Securing Fan Wires - Case And Heat Sink

[GorfTheFrog]

Hi All -

Just finished my first homebuilt (config below,) and I'm very pleased with it.

Before I close the case, I'm looking for advice on how best to secure those small fan wires.

In particular, I'm looking at the wires coming off the heat sink fan and the case fans (back and top.)

The heat sink fan has already "eaten" its own wires once. There was no damage, and since I have the case open it was easy to untangle. However, once I close, I really don't want to have to open to unwind a wire from a fan.

I think I can pull the case fan wires straight down into the wire management side-panel space, but there doesn't seem to be any obvious ways to secure the heat sink fan wires.

Also, should I be concerned about either vibration or direct heat wearing away the insulation of these smaller fan wires if they are touching any of the components? I'm looking at the heat sink fan wires resting against the fins of the CPU heat sink itself and the passive heatsink for the onboard MOBO components.

Configuration:
Core i7-920
- Standard Intel heat sink that comes with the CPU
Asus P6T Deluxe v2
EVGA GTX275
WD Black Caviar 1TB
3x2GB DDR3 OCZ RAM
Corsair 1000W PSU
Antec 902 Case

Many Thanks,
GorfTheFrog

 

[Niklas_13]

zip ties or get some velcro

 

[buzznut]

Well, plastic ties are what most of us use for wire management. However in a pinch a twisty might do, but not highly recommended because of the little wire inside. I usually put a couple ties (very snug) on the oem fan wires because they become loose.
Then I would tuck the wires away, or possibly tie them to a component. another thing to do is simply coil up the slack and tie it around the middle, so it doesn't become sucked into the fan.

I haven't had any wires lose their insulation while being tied to a heatsink, or any other component. The melting point for the plastic insulation is higher than any component should be running in your pc. If you had particularly cheap insulation it might I suppose, but the only time I've ever burned the insulation off was while fooling with too much current, or errant soldering.

Dontcha just LOVE that smell?! 😉

Its good to see you are concerned with these things. Wire management is one of the most important and overlooked part of most builds. My builds have no problem breathing, everything is tucked away and tied down, I am very meticulous about it and will spend hours making sure its perfect. Even tho I can't wait to fire it up, its worth the wait.

 

[buzznut]

BTW, you can get those zip ties at newegg or wherever, but I usually find them cheapest at Ace or some other hardware store. They come in lots of diff sizes.