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CHENG HOME ELECTRONICS SUPER RED CHA8012AS-A
Ambient noise at the time of testing was 18 dBA.
| Brand |
Cheng
Home Electronics |
Power Rating |
0.09A |
| Manufacturer |
Cheng Home Electronics |
Airflow Rating |
25.07 CFM |
| Model Number |
Super Red CHA8012AS-A |
RPM Rating |
2,100 RPM |
| Retail Availability |
No |
Noise Rating |
23 dB |
| Bearing Type |
Sleeve |
Header Type |
3-pin |
| Hub Size |
1.37" |
Starting Voltage |
3.7V |
| Frame Size |
80 x 80 x 25 mm |
Number of Samples |
4 |
|
Voltage
|
Noise
|
RPM
|
CFM
|
Power
|
|
12V
|
29 dBA@1m
|
2210 RPM
|
32 CFM
|
1.06W
|
|
9V
|
22 dBA@1m
|
1700 RPM
|
25 CFM
|
0.81W
|
|
7V
|
20 dBA@1m
|
1310 RPM
|
19 CFM
|
0.64W
|
|
5V
|
~18 dBA@1m
|
860 RPM
|
12 CFM
|
0.49W
|
|
@10 CFM (4.6V)
|
<18 dBA@1m
|
780 RPM
|
10 CFM
|
0.38W
|
These fans are not available on the retail market, but we have included it
because many long-time silencers should be familiar with its noise characteristics:
Seasonic used these fans in some of their earlier power supplies before they
switched to their current supplier.
Cheng Home Electronics is about what you'd expect for a fan supplier to the
electronics industry. They're based in Taiwan, manufacture in China, and sell
"worldwide". The most notable aspect of their design is the use of
three support struts instead of the usual four. Presumably this has the effect
of reducing impedance slightly, but it's hard to imagine that the effect is
large. In any case, we didn't notice that the Super Red produced substantially
more airflow than any other fans.
The Super Red is faster than either of the two previous fans, so it's no surprise
that it was noisier, although it's still classed as a low speed fan by the manufacturer.
More critically, it remained audible even when undervolted to the 10 CFM level,
and that level could not be achieved without dropping the voltage below 5V (the
lowest easily achievable voltage in most systems).
Once again, the culprit was noise character, which is typical of ball bearing designs: The fan produced a severe buzz
whenever it was running, although the whine from the motor eventually replaced
it as the dominant noise at higher (>10V) speeds. The fan also produced a
squealing high frequency overtone that was very irritating. This tone was most
audible at lower speeds.
Noise Recordings
NMB-MAT 3110KL-04W-B10
Ambient noise at the time of testing was 18 dBA.
An oddity: This particular sample ran slower than the others, despite bearing
the same model number.
| Brand |
NMB-MAT |
Power Rating |
0.10A |
| Manufacturer |
NMB-MAT |
Airflow Rating |
24.7 CFM |
| Model Number |
3110KL-04W-B10 |
RPM Rating |
2,150 RPM |
| Retail Availability |
Yes |
Noise Rating |
22 dB |
| Bearing Type |
Ball |
Header Type |
3-pin PSU (2 wire) |
| Hub Size |
1.37" |
Starting Voltage |
5.4V |
| Frame Size |
80 x 80 x 25 mm |
Number of Samples |
3 |
|
Samples 1 & 2 (rated for 0.10A)
|
|
Voltage
|
Noise
|
RPM
|
CFM
|
Power
|
|
12V
|
25 dBA@1m
|
1930 RPM
|
29 CFM
|
0.86W
|
|
9V
|
21 dBA@1m
|
1420 RPM
|
21 CFM
|
0.55W
|
|
7V
|
19 dBA@1m
|
1050 RPM
|
14 CFM
|
0.42W
|
|
5V
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
–
|
|
@10 CFM (5.7V)
|
<18 dBA@1m
|
800 RPM
|
10 CFM
|
0.32W
|
|
Sample 3 (rated for 0.06A)
|
|
Voltage
|
Noise
|
RPM
|
CFM
|
Power
|
|
12V
|
21 dBA@1m
|
1355 RPM
|
21 CFM
|
0.48W
|
|
9V
|
~19 dBA@1m
|
970 RPM
|
14 CFM
|
0.28W
|
|
7V
|
~19 dBA@1m
|
680 RPM
|
9 CFM
|
0.21W
|
|
5V
|
<18 dBA@1m
|
390 RPM
|
3 CFM
|
0.15W
|
|
@10 CFM (7.2V)
|
~19 dBA@1m
|
770 RPM
|
10 CFM
|
0.22W
|
NMB-MAT is a large OEM manufacturer that is the end result of a three-way merger
between three well known manufacturers: NMB,
Minebea, and
Panasonic's
Panaflo division. Because of this, the specifications for the company's
fans can be found in a dizzying number of places, as all three companies still
maintain independent web sites. Even worse, the specifications published in
different places do not always agree with each other, making it difficult to
know exactly which fan you're looking at.
Our samples bear NMB's mark, not the more recent NMB-MAT brand, so it seems
likely that they were manufactured before the merger took place. For now, we
will assume that the specifications on NMB's web site are the correct ones.
Making matters even more confusing, we ended up with a lower speed sample that,
for all intents and purposes appeared to be identical to the others except for
its electrical rating its default speed, and the presence of an RPM monitor
wire. According to NMB's
model numbering system, the only difference between the fans should have
been the RPM monitor wire — the differences in electrical rating and speed
are not accounted for in the model number. Because the model numbers are identical
in every important respect, we have included the lower speed fan with the rest
of the samples and listed the test results for this "unofficial" model
side by side with the results for the two other samples.
Oddly labeling nonwithstanding, all three of our samples sounded very similar
when run at similar speeds. We were unable to identify the slower model on the
basis of noise quality alone. All suffered from a persistent buzz that never
quite went away, even at the quietest levels. At certain speeds, the noise sounded
like wet high voltage power lines — a singularly irritating quality.
Aside from the noise quality, the fan was reasonably low speed and was therefore
reasonably quiet. The maximum measured noise level of 25 dBA@1m is not loud,
especially given the amount of airflow it generated at that level. In this respect
it is like the Papst that we looked at above: Slow enough to be quiet, but with
a poor noise character that ruins it for use in very low speed situations.
One word of warning: One of our samples had a very high starting voltage: It
would not start consistently below 5.4V, which is above the minimum voltage
given by several popular fan controllers such as Zalman's Fanmate. NMB rates
the minimum input voltage at 6.0V, so we were technically operating the fan
out of spec, but we were surprised nevertheless — most fans of this speed
rating have no such issues.
Noise Recordings
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