Rivet Removal

[0E_Exception]

My case has the top of it riveted to the chassis. I was wondering if anyone else out there has this problem and how they resolved it? I was thinking about just drilling through the rivets to remove them, but then to resecure the top I might run into some problems with distortion and screw sizes. Any suggestions?

[ephmynus]

I had an older case like this... I just drilled through them making sure the drill bit was no larger than the whole it was in. Once you get the main insides of the rivet, it will buckle. I, fortunately, have a rivet gun so I just riveted it back together. I think these things are relatively cheap and can be picked up in places like Wal-Mart or the local hardware shop.

[0E_Exception]

That's kind of what I was thinking. However, since I am mounting a noisy 120mm 3100 RPM beastly fan on this thing, would you recommend riveting or say, machine screws with nuts to reattach it? (because of the vibration)

[ephmynus]

[quote]Originally posted by 0E_Exception:
<strong>That's kind of what I was thinking. However, since I am mounting a noisy 120mm 3100 RPM beastly fan on this thing, would you recommend riveting or say, machine screws with nuts to reattach it? (because of the vibration)</strong><hr></blockquote>

Machine screws with nuts would be a good idea but I think rivets may be your best bet. The only reason I say this is that it could be exposed to "tilting" and eventually the screws becoming loose possibly your case being off center. This would be the only reason that I would recommend rivets is because they tend to stay in place better.

[Geek #1]

If you are screwing the fan on the case, use some rubber washers between the fan and the metal case - this will reduce vibration.

You could also try non-vibration washers (they look like normal washers but have teeth on the inside ring to hold them in place), available from most hardware shops.

[Daemon]

remember Filters :)

Dont want nasty dirt and hair and skin and all that other stuff in your fan and in your case :)

[Mad Machinist]

If you use machine screws and nuts .......Red Loctite......they will never vibrate loose.I've seen welds break from vibration and a threaded fastener with Red Loctite hold right next to it.

[PitaBred]

A 3100rpm fan shouldn't vibrate too much... if you get really *****ious, attach a rheostat to the power lead (make sure it'll handle the wattage) and use that to "tweak" the noise...

[0E_Exception]

Well, i decided that the little mid tower just wasn't cutting it.... so i bought a new tower and a few "moderately priced acessories", like a motherboard and Athlon XP 1500 (= and a rheobus. Now I've tamed my dragon orb 7K fan and my 120mm Sunon high volume fan. nice and quiet. I appreciate everyone's suggestions. I never did get around to removing those rivets, and it's probably a good thing... heh