UPDATE 2017
DO NOT DYE WITH CHINA MADE VERSION
We have a report that when attempting to dye one of the new fans produced in CHINA (vs TAIWAN) that the new plastic used does NOT absorb the dye (so it doesn't work.. sorry!) See info below.
Here's an update of me being the "Guinea pig". My Noctua "Black Edition" fans
I took the plunge and boiled/dye all 9 of them
Every single one of them works perfectly!
My flash made a brown show up, ignore that they are all black
Instructions (for modern Noctua fans only not legacy, they must be the 100% fully sealed version):
WARNING: DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. BE SAFE. DO NOT DO THIS INDOORS. USE THE SIDE BURNER ON YOUR OUTDOOR GRILL. The stuff stinks horribly and it will get everywhere. It will NOT stick to stainless steel however it will stain most everything else. Use gloves. ANY materials that are used MUST be DISCARDED after use. Don't use anything that you plan to keep. What I read is that this stuff is non-toxic but I wouldn't breathe it either. Keep it outside.
(1) Go to Job Lot / Walmart and get a brand new cheapest large stove pot with a cover. The size of the fans you want to fit, that's how big. You want cheap because you're going to throw it away after. Cheap wooden spoon, some of those disposable metal containers can come in handy. You know the drill.. load up.
(2) Order Rit DYE. I personally ended up using Royal Blue. Yah I know why not black.. Well, this is what I used and it gave me black
. You are going to want (2) Packages of this per fan you want to dye. I ended up having to re-dye many of my fans over again because I was trying to use the same dye for multiple fans. It just didn't work out that way so save yourself the headache and plan to use 2 boxes per fan for best results.
(3) Using DISTILLED WATER fill the pot about 1/2" above the height of the fan if it was laying down inside the pot. Bring this water to an easy boil. DON'T let it get too hot.. One of my fans took a small hit (cosmetically) because I think the temp was too high. All you really need is to bring the water to a slight boil and then using gloves (trust me no matter how good you think you can pour the dust WILL get all over your hands) pour the dye in QUICKLY. Mix with wooden spoon.
(4) Reduce heat to "simmer" to maintain a minimum temp. Get an alligator clip of some type. Any kind of metal clip.
(5) Place the Noctua fan inside the water LABEL SIDE UP and fully submerge it but HOLD ON to the power cable. This is where you use the clip. Clip the power cable to the side of the pot outside the path of the steam so that it is kept dry. Leave the fan in there for ONE HOUR. You don't need to flip it over. Set your kitchen timer, phone, etc. Don't worry if you leave it in there too long it won't matter it just wastes your time because you only need an hour to dye it
(6) Be prepared to remove the fan and have it be dripping dye like crazy. I personally got a wad of paper towels and plopped the fan right on top. I then took it to my stainless steel sink and rinsed them all off with water until they ran clean and then again with distilled water. Let them dry for an hour and WIPE them down with a lint free cloth. Then you can test it right away! All 9 of mine worked just fine... YMMV.. they are sealed, the internals never get wet. There is very little water pressure at that short of a depth.
**When finished if you want to dye another fan then you can get away with only adding ONE more box of dye. If you are starting over again then definitely need TWO.
When finished you seriously don't want to try and rinse the dye out of anything and re-use it.. The pan I used seemed to have retained a bit of it somehow and it just gets everywhere fast.. I got some on my counter and had to scrub it out
Build not finished but the fans look much better
. There are 7 of them all in "Pull" config.
DO NOT DYE WITH CHINA MADE VERSION
We have a report that when attempting to dye one of the new fans produced in CHINA (vs TAIWAN) that the new plastic used does NOT absorb the dye (so it doesn't work.. sorry!) See info below.
Here's an update of me being the "Guinea pig". My Noctua "Black Edition" fans
I took the plunge and boiled/dye all 9 of them
Every single one of them works perfectly!
My flash made a brown show up, ignore that they are all black
Instructions (for modern Noctua fans only not legacy, they must be the 100% fully sealed version):
WARNING: DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. BE SAFE. DO NOT DO THIS INDOORS. USE THE SIDE BURNER ON YOUR OUTDOOR GRILL. The stuff stinks horribly and it will get everywhere. It will NOT stick to stainless steel however it will stain most everything else. Use gloves. ANY materials that are used MUST be DISCARDED after use. Don't use anything that you plan to keep. What I read is that this stuff is non-toxic but I wouldn't breathe it either. Keep it outside.
(1) Go to Job Lot / Walmart and get a brand new cheapest large stove pot with a cover. The size of the fans you want to fit, that's how big. You want cheap because you're going to throw it away after. Cheap wooden spoon, some of those disposable metal containers can come in handy. You know the drill.. load up.
(2) Order Rit DYE. I personally ended up using Royal Blue. Yah I know why not black.. Well, this is what I used and it gave me black
(3) Using DISTILLED WATER fill the pot about 1/2" above the height of the fan if it was laying down inside the pot. Bring this water to an easy boil. DON'T let it get too hot.. One of my fans took a small hit (cosmetically) because I think the temp was too high. All you really need is to bring the water to a slight boil and then using gloves (trust me no matter how good you think you can pour the dust WILL get all over your hands) pour the dye in QUICKLY. Mix with wooden spoon.
(4) Reduce heat to "simmer" to maintain a minimum temp. Get an alligator clip of some type. Any kind of metal clip.
(5) Place the Noctua fan inside the water LABEL SIDE UP and fully submerge it but HOLD ON to the power cable. This is where you use the clip. Clip the power cable to the side of the pot outside the path of the steam so that it is kept dry. Leave the fan in there for ONE HOUR. You don't need to flip it over. Set your kitchen timer, phone, etc. Don't worry if you leave it in there too long it won't matter it just wastes your time because you only need an hour to dye it
(6) Be prepared to remove the fan and have it be dripping dye like crazy. I personally got a wad of paper towels and plopped the fan right on top. I then took it to my stainless steel sink and rinsed them all off with water until they ran clean and then again with distilled water. Let them dry for an hour and WIPE them down with a lint free cloth. Then you can test it right away! All 9 of mine worked just fine... YMMV.. they are sealed, the internals never get wet. There is very little water pressure at that short of a depth.
**When finished if you want to dye another fan then you can get away with only adding ONE more box of dye. If you are starting over again then definitely need TWO.
When finished you seriously don't want to try and rinse the dye out of anything and re-use it.. The pan I used seemed to have retained a bit of it somehow and it just gets everywhere fast.. I got some on my counter and had to scrub it out
Build not finished but the fans look much better