Will rubber screws fail me?

[shoujin]

I have an all-in-one liquid cooling module that has a double-length radiator and two fans.

Using the long bolts included to attach this to the case on the inside proves to be quite noisy due to all the vibration:

I want to use shorter included bolts to attach the fans to the radiator, and use rubber screws to attach the whole thing to the case:

My concern is that the rubber screws (of which there will be 8) will become brittle over time and fail, and then the whole radiator+fans block would crash down onto my GPU.

What do you guys think? Is this idea safe or not?

 

[Hawkshot]

I think it depends on what quality rubber that you use, as most people know if you super cool rubber it becomes very brittle but it shouldn't be receiving that amount of cooling in those positions to take that much of a beating. I think you will be safe but cant say for sure without knowing what type of rubber and how cold those parts of the coolers run. genuinely speaking I don't see it being a problem though.

 

[shoujin]

I think it depends on what quality rubber that you use, as most people know if you super cool rubber it becomes very brittle but it shouldn't be receiving that amount of cooling in those positions to take that much of a beating. I think you will be safe but cant say for sure without knowing what type of rubber and how cold those parts of the coolers run. genuinely speaking I don't see it being a problem though.

Actually, I don't imagine the cold is the problem. Ambient temperatures won't be lower than 15C and under load CPU will produce quite a lot of heat (but definitely under 100C), so I suppose the rubber will deteriorate due to heat and time.

I was looking at basics, like: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?&_nkw=rubber+screw+fan

I suppose it makes sense to spend more money on high quality ones.

But ultimately, you think, there is no design flaw with this plan, right?

 

[Hawkshot]

due to the high melting point of most industry standard rubber I wouldn't be worried about heat, for rubber to become brittle due to decay of time it takes a long time unless its exposed to damp hot air a lot which as its a computer I doubt it will be.

Design wise it seems sound to me. I think it will reduce sound from rattling and will actually be a very good alternative

 

[shoujin]

I suppose I will try this out, thanks : )

 

[shoujin]

So, in the end this is what I did:

It seems to hold in place pretty good. I also had to make tight washers (4mm inner radius) to secure the rubber screws as the holes in the case were too big and the rubber screws would not hold the block of radiator with fans.

As you can see I had to install additional foam pads because the fans rattled like hell between fans and the case and between fans and the radiator.

Result: While I did manage to drastically reduce the level of noise and rattling, it is still far from quiet, especially under load.

Bottom line: stock h100i fans are very noisy and rattle as a bucket with loose bolts.

 

[Hawkshot]

So, in the end this is what I did:

It seems to hold in place pretty good. I also had to make tight washers (4mm inner radius) to secure the rubber screws as the holes in the case were too big and the rubber screws would not hold the block of radiator with fans.

As you can see I had to install additional foam pads because the fans rattled like hell between fans and the case and between fans and the radiator.

Result: While I did manage to drastically reduce the level of noise and rattling, it is still far from quiet, especially under load.

Bottom line: stock h100i fans are very noisy and rattle as a bucket with loose bolts.

Interesting, thank you for letting me know your results they wernt as I expected but then again lifes a bit of a b**** sometimes. what case are you using just out of interest?

 

[shoujin]

My case is Coolermaster HAF 932 Full Tower

 

[Hawkshot]

oh I see, full tower cases usually have quite a lot of flimsy metal on side and top panels so rattling can be an issue with them. if you need anything else please don't hesitate to pm me.

 

[shoujin]

oh I see, full tower cases usually have quite a lot of flimsy metal on side and top panels so rattling can be an issue with them. if you need anything else please don't hesitate to pm me.

There is rubber and foam separating the case from the fans, so I find it doubtful that enough vibration is carried to the case so that it rattles so much...

Also, without the foam, rattling was completely the same with rubber screws as it was with metal bolts.