Never fear, for the GrAssHoppA is here, coming right back at ya with another kick ass review. This time it's from our friends from Directron.com, they sent me two kick ass items today.

   First, their brand new Shakeproof Washer/Grommet for PSU's and 80mm Fans. If that wasn't enough, they also sent me some of their VH acrylic fan grills, well lets get started shall we.

   Now everybody wants a quieter system, long gone are the days of the 60mm Delta fans that put out more Dba then Cfm. In the search of a quieter case directron came up with shakeproof washer/grommets, pretty simple but ingenious design, I would describe it as a thick pair of latex gloves squeezed between your case and the things mounted inside that like to rattle around.

   The washer/grommets come in 5 different varieties,  PSU / 60mm / 80mm / 92mm / 120mm and are all part of Directrons "Noise Isolation" products.

  Now if those aren't enough, I also have the very first set of VH acrylic fan grills to hit the market, now don't get me wrong, they have been out for a little while now, but I had the very first set.

   The VH version of acrylic fan grills only comes in 80mm but it comes in 3 colors, dark blue, red, and yellow. Not much to say about these except they are acrylic, they come in cool colors, and they say VH on them...w00t.

Product Specs:

  Before I get this party started, lets get some of the "tech specs" out of the way.

Shakeproof washer/grommets

PSU washer/grommet

• Size: 150x87mm

• Thickness: 1mm

• Material: Silica Gel

• Color: High Quality Clear

Fan washer/grommet

• Size: 80x80mm

• Thickness: 2mm

• Material: Silicon

• Color: High Quality Clear

VH acrylic fan grills

• Size: 80x80mm (only size available at the time of review)

• Material: Acrylic

• Color: Dark Blue (also comes in red and yellow)

First Impressions:

   First impressions can either make or break something, in my personal case, I almost decided to throw the VH acrylic fan grills out the window. Not because they suck or anything, it's because I got 4 fan grills and they each come with a sticky brown paper protecting the acrylic from scratches, which is a great idea, except that it takes almost 30 minutes to take the paper off each grill.

   Now if my math serves me correctly, that's 30minutes multiplied by 4 grills and that equals 2 hours.

   Now I also live in the land of the sunstroke and the box with my stuff sat outside for almost 4 hours while I was at work, I don't know if that made any deference but lemme tell ya, it was no fun. Sorry for the lack of pics when I first got them, but I was so mad at them, I completely forgot to take any.

   At least the washer/grommets were abut 1000 times easier to get out, just a quick cut of the plastic wrapper and walla...done.

Installation:

   I don't think anybody can mess up the installation of these two products, and for those of you who cannot figure it out just by looking at it, Directron was kind enough to provide super simple to follow instructions directly in the package. But since I'm a nice guy i'll go though the installation anyway.

  The shakeproof washer/grommet for the PSU is a universal size, it fit all standard size PSU's out on the market, my test PSU is an Antec 350watt, it's about as standard as you can get, and the washer/grommet fits perfectly.

   After a quick test fit on both the PSU and the area the PSU mounts into, I installed the PSU with the washer/grommet on.

   Now this is probably the hardest part of the installation, because the PSU wont just slide right on in, you need to force it in there because the silicon from the washer/grommet is a bit thicker than a normal PSU would be, but after it's in, it aint moving.

   Next I will install the shakeproof washer/grommet for fans into my Antec case, now that sounds like a cool idea because those plastic fan holders on Antec fans rattle all the time, but that's easier said than done.

   Once you put the washer/grommet into the fan holder the fan doesn't fit, it sticks up about 2mm, which just happens to be the size of the washer/grommet. Now that might not be a big deal to you if you don't own an Antec case, but I know lots of people who do, and those people will be unable to use these washer/grommets.

   If you have a regular case that doesn't use plastic fan mounts, then installation is as easy as putting the grommet/washer in-between your case and the fan, and screwing your fan in like normal.

  Now lets install the acrylic fan grills, they are pretty easy to install, only thing you have to watch out for is you cant torque down the screws real hard or you will crack the fan grill.

   Also, most metal fan grills have about a 2mm space between the top of the grill and the mounting holes, the VH acrylic fan grills don't have that space, they are flat as a brick wall, that might cause an issue in very rare cases, but it shouldnt cause a problem 99% of the time.

   Other than that, you just line the 4 holes up and screw the grill onto your fan.

Conclusion:

  First off, I would like to thank Directron.com for sending me all these kick ass products. I would highly recommend the PSU washer/grommet to anybody, because once you get it in there, it aint coming back out, and they are reusable so you get a new PSU, you don't have to buy a new one, you just swap them out.

   The fan washer/grommet is really only necessary if you have a bigger fan, In my 3 years of case modding I've only had 1 fan that rattled and it was a 120mm 210cfm beast mounted to my Watercooling radiator. But they don't hurt anything, and if your super anal about noise in your case, 5 bucks a piece isnt too hard to come up with for something that will last forever.

   As far as the VH acrylic fan grills go, I would recommend those to everybody, and as soon as they start making deferent sized, im going to change all my metal fan grills out with acrylic ones. They look pimptacular with LED fans, and you can splatter UV paint on them and get a sweet effect with some UV CCFL's.

Pros

• Excellent"sound isolation" properties
• Keeps fans/PSU's from rattling around
• Reusable
• Fan grills are just sweet looking

Cons

• Fan washer/grommets will not fit into Antec fan mounts