zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
This YouTuber 3D Printed a Roots-Style Blower for His Water-Cooled PC
This YouTuber 3D Printed a Roots-Style Blower for His Water-Cooled PC-May 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:12:03

People love a great big supercharger. You know, the kind that you’d see sticking out of the hood of a classic American muscle car or out of . They’re amazing, but what if you don’t have a vehicle on which to slap one? You could always just put one on your computer.

I’ll explain. decided to 3D print a classic 6-71 style blower to use as a cooling fan for a radiator in his water-cooled PC. Is it kind of a crazy thing to do? Yep. Is it likely to work well? Nope, or at least not as well as a $20 Noctua fan. Is it really, really rad looking? Yes, especially in the neon color scheme he printed everything in.

The decision to go with (so named because they originally came off of the Detroit Diesel 6V-71 two-stroke diesel heavy truck engine) is smart for several reasons. First, it looks iconic. Second, it uses fewer parts than you might think, and those parts are mostly easily printable, as opposed to a centrifugal blower ().

MajorHardware opted to go with a straight, tri-lobe rotor design which is arguably the simplest, if not the most efficient or quietest. He does mention that he might try a twisted screw design at some point, which would be harder to make, but much more efficient. To drive the blower, he uses a gear-reduction motor that spins at around 1,000 rpm but which, as a trade-off, has sufficient torque to get all the rotating bits moving without a struggle.

In the video, he’s as shocked as we are that his design just kind of works, albeit with a few caveats. While torquey, the motor spins too slowly to move a significant amount of air. His flow tests place it in 32nd place on his list of tested fans, which isn’t brilliant.

To try and take the design of his blower to its ultimate end, he adds a brushless RC car motor with less torque but way more speed. This results in predictable destruction, but our intrepid PC hot rodder doesn’t leave things there, as you’ll see.

Ultimately, the design is way more functional than it should be, but it’s not likely to put any PC cooling companies out of business. That said, if there were ever a way to get your Luddite boomer parent interested in learning how to use the computer, this is probably it.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I have two automotive loves: The first is the Miata, the second is off-road racing. For a while I raced air-cooled Volkswagens in the deserts of California and Nevada and I was lucky enough to co-drive in a class 11 stock bug in the Baja 1000 a few years...
May 4, 2025
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
At long last, we are about to get behind the wheel of for the first time. Sure, , and sure, , and sure , but hey — what can you do? Anyway, before we get behind the wheel of this three-row electric beast, we want to know what you...
May 4, 2025
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I love tiny, of . I have a that is roughly half the size of a normal cat, and she’s perfect. I own a 2013 , which is like the miniature version of a normal-sized vehicle (at least here in Texas) — but beyond that, I also own a Hot...
May 4, 2025
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
MotorWeek’s is some of the on the internet. The long-running automotive news magazine has a treasure trove of tests after being on the air for over 40 years. Where else can you find detailed instrumented testing of long-forgotten cars like the or a ? MotorWeek’s recent Retro Review upload is...
May 4, 2025
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
closed its São Bernardo Plant in November 2023, marking the end of its first overseas production facility. The closure caps off a period of continuous car production in São Paolo, , lasting over 60 years. The plant was home to a Komatsu 700-ton press that predates itself. And now...
May 4, 2025
Subaru Had It Right All Along
Subaru Had It Right All Along
When first came to the United States, it sold small funky cars that were decidedly un-American. As the company grew its own identity and became more established in the U.S., it became the first automaker to offer an all-wheel-drive passenger car in 1975. Subaru was also an early-adopter of...
May 4, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved