Creamyapples1
www.murphycabs.com
So I've finally gotten around to getting a rack case and the stuff I need to make it as "noiseless" as I can. I got the isolation matting, PSU silencer, 120mm, 40mm fan silencers and a harddrive silencer from frozencpu.com, Vantec Stealth 120mm and 40mm fans from Nexfan.com and a 4U Rack Case from newegg.com
First off, this thing is massive. It's the size of your average ATX FULL tower. (most people are acustom to mid-towers) The case is beautiful, it has a front cover with lock and more space inside that any one person should need. It came standard with thumb screws at damn near every access point, which is a big plus too.
To start off, lastnight I took off the top panel. I then started sizing up the iso matting and started cutting to fit the top panel, and sides. This was kinda tricky in a few places, but nothing major. I wasn't so anal as to use a ruler or straight edge to make the cuts, so the cuts aren't totally square, but who cares? It's inside, noone will ever see it right?
On the PSU side of the case was the trickiest part so far. The mounts for the 5.25 bays on the front side of the case have a small alley between the mount and the right (if you are looking at the case from the front) So I cut the matting to fit the height and approx length to wear the PSU would end (there are vents in the middle where the PSU will sit) To get the matting down the "alley" of the right side I left a portion of the protective paper (that peels off to reveal the adhesive on the back) slid it down and peeled the rest of the paper off ahering it to the side of the case. I don't think this should be a problem because over 70% of this piece has the adhesive exposed and attached to the case, the rest is held in place by the 5.25 rack. The left side was pretty cut and dry. The top panel was as well, though it required some cutting. There is a mount for 2 80mm fans on the top panel as well. I just cut a piece to fit the biggest part, then a few smaller strips and leftover pieces to fill in around the 80mm mount. The bottom panel is going to be even trickier I think. The risers for the motherboard are just a tad longer than your average riser, so there will be plenty of room for the matting and the mobo will not be actually resting on the matting, but I'll need to start measuring and cut the matting to fit around the risers, which to me, is easier than putting the whole piece in and trying to find the holes for the risers again. After this step, I'm going to take the leftover scrap pieces of matting and just start putting them wherever there is an open space.
The PSU Silencer and fan silencers are basically just rubber gaskets that go between the PSU/fans and the case. Pretty cut and dry.
FIRE TESTING Today I took a small scrap piece of the matting, took the adhesive protective paper off the back and intoduced an open flame to it (standard bic lighter) to my dismay the adhesive is pretty flameable, but the matting itsself is very retardant. As long as an open flame is present, the matting gets warm, and softens but does not actually catch fire. As soon as the flame is taken away there is next to no smoke, so intially I want to say that there is little smoldering. As far as the adhesive goes, As long as the matting is applied carefully, and your edges are pressed firmly, there should be no way that a direct flame could ignite it. I tested this theory by putting a small piece of the matting on a metal fence post and holding (again) a stardard bic lighter to it. I held an open flame to one spot for 45 seconds, and as soon as I pulled the lighter away, no flame was present, though there was a short burst of smoke. I touched the matting approx. 5 seconds after the flame was taken away and there was zero heat, very little deformation and charring. Of course, if there is an open flame in your PC case, then you have bigger problems anyway. I plan to perform a heat test in the next few days and I'll post those results as well. I'm thinking taking a piece of metal and heating it until it "glows" and pressing it against a scrap piece of the matting and we'll see what happens. Overall, I'd say the matting is pretty damn safe as long as you take the precautions to make sure that it aheres properly to your case.
Pictures and more on the whole project to come within the next few days.
First off, this thing is massive. It's the size of your average ATX FULL tower. (most people are acustom to mid-towers) The case is beautiful, it has a front cover with lock and more space inside that any one person should need. It came standard with thumb screws at damn near every access point, which is a big plus too.
To start off, lastnight I took off the top panel. I then started sizing up the iso matting and started cutting to fit the top panel, and sides. This was kinda tricky in a few places, but nothing major. I wasn't so anal as to use a ruler or straight edge to make the cuts, so the cuts aren't totally square, but who cares? It's inside, noone will ever see it right?
On the PSU side of the case was the trickiest part so far. The mounts for the 5.25 bays on the front side of the case have a small alley between the mount and the right (if you are looking at the case from the front) So I cut the matting to fit the height and approx length to wear the PSU would end (there are vents in the middle where the PSU will sit) To get the matting down the "alley" of the right side I left a portion of the protective paper (that peels off to reveal the adhesive on the back) slid it down and peeled the rest of the paper off ahering it to the side of the case. I don't think this should be a problem because over 70% of this piece has the adhesive exposed and attached to the case, the rest is held in place by the 5.25 rack. The left side was pretty cut and dry. The top panel was as well, though it required some cutting. There is a mount for 2 80mm fans on the top panel as well. I just cut a piece to fit the biggest part, then a few smaller strips and leftover pieces to fill in around the 80mm mount. The bottom panel is going to be even trickier I think. The risers for the motherboard are just a tad longer than your average riser, so there will be plenty of room for the matting and the mobo will not be actually resting on the matting, but I'll need to start measuring and cut the matting to fit around the risers, which to me, is easier than putting the whole piece in and trying to find the holes for the risers again. After this step, I'm going to take the leftover scrap pieces of matting and just start putting them wherever there is an open space.
The PSU Silencer and fan silencers are basically just rubber gaskets that go between the PSU/fans and the case. Pretty cut and dry.
FIRE TESTING Today I took a small scrap piece of the matting, took the adhesive protective paper off the back and intoduced an open flame to it (standard bic lighter) to my dismay the adhesive is pretty flameable, but the matting itsself is very retardant. As long as an open flame is present, the matting gets warm, and softens but does not actually catch fire. As soon as the flame is taken away there is next to no smoke, so intially I want to say that there is little smoldering. As far as the adhesive goes, As long as the matting is applied carefully, and your edges are pressed firmly, there should be no way that a direct flame could ignite it. I tested this theory by putting a small piece of the matting on a metal fence post and holding (again) a stardard bic lighter to it. I held an open flame to one spot for 45 seconds, and as soon as I pulled the lighter away, no flame was present, though there was a short burst of smoke. I touched the matting approx. 5 seconds after the flame was taken away and there was zero heat, very little deformation and charring. Of course, if there is an open flame in your PC case, then you have bigger problems anyway. I plan to perform a heat test in the next few days and I'll post those results as well. I'm thinking taking a piece of metal and heating it until it "glows" and pressing it against a scrap piece of the matting and we'll see what happens. Overall, I'd say the matting is pretty damn safe as long as you take the precautions to make sure that it aheres properly to your case.
Pictures and more on the whole project to come within the next few days.
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I've spend quite a few bucks figuring out which silencer products work best.