PSU fans don't fit in case

[snowdogerie]

My case is a Lian Li PC-V1000 and PSU is a Vantec VAN-520A. When installed, two of the three fans are up against the metal case. Turning the PSU 180 degrees puts one of these two fans toward the bottom of the case which is vented, but doing this puts the cabling at the bottom as well, and the opening for the cable is at the top. Any suggestions?

 

[Crashman]

I'm not going to look up the parts, but I will tell you this:

PSU's mounted at the top of a tower are supposed to be mounted with the lid facing downward. That's so if the lid has a fan, it faces downward to draw heat away from the CPU.

If it doesn't fit that way, someone screwed up, probably Lina Li.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[randy66]

thats an unusual case design , upside down MB , p/s at rear bottom ???
you may have to do some cutting of the metal panels
for fans to breathe , or use a different supply

 

[sobelizard]

You have to post a picture of this - for as much as Lian-Li cases cost, it's hard to imagine THEY screwed up.

<font color=green><b><i>Lizards</font color=green></b> do <b>not</b> taste like <b><font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b>,<b> <font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b> tastes like <font color=green><b>lizard.</b></font color=green></i>

 

[randy66]

I saw this @newegg , it costs $200

 

[snowdogerie]

Okay, these are the links to the photos of the case. The compartment that holds the power supply is well displayed by these photos. As you can see, in order to have the cable go out the back of the compartment, one fan of the VAN-520A power supply has to face the back of the compartment with 5 mm clearance and one fan has to face the the top of the compartment with the fan grill touching the metal. I contacted Vantec who said that they can not change the location of the fans. The links: http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cases/Lian_Li_PC-V1000/1024.htm
http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cases/Lian_Li_PC-V1000/1026.htm
http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/cases/Lian_Li_PC-V1000/1027.htm

 

[sobelizard]

Thanks for the pic links, after looking at those and the ps ones at <A HREF="http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/PSU/Vantec/VAN-520A/" target="_new">VR-Zone</A> it makes the puzzle more clear. From what I see, you have a few options.

1. Remove the grill that touches the top compartment - no damage should happen to the fan since the slim clearance prevents foreign objects from getting in there. That would provide 1-2mm of clearance sans grill.
2. Disable that fan altogether and remove the grill. Airflow would likely be better, as it would be pushed out in a direct line.
3. (my choice)Fire up the dremel and do some custom cutouts. Aluminum is very easy to cut, grind, polish into a pretty cool custom case. To really enjoy the benefits of your nice ps, two cuts need to be made. I would even replace the factory grills with some aftermarket bio-hazard grills or aliens.

It's too bad Lian-Li did not take into account the airflow issues when they designed the inverted case. If you lived near me, I'd do the work for you for a beer.

<font color=green><b><i>Lizards</font color=green></b> do <b>not</b> taste like <b><font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b>,<b> <font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b> tastes like <font color=green><b>lizard.</b></font color=green></i>

 

[snowdogerie]

Thanks for the reply. I do have a dremel and love to make holes in things, but for this case, the extra $$ is because there is isolation of the three compartments, and connecting the power supply compartment to the motherboard compartment or hard disk drive compartment would defeat the purpose of having separate compartments to handle heat better. What I need is to be able to have a "left-hand" model of the VAN-520 so the fan would be on the bottom not the top. Is there anyone from Lian Li reading these posts? Any suggestions?

 

[sobelizard]

That psu bracket removable on the case? If so, mirror flip it and rotate the psu accordingly. If not, drill out the rivets, mirror flip and rivet into place with larger rivets. If you don't have a rivet gun, it costs about $20.

<font color=green><b><i>Lizards</font color=green></b> do <b>not</b> taste like <b><font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b>,<b> <font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b> tastes like <font color=green><b>lizard.</b></font color=green></i>