Long bolts for thick fans

SkyTerran

SkyTerran

SkyTerran

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28 Jan 2013
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Location
Manchester
I have an old ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 cooler. With time the fans have become quite noisy. I want to change them with a pair of Corsair RX120 MAX fans, which are 30mm thick - 5mm thicker than the stock Arctic fans. The problem is the bolts are not long enough to attach the fans to the radiator. Any idea what bolts to order from say Amazon to be able to do that?
 
Do you know what thread type/size you have on the radiator side?

I normally get my bolts etc from a couple of suppliers on eBay, excellent price and quality especially for smaller numbers :)
 
Space Monkey said:
I'd be careful with getting longer ones as it could easily puncture the radiator
Click to expand...

This is v important, you might need some little washers to reduce the thread be very mindful and test out the case to see how much free depth you have before the important goods.

The bay is usually easy for bolts, pretty inexpensive and a few days posted.
 
I found some 35mm ones on Amazon, expensive for what they were but was looking for something specific (hex button head, black). Mine were metric M sizing rather than UNC though.
 
If you look at the radiator
Should be able to see if screws being
Too long
Would puncture it
Some radiators theres a horizontal metal part
Of the radiator that acts as a screw stop
Others are designed so longer screws won't puncture
Anything though may bend some fins

As its an AIO would definitely carefully check
As they're less likely to be designed
With the idea people may change to thicker fans

As said might need washers
Or could put a gasket between radiator and fans
 
If you have a hacksaw or preferably a Dremel tool you can just shorten the screws as required. If you are careful with it you should still be able to use the thread. Assuming you buy screws with thread all the way up, and not these screws which just have a little bit of thread at the end.
 
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Bubo said:
If you have a hacksaw or preferably a Dremel tool you can just shorten the screws as required. If you are careful with it you should still be able to use the thread. Assuming you buy screws with thread all the way up, and not these screws which just have a little bit of thread at the end.
Click to expand...
Top tip for this is to thread a nut on first, above the cut line, cut then remove the nut. Cleans up the threads a bit!
 
If you don't care about aesthetics, go on eBay and search for XSPC radiator screws. They're the only screws that are imperial #6-32 thread but list the length in metric mm. It's a peace of mind thing.

Otherwise you'll need to convert imperial lengths to mm; you'll want 1 3/8 inch screws which is 34.9mm. And as others have said, you can always chop down longer screws to fit.
 
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