Looking for ulta low head screws for water cooler's radiator

[padrepedro]

Hi,

I have the NZXT Kraken X62 AIO water cooler's radiator attached to the top of my case (Cooler Master Storm Trooper with window). To achieve this I've used the screws provided with the Kraken X62. Problem is that the screws' heads come too high, so I can't place my case's top dust filter anymore.

The screws are UNC #6-32 x 3/16 for as far as I can tell. The head height is about 2.5 mm and the head's diameter about 6.5 mm. I know ultra low heads exist with a height of about 0.5 or 0.6 mm, but I can't find any of these for UNC #6-32 x 3/16. Does anyone know if what I'm looking for actually exists and if so, which manufacturer or shop provides them? If I can't find any suitable screws, I can't use my top dust filter anymore.

That being said, is putting a dust filter on top of a water cooler's radiator recommended? yes, every little thing that can obstruct air flow has a negative impact, but if my temperatures are okay after all, then why shouldn't I try to keep dust out of my radiator (which must be hell to clean out, isn't it?)?

Any advice related to this topic is highly appreciated! Thanks!

Ciao
Pedro

 

[Lutfij]

If the radiator's fan is setup to push air out of the case, you're just impeding the airflow by placing an air/dust filter outside of case on top of the radiators. No it isn't a pain to clean out, you should ideally use a can of compressed air or even use a blower to get the dirt out of the crevices/fin stacks.

You could likewise look for flush mounted 6-32 screws but then again you will need to counter sunk the places where the screws mount on the chassis...which is already thin metal.

 

[Imacflier]

If you can find them, both amazon and ebay are highly likely to have the screws you are looking for. If all else fails try Fastenal.com or McMaster-Carr: if they exist those folks will have them!

Larry

 

[padrepedro]

I know socket cap head screws exist with a cap height of 0.5mm and 0.6mm (compared to the quite default 2.5mm), but I can only find these for metric screws (and with the remark that the diameter is a bit smaller too). I'm gonna take one further look tonight, after that I give up... :-/

For cleaning out the radiator: I have cans of compressed air and am planning to buy a blower (with ESD protection), something like https://www.amazon.com/Metro-Datavac-Safe-Electric-Duster/dp/B00U01YVYK although other models exist (have to compare them). But even then I try to keep dust out of my case. The better I can do that, the less I have to clean and take (small) risks. Also, dust is not good when trying to keep your system cool. On the other hand Lutfij is right too: dust filters impede the air flow.

Honestly, it's a difficult choice to be made, especially because I don't know (yet) which temperatures I may expect with my current system (which is not completely operational yet).

Thx for the answers, hopefully I can update this thread (pun intended ;-)) soon!

 

[padrepedro]

Well, I've found something very close to what I was looking for: http://www.metricscrews.us/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79_80&products_id=631&zenid=05kmjgari68hnabma0ufqs8nl7
It would have been perfect if the head height were a little, little bit smaller and the diameter a little bit wider. I'm not 100% sure if these screws will actually be low enough, but I think there is a very good chance, especially because I'm going to replace the washers with special anti-vibration washers which I think I can get a little bit less heigh. So at the end it's gonna be fifty-fifty I guess

The screws are #6-32 x3/16 flat head machine screws (so no caps or flat sockets (countersunk)) with a head height of 0.026" and head diameter of 0.19". The screws are custom made

Ciao!
Pedro