Need help finding rubber dampers and resistor for tiny fan

cocopugg · Post by **cocopugg** » Tue May 20, 2008 11:29 pm

Hello everyone, I am a newbie. I have a 25mm x 25mm x 10mm fan that is inside my Mvix 760HD media box. This is a 12 volt fan. I have been told that if I were to replace the fan's current screws with rubber dampers, as well as connect a 100 ohm resistor to the red line of the fan, it would drastically reduce the noise my fan makes. Since my unit is using a very low noise 5400RPM hard drive (which runs very cool to the touch), I am not afraid of lowering the fan's speed. My problem however, seems to be in finding the right type of rubber dampers (or screws) that will fit my fan. Since this is not a regular size computer fan, I don't know what screw size the holes in this fan are, and where I may find such rubber dampers for this fan. Any help with this (and where I may find a suitable 100 ohm resistor to reduce the fan's speed, and what type I should use) would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Wed May 21, 2008 1:15 am

Well if the screws are actually a non-standard size, you'll probably have trouble finding rubber mounts for it. Get some small zip-ties and use them instead of screws. Put a few small pieces of foam at the corners...just snug up the zip-ties. (a second zip-tie acts like a nut). This will soft-mount the fan.

Instead of a standard resistor......just buy a Fan-mate at NewEgg. It acts like a variable resistor. Runs about 5-11V.....this way you can dial in the fan to the right speed. You'll probably have to splice a few wires.

Welcome to SPCR....

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Wed May 21, 2008 3:55 am

A 25mm fan? That cant be pushing more than a few cfm's. Id disconnect it and if you can monitor the temp of whatever it was aimed at, make sure it doesnt get too hot, but i doubt that the fan provided any real cooling benefit.

cocopugg · Post by **cocopugg** » Wed May 21, 2008 11:34 am

FartingBob wrote:A 25mm fan? That cant be pushing more than a few cfm's. Id disconnect it and if you can monitor the temp of whatever it was aimed at, make sure it doesnt get too hot, but i doubt that the fan provided any real cooling benefit.

Well, the MX-760HD is a media box that plays movie files such as DVD, AVI's, MPGs, DIVX, etc. In effect it is a small computer, however, its processor runs so cool that it doesn't really need the 25mm fan. My worries are with the hard drive that is also in the unit. Like I said before, it is a 5400RPM Western Digital WD7500AACS, which itself runs very cool. Do you think if perhaps I were to remove the fan altogether, leaving just the vent opening where the fan goes, that it would be enough ventilation for the unit and hard drive? Like you said, a 25mm fan really doesn't cool much, but would not using it shorten the life of a hard drive that normally runs cool anyway?

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:51 pm

IMHO....here's the deal. That small fan is likely the only fan in the whole setup. And it's a well-known fact around here that even a little airflow can go a long way where a hard drive is concerned.

I have a NAS box that held two hard drives. It had no fan at all....only some venting. The hard drives got so hot in there, the thing acquired the name "toaster". Well....I found a 40x10mm fan that would start and run at 5V, and mounted it on the rear of the unit. That minimum amount of airflow lowered the temperature of the drives drastically....the thing no longer felt even warm. The drives were always under 40C.

So much for the "run fan-less" thing......