEP 3: Test
I assembled the box and attached the computer loosely to it and played another round of Far Cry, The box got very hot and radiated a "campfire smell" around the room, however did the job that it was supposed to which was keeping air from sitting behind the computer, If I was to do this again I would use better fans because the wimpy fan that I used. Not that I was worried about it looking bad but the wood did not look great up against the metal and black of the computer. RGB fans would be cool too.
Comments
seamster 5 years ago
Interesting solution, thanks for sharing!