Eventually, this mod affectionately became known as a blowhole.

When done right a blowhole mod not only is a practical means to lowering temperatures, but it also adds some aesthetic flair. We took a generic, black midtower case and with the use of a custom fan grille, a lighted fan, and a power drill, we added a swank blowhole that gave our nondescript case some much needed personality.

Assess The Situation

Installing a blowhole into a case is a fairly straightforward mod, but there are some considerations you need to make before you start drilling any holes into the case. The first thing to do is inspect the top of your case to ensure that a fan will fit. Depending on the case, there may not be sufficient room. Additionally, if the top of the case is arched or rounded, mounting a fan will be more difficult. There may also be problems with clearance if the system’s power supply or a full-length optical drive is positioned in the way. It is best to measure and mark the location for your blowhole before modifying your case in any way.

We were lucky enough to have a case on hand with a removable panel at the top. Once we inspected the inside of the system and found the proper location for our blowhole, we marked the position and removed the panel. Should your case not

have a removable top panel, you will want to remove all the components inside before performing this mod. Drilling the required holes will shower the inside of the system with metal filings, which could damage your components. With the panel removed, we used a ruler in conjunction with our fan grille to mark the proper location for our fan’s mounting holes. We lined up the ruler along the edge of the panel to ensure there was a perfect right angle and used the ruler as a guide to properly position the grille. With the grille in the correct position, we taped the grille in place and marked the exact positions of the mounting holes at the four corners.

With the screw-hole positions marked, we removed the grille and again used the ruler as a straight edge to find a center point. We marked the center point with a large X to signify the location of where we needed to drill the fan hole.

Make It Happen

Marking the positions of the mounting holes and center point is crucial to the success of a blowhole mod. Without properly marking the locations, it may be impossible to correctly mount the fan and grille. As the old saying goes, “Measure twice and cut (or in our case drill) once.”  You don’t want to end up drilling multiple holes in your case that you won’t be able to use later for anything.

As mentioned previously, the only power tool that we needed for this mod was a drill. We also used a center punch, small bit to drill the pilot holes, and a 3-inch hole saw with the drill. At the center point of what would eventually be the blowhole and at the four mounting hole positions, we used the center punch to make a divot in the metal. This prevented the drill bit from sliding around on the smooth metal when we initially drilled the hole. With the divots in place, we used the drill with the small bit to drill the proper holes in the case panel. Once the pilot holes were completed, we mounted the 3-inch hole saw to the drill and cut the large blow hole. When the hole was cut, we used a file to remove the metal burrs and dull the edge of the hole.

Complete The Mod

With the holes drilled, all we needed to do was mount the fan and grille and reinstall the panel back on the case. We made sure that the fan was oriented properly to blow air out of the system—hence the term “blowhole”—and used the included screws to hold the fan in place. We then reinstalled the panel, made the necessary electrical connections for the lighted fan, and we were done. When we were finished, we had an additional 32cfm of air being exhausted from the case. In addition, the light and custom grille added some personality to an otherwise plain system. That makes this mod a success in our book.

 

by Marco Chiappetta - Original article found at Computer Power User.com