I completely missed this blurb the last few days 'cause I thought they were talking about Maglev trains or something, but apparently Sunon was showing a case fan where the blades are rotated through magnets, instead of the physical contact of a traditional rotor and bearings:


http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=14293

Thanks for catching the html typo Neil, I've edited the link...

SVC has had this maglev fan for some time now. I got one in late summer. It's an interesting piece: very low friction indeed and fairly low mechanical noise. It is, of course, a high-RPM screamer, but it undervolts nicely. I'd love to see a sub-2000 RPM 120mm version.

It appears that the largest axial fan that Sunon makes in the maglev series is 70mm. They seem to be concentrating on smaller diameter axial fans but do have a 120mm blower type. Apparently, the maglev fans were introduced in 1999 and millions have been produced.

It would be great to see the maglev technology applied to slow turning and larger diameter axial fans in the 80, 92, and 120mm sizes.

A most interesting feature of the magnetic levitation technology is that it allows positioning of an axial fan at any angle without being concerned about uneven bearing wear.

Could magnetic levitation bearing technology ever be used in hard drives to further reduce their noise levels and allow mounting at any angle?

Since hdds are magnetic storage would such magnetic fields be a problem?

These are not going to cause any problems like that, there's a magnet in each hard drive that is hundreds of times stronger, maybe thousands lol.

hd magnets are very power full. Some of the most powerfull I've seen for that size.

Just found an 80 mm version.
http://www.adpmods.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=1109&cat=92&page=1

Only 2300 RPM so it might have more undervolted uses.

ADPMODS promised a few samples. See their post in the Calling all Good Fans thread.

I'm thinking about buying some to try them out myself. I was impressed with the MagLev fan on my MCX-159.

Excellent - can't wait to get your feedback on these.

I also own an MCX-159 and took the little fan off because of its noise level; it never crossed my mind that it's some sort of special type of fan. Maybe I'll go find it and take a closer look at it...

-Ed

http://www.3dcool.com/?module=product&sku=SMLFAN is selling 70mm and below. I wonder how they handle time, heat, and shock.

Any update guys? When undervolted is is in the same tier as the Japanaflo, Evercool, Global, etc.?

Sunon makes this MagLev series up to 92mm axial and 120mm blower.


DrCR


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Globe (manufacturers of Acoustifan and i think evercool fans) are also working on magnetic bearing fans. Only 80x25 at the moment though.

It's on testing stage yet and no dBA numbers are around. But it seems for a low-flow 2000 rpm fan, the CFM and static pressure values are lower than a regular fan.

So unless a 3000 rpm high-speed magnetic fan has the same noise profile of a 2000 rpm normal fan, I don't see much to be excited about - well, maybe the lifetime.

Manufacturers of AcoustiFan and Enermax fans. Not sure 'bout Evercool, but it won't surprise me. Globe is actually quite big.

-Ed

Q1 Do these fans have a 3wire rpm tach outut?

Q2 When are these fans going to have an official review by SPCR?

Some have the 3-pin with tach, others the standard 4-pin. Just make sure you know which one your ordering.


As for an official review... that would be awsome. It might be hard to find a 80mm vendor that would be willing to loan it to SPCR for a review though.


DrCR


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Hi All,

I have several 80x25mm Sunon Maglev (the low speed version KDE1208PTV3) and I've tried them both as case fans & CPU fans. At 12 volts, these fans are somewhat noisy but the pitch of the sound (from the motor) is quite low and a large portion of the noise is actually the "whooshing" sound of air exiting the fan blades.

I can tell u that the KDE1208PTV3 is louder than the coolermaster rifle-bearing LED fans at 12V but cools my stock 2500+ 2 degrees better than the coolermaster (on an ALX-800) despite it's lower fan speed (2500RPM, not 2300RPM as advertised vs. Coolermaster's 2600 rpm, not 2500 as advertised). I had no experience with the L1A .
At 7V, the Maglev is quiet but still audible (it makes a low wuuuuuuu sound).
At 5V, the Maglev is very quiet and you have to get pretty close to your PC case in order to hear (it makes a low zzzzzzzzzz sound, and it's not the snoring sound you hear at night )
Right now, I am using these fans as my intake. If you use them as exhaust or for the CPU, the Maglev would sound quieter.

I've tested my low speed Maglev against the Coolermaster Rifle-bearing LEDs and the Vantec Stealth for vibration and the Maglev bested both, as it made the least amount of rattling when mounted on my ALX-800. (The Stealth was the worst of the three) The levitated fan hub does makes the fan vibrate less.

If you're looking for some performance but still relatively low noise cooling, you should consider the low speed Maglev (especially as CPU fans for the Thermalright heatsinks since direct fan to metal contact is involved). The Maglev at 5V is nearly silent but it might not be quiet enough for some of you. Also, if you living in BC or in the Vancouver area, you should get them from Anitec (http://www.anitec.ca/?mode=product_detail&pid=389) for only 3 bucks each!!!! (for the 3 pin version that is) I bought 4 & had absolutely no regrets!

Does MikeC have one of these to review in his great fan test?

yes, I think so.

Wow, this is an old thread. lol

Thanks for the update Kaizer. You really need to pick up a Japanaflo L1A. If only to give everyone a frame of reference. You can get it here from jab-tech. I’m familiar with the Vantec Stealths so the MagLevs sound at least decent. And $3 isn’t that bad at all (I’m in the States though)!


Personally, I've very curious with respect to the MagLev120mm squirrel type blower as I'm looking for two 120mm fans for my heatercore. I plan on getting Papst 4412 axials right now, but a blower design is inherently better in a high restrictive environment. Maybe I should go ahead and buy both. lol


MikeC, would you be interested in including the 120mm MagLev blower (not axial) in your review? If so, PM me.


DrCR


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DrCR, where will you be buying the 120mm blowers from? I did a search today and was only able to find 80mm axial; did't see anything larger than 80mm.

Actually, I placed an order for 4 of the 80mm pieces.

I first mentioned the 120mm blower here:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... torder=asc

Currently I do not know of any enduser vendor selling the MagLev 120mm blower. There's a group of computer peers I know who might be able to get it through their computer shop. If not, I'll probably look for it through work (I work in Information Technologies Procurement).

To be honest I haven't had the time to do a real good search for it. Physical Chemistry is keeping me busy lol.


DrCR


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Duh, then again, how about here:
http://www.directron.com/12plb2.html




Edit:

An alternative source:
http://www.buyextras.com/b12dc12vdoba.html

This vendor looks pretty good from the little feedback from resellerratings here, but I can personally recommend Directron. I'm sure most if not all here are familiar with Directron anyhow.


DrCR


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Hmm; that shape makes it seem sort of difficult to utilize...

I was thinking something more along ehe lines of the type of blower that Cooler Master used to have mounted to their Aero coolers.; this one has a small opening to the side, whereas the blower on the Aero coolers was an entire square opening to one side (in the case of the Aero coolers, the bottom side)...

Would take some ingenuity to come up with an effective use for this design, that's for sure.

Not really. Just a simple duct on the heatercore to the intakes like usual. The bolt holes are standard 120mm. The only difference would be having the air blowing out the side of your case.

I've actually thought about using an undervolted car heatercore blower from a Camry or something, but I doubt it would be sufficently quiet for me even when undervolted.

Camry Blower Image

About 7" (~18cm) in diameter. That's not really the bad, the problem is the depth at about 4" (~10cm) if I remember correctly, perhaps even thicker. Obviously the Sunon's 35mm would be a lot narrower and easier to fit in.


DrCR


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[Thread highjack]

I see now, pulling...

But would this be in any way quieter than using a standard 120mm fan in a pull configuration? Or are you going for higher negative pressure, rather than silence?

Or perhaps you're going for some sort of in-between balance (not dead silent, but not loud, yet still moving plenty of air)? Such as my own water cooling rig, which is a gaming rig used with headphones, so I set a looser noise level constraint for that build, allowing me better flow rates for the massive overclock.

[/Thread Highjack]