Zimaboard HDD case with fan

This case allows storing two 3.5" hard disks vertically with an intake fan.

A grill at the back allows the air to exit the case.

The Zimaboard bolts to the side of the case where small cutouts are found to connect to the HDDs inside.

The fan is powered via USB from the front Zimaboard USB, an adapter is needed to convert the USB A into a fan header (can be found on amazon for cheap). Note that this setup does not provide any way to tune the fan speed, it will run at full speed (which is still mostly silent with the NF-A9 fan).
The fan is friction mounted, it's tight enough that the fan will not move anywhere; the fan's rubber gaskets also provide nice vibration isolation.

The case has a removable top lid to help with installation, both parts snap-fit together.

Post your makes (:

Printing

The case has been designed to be FDM printer friendly; it should not need any support to print.

The case itself should be printed with its bottom facing the build plate, and the top cover should be printed upside-down.

You can paint support on the bottom of the case if you want the screw holes to be a bit nicer, but it's not necessary.

I printed my model with Prusament Galaxy Black PLA on a MK4 using the 0.2 Quality preset (nothing changed from stock), the print took about 14-17 hours iirc.

Putting it together

1. Start by screwing in the Zimaboard
   1. Take the first layer of acrylic plate off the Zimaboard, the case body will replace it
   2. Use the same screws
2. Mount the front fan
   1. it is friction mounted, but should not require too much force.
   2. Make sure the fan is flush with the front face
   3. make sure the fan cable is on the top right when the case is facing you (not like on the picture :/)
   4. push it until it means the little riser that sits at the bottom of the case
3. Mount the HDDs
   1. this can be tricky, patience is key :) 
   2. I found using the rubber gaskets also helps with keeping the screws in place while you're trying to align the holes with the HDD
4. Plug the SATA connectors to the HDDs and route them through the cutout to the Zima
5. Route the fan cable between the back of the zimaboard and the HDD, through the cutout and all the way to the front USB connector
6. Snap the top cover
7. The end

Design

• The fan has no grill and a hex cutout (instead of a circle) to make printing easier (ie. no supports required) and not impact intake airflow
• Hexagonal shapes are used everywhere here because they don't need support to print and look pretty
  • I did have to make them pretty thick, too thin and the printer head keeps on knocking them down while printing

Parts used

• 4x rubber gaskets for the HDD screws
  • This helps with vibration dampening
• 4x hdd screws (the ones supplied with the HDD iirc)
• 1x Noctua NF-A9
• 1x USB A to fan header converter

Changelog

• 2023-08-06: Initial version

Thanks

• To vermotr_336934 for the inspiration from his ZimaBoard Dual HDD Stand model
• To Adafruit for their wonderful Fusion360 tutorials, namely this one on snap-fit cases