Hi guys (and girls),

I wanted to write these pictorials/tutorials to help out users considering modding their PSUs. I wrote a small general write-up in the PSU modding sticky and after the nice feedback by Ralf Hutter, I decided to write a series of posts explaining fan swaps on different PSUs. I will be writing three posts total. The modding and picture taking happened a bit on-the-fly in this first case, but the two upcoming posts will be in detail.

The first one is this post, dealing with swapping a Panaflo 80L1A to a HEC 300W PSU, model HEC300ARPT/F. The HEC is very similar to the "older" Fortrons considering their heatsinks, effieciency and general component layout. A very good candidate for modding.

The two other posts will deal with:

- Modding a HEC 300W PSU (different model, this one is HEC300LRPTF) with also a Panaflo, but instead of simple swap using the readily available connector, I'll go through some basic things: soldering, wiring to fixed voltage, heatshrink etc...
- Modding an Antec Neopower 480W with an undecided fan and adding an T-Balancer analog sensor to the heatsink(s). The fan will be connected to the T-Balancer. So that will also explain what to do with those unused fan headers inside the PSU.

Your thoughts on these posts are more than welcome, both good and bad. But, lets get the story started!
-----------------------------------

The PSU I modded is from a friend's soon-to-be-ready HTPC. He wanted it to be quiet, so he turned to me. I'm somewhat known with my friends for my fan and silent PC fetish... I advised him to get the HEC, because they are good PSUs and also cheap. The 300W models can be bought in Europe for even under 30€.


The unsuspecting victim

Before opening up the PSU you of course have to be sure it's totally discharged. I did not have to worry about this, because the PSU was taken unused from a wrapped retail packet. Read the PSU modding sticky for advice on how to drain a PSU.

The original fan in the PSU is most likely just rebranded by HEC. Not sure about the manufacturer, my guess is Globe. The model is FD128020HS, current draw 0,15A. Googling did not yield any results. The fan is only 20mm thick and the "HS" would let me think it is a high speed sleeve bearing fan. I can only guess how much airflow it actually moves, but probably 30-35CFM should be the maximum. The replacement fan 80L1A moves 25CFM @ 12V. So it's a good choice for replacement and shouldn't lower the airflow too much.


The PSU opened. Nice looking heatsinks and overally good looking job at the manufacturer's factory.



Here you can see how the original fan is connected using a two pin connector. The fan has no tacho signal, only operating voltage and ground are used. The two pin header is quite common in PSUs, Enermax is one PSU which has this same connector in some models.



I cut the the wires near the original fan's hub. Because of the handy Amphenol connector in the Panaflo, the original wires can be just pushed in place in to the Panaflo's connecotr.. The PSU fan wires are a bit thicker than the original wires in the Panaflo, but they can be squeezed in place and provide a secure assembly. If I had used a fan like the original, that had wires soldered in to the hub, I simply could have done some soldering and soldered the two wires to the new fan.

By connecting the new fan to the old header the new fan will also be temperature controlled by the PSU. So for the temperature control to work in any PSU you don't need the RPM signal. It is only a monitoring signal, NOT a control signal.



After the new fan is ready, it's time to think about the mounting. I chose to use some E.A.R. F-344 fan mounts in this case. They help in eliminating any vibration caused by the fan. I pulled two mounts through the lower holes in the PSU casing, inserted the fan in place and pulled the mounts through the fan. I did it this way, because the replacement fan was 5mm thicker than the original and the PCB was VERY close to the fan. So there wasn't really too much work space. After the two lower mounts were in place, I secured the two upper mounts in place.



Here is the finished product! Time to plug it in and test it. Although the picture doesn't show it, it is spinning

This second part deals with the modding of an Antec Neopower 480W with an external fan controller. The fan controller in this case is the T-Balancer, so I will be adding an analog sensor also inside the PSU. Here's a picture of the PSU and the replacement fan: Globe S1202512L-3M (about 67CFM, 1600RPM). I'm using a powerful fan as a backup, in case I happen to be using a power hungry system in the future. The stock fan controller runs the PSU fan around 900RPM when stressed, so I'm leaving plenty of reserve.



After making sure the PSU was discharged and opening up the PSU (yes, warranty voided), I got the following view in front of me. You can see the PSU fan is connected to its own separate small PCB with a two pin connector, similar to the one used in the HEC modded in the previous post.



As I wouldn't need the PSU's own fan controller anymore, I wanted to make sure there are no wires / headers left exposed inside the PSU. I took the two pin connector and used my trusty Leatherman to remove the contacts from the connector. This can be done by pushing down on the small clips the contacts have. After removing the contacts I placed the connector back in place, making the fan header "shielded".



As I mentioned, I'm going to use this PSU with the T-Balancer, so I needed a place where I could (and should) place the analog temperature sensor. As you can see, the original thermistor used by the PSU's fan controller circuit is screwed to the bigger heatsink on the left. I decided to use it's screw as the fastening method along with some of the double sided thermal tape provided with the T-Balancer.

You can also see in this picture the "shield" two pin connector.



After securing the sensor and using some zipties to manage the wires, I mounted the fan using rubber fan mounts.



After powering the PSU and testing it, I discovered that in my system the PSU heatsink was hovering around 40C under load, exhaust temps were around 33C. These results are really much lower than with my previous PSU, a Fortron FSP300-60PN(PF) which had temps around 60C heatsink, <40C exhaust. This is most likely caused by system changes (undervolting, underclocking) and also by the better effiency the Neopower has.

Part III of the PSU modding posts,



I'm actually modding another PSU of the same exact model as in the first post (HEC 300ARPTF). Instead of the simple fan swap I'll go through things soldering, heatsink and wiring to a fixed voltage.




These pictures show how the fan is connected with a 2-pin connector into the PCB. the connector's plastic part can be easily removed by taking screw driver (or similar) and lifting the plastic cover. When the plastic is removed the two metal pins are clearly visible.


Fan swap method 1:



If the PCB has space around the pins, you can simple use a normal 3-pin connector and push it in place. If the connector feels loose, you can always secure it with some hot glue, epoxy or similar. However, as the picture shows, this PSU's PCB doesn't have enough clearance around the pins, the capacitor on the right is too close. The connector cannot be pushed all the way down. Therefore, this option is not the best one in this case.


Fan swap method 2:



If you want to do a quick fan swap, do as the picture shows:

- Cut the original wires
- Peel off the plastic cover from the wires, both from the old fan connector and from the new fan you're placing in the PSU.
- Slide a piece of heatshrink in to the wire and solder the two wires together
- When the wires are soldered, push the heatsink over the solder connection and heat it. The heatsink is properly in place when it is tightly around the wires and cannot be moved. To be on the safe side, test the heatshrink you have before hand, so that you know it will be the right size and that it will shrink enough.

Repeat the steps for the other wire and you're done.


Fan swap method 3:



If you have taken care of adequate fresh air for the PSU, you may want to consider wiring the fan to a fixed voltage. The pictures clearly show how the PCB has different voltages labeled on it: "3,3V, 5V". You can also see the areas where these voltages are marked also have holes in them. You can use them in wiring the fan to a fixed voltage. The other pictures shows these same areas from under the PCB. Take the fan wires and solder them to the voltage you want. Heating up the old solder and melting a small amount of fresh solder will usually help you in the soldering process, as this will add (in most solder wire brands and types) a bit of flux that will help in making the solder "flowing". Heat the solder and push the fan wire through the holes and you're done.

PSUs have always areas where the wires of specific voltages are soldered to. If your PSU doesn't have these holes to solder through, you can always solder the fan wire directly under the PSU. Just keep in mind, that if a wire with voltage touches the PSU casing, this will result in a short circuit. So make sure you do a clean job!


Fan swap method 4:



In this case, I decided to to wire the new fan the PSU fan connector. You can see from the pictures that I first soldered out the remaining pins from the connector. I then stripped the new wires and pushed them through the old holes and soldered them in place. After the soldering I cut off the wire ends, so that they wouldn't be touching the PSU casing. (btw, in real world, those solder joints aren't and SHOULDN'T be brown)



Whatever step you take, secure the wires with some zipties, so that they won't be [caught] by the fans blades.



Once again, I'm using the E.A.R. fan mounts to hold the fan in place. The fan going into this PSU is a Panaflo FBL80L1A (4J). The FBL works (sounds) a bit better in restricted environments, like a PSU.



Easy way of starting the PSU without a case and a motherboard is shown above. Take a wire and strip it from both ends and then use it jumper the green and the black wire (pins 13 and 14). This is helpful in testing your PSU fan swap and it's success.

To be honest, I apparently didn't push the pins of the Panaflos connector deep enough and noticed that my new fan wasn't spinning. So, it really is good to check

In anticipation of the "But I have another PSU, how can I ... ?" questions. Here two pictures of the insides of an Antec True380SP. That is the PSU that comes with the Sonata case. Quite a large number of readers have this PSU and as long as you have a low/mid powered system this PSU can be safely modded with a slower fan. This PSU has it's fan connected with a 2-pin connector. But in stead of directly on the PCB, this connector sits at the end of two leads.



In the first mod Aleksi replaced a thin fan with a thicker, more standard model. Sometimes there is no Space inside the PSU for a standard fan. Then you can mount the fan on the outside. Another benefit from this is than it gives the fan more room to "breath". The closest obstacle for airflow on the intake side is further away from the fan, which reduces turbulence and thus noise. N.B. don't put a fan on the outside of the PSU woth something like doublesided tape that dries out in a year or so. There have been reports of people where the fan has fallen off and the PSU fried !
Ignore all the wires in the picture. I was testing different fans and measuring temperatures. Also note that this PSU has enough space inside, but I put the fan on the outside because that was easier in swapping the different fans I tested.


For people who don't want to / can't use a soldering iron. I found this short cable that allows you to connect a 3-pin fan to a 2-pin connector.
I bought mine at the Dutch branch of http://www.ichbinleise.de/.


Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

Update, part three added.

(Logically it was added before the part two came out...)

I thought the FBL was worse in enclosed spaces (like a PSU), and apparently noisier than the FBA - pre-M3, anyway.

Hi Chris,

the FBL does work better in restrictive environments. I'm quoting Dorothy Bradbury on this one:

Take an FBA 80mm L
o Cover the intake even at a small distance - it will howl
Repeat with an FBL 80mm L
o There is very little howl - yet there will also be more airflow

When run at 12V they sound very smooth. However, the fans were production batch 4J and they had a distinct motor/bearing noise, not too much, but can be noticed quite clearly even from 20cm away. So in short, a clearly more bearing noise than the newer FBA's, but less airflow noise at 12V.

Part two added, that concludes the series...

Aleksi Great guide. I think it'll be very useful to anyone who want to try their hands on this.

If you don't mind, I'd like to add another consideration in modding PSU.

I have an Enermax 365P - VE FMA (a 2 fans PSU) which I mod it by taken out the bottom 92 mm fan and close that fan hole. This leaves some space in the PSU where 92mm fan used to be. I notice that cool air now goes through that space without cooling anything. So I decide to use that space by extending the heatsink. Here's the pic.




From another angle.



The extended heatsink pieces are attached using thermal pad as well as some paste wherever the 2 HS touched.

Given the same condition e.g. same room temp + same PSU fan speed, this extended HS allow PSU HS temp to go down by 3 C.

Similar to Aleksi, I also use T-Balancer and have put an analog thermal sensor on PSU heatsink though at different place. Mine is wedged between HS (on the top left corner in the first pic near twisted black wire).

Hope this is useful to your guide.

Edit: Of course I swap out the 80mm exhaust fan too. This exhaust fan is now controlled by T-Balancer.

Edit 2: Fix links to pic.

Here's some measurement from the modded Neopower. I'm monitoring the PSU heatsink and exhaust air temperatures.

With the stock fan and fan controller, the PSU fan was spinning at 900-950RPM. Here are measurements I took with the T-Balancer (analog sensors), while running Prime95. I gave 5-10mins after each fan speed change for the temperatures to settle. I did not have case fans on, but the PSU does get some fresh air from the Sonata's rear case fan opening.

Fan speed: 940 RPM
PSU heatsink: 35,5
PSU Exhaust air: 32C

Fan speed: 752 RPM
PSU heatsink: 37,5C
PSU Exhaust air: 33C

Fan speed: 564 RPM
PSU heatsink: 40,5C
PSU Exhaust air: 34C

Fan speed: 376RPM
PSU heatsink: 44C
PSU Exhaust air: 34,5C

Fan speed: 188 RPM
PSU heatsink: 50C
PSU Exhaust air: 35,5C

Interesting readings when compared to the table in the SPCR's Neopower review. I cant say about my ambient temps, most likely around 20C, but still they give some comparison points. Gives some indication of how little power my setup actually uses.

Aleksi, is there still any place where i can find the Globe S1202512L-3M ?

I did a search in the german page, but couldn't find anything.

Thanks in advance

Hi underp,

Silencio's first batch of Globes seems to have run out, but he's working on getting more them. I guess he was a bit surprised about the interest especially SPCR users have shown in them. I suggest you send him email or send a PM through this site and ask about the Globe status. I'm sure he'll work something out for you

hello boys,

i have a Raidmax RD-350 PSU. the fan is very very loud. the madness is setting in. i want to open the psu and put in a Vantec Stealth fan.

should i add a second fan by hacking away a hole at the bottom of the psu case?
if so, do i just solder the two fans together to the same spot on the psu's board?
if i stick to one fan, is the Vantec Stealth a good choice?
the Vantec has three wires. i am guessing i can just cut the third wire off?

does anyone know if my psu has a two or three wire fan connector or is there no connector and it's just soldered to the psu board? i haven't popped it open yet as i am using the psu right now!

what about temp control? do i need to add some fan varying control unit? i think that my psu fan currently always runs at the same rpm. if it does indeed vary, the simple fan swap should affect that function, right?

this is the best forum yet. thanks!!
- i just want a little peace and quiet.

Hi,

and Welcome to SPCR!!

First off... I think you will have a hard time finding people to help you, if you intend to use a Vantec Stealth! Seriously, those things are by no means good or even quiet fans. Jump over to the fans forum and check the recommended fans (like Panaflo, Yate Loon, Nexus, Papst etc...).

Where are you living (europe, NA), this info would help us with recommending a place to look for those?

You said you think the PSU doesn't have a temperature controlled fan, apparently because it runs constantly at the same? You might want to post system specs and description, it might be that the PSU has to run it's fan at almost full due to poor case airflow. Or then again, it might be running it a low voltage, but the fan is just so crappy it's noisy. In any case, I don't think there are many if any PSUs these days that don't have a temperature controlled fan voltage. Obviously disregarding some 1U, 2U, industrial and redundant PSUs.

Looking at the PSU, it seems "cheapish". I wouldn't be surprised if the insides looked less than good (small heatsinks, poor efficiency). I think you should also consider getting a proper PSU from the SPCR recommended list, the money you were going to put in that Vantec Stealth should get you started on a new PSU. A proper PSU like Seasonic, Antec, Fortron etc can be found for quite a cheap price.

I really suggest you read the stickies on the PSU and fan forums, check out a few of the SPCR PSU reviews and the re-consider if you just want to mod the PSU or get a new one.

Here's a link to the post by frankgehry on modding a Antec Smartpower 2.0

I think this mod by Wilhelm-Tell deserves to be mentioned:
5v in 5min
It's a bit low on text but I think it clearly demonstrates how easy a fan swap can be, even if you have to solder.
_____________

The next mod is done by myself. All examples till now are with two wire fans. (If I have read it right.) Now what if you want RPM monitoring?
Fan swap with RPM monitoring

Hi everyone,

Just thought I'd share my experience of modding the Arctic Cooling 3 fans on the Silentium PSU, swapping them for Nexus 80mm Real Silent fans. This is particularly tricky as this isn't a standard PSU, it's proprietry to the Silentium.

If anyone else is interested, pics at this link: - or see below.

http://www.rootminus1.com/freepics/thum ... ?album=124

I took the hard drive holder off a while ago, so if you're starting form scratch you'll need to remove that too of course! I've just hosted the main pics, I'm sure you can find the screw holes!

Jo

First, remove the screws that hold the PSU in..



Now the point of no return - you'll need to cut the fan wires in order to open up the case to reach all of the fan screws



Voila, with the case off



You won't be able to reach ALL the fan screws without removing the circuit board (check safety precautions elsewhere on this site as there are potentiall dangerous parts exposed - at your own risk!)



Now it's easy enough to replace the fans..



And remember how you put it all back together!



Easy peasy! And just that little bit quieter too Now running at about 60% thanks to speedfan, and virtually inadiable - certianly from 1m anyway. One lesson learnt though: check new fans aren't 'clickers' BEFORE going through all this - one of my new fans clicked, a PITA to go through and replace that one!


Jo

hey thanks for this extensive report! any idea how much quieter the nexus fans are as compared to the arctic fans?

i have also been doing some silentium modding. see:

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... highlight=

i did not replace the psu-fans, cause i thought they are pretty good already. i only disconnected the psu-fans from the controller in the psu and attached them to a t-balancer. in the t-balancer i defined a curve, which keeps the fans at about 15% until the temp of the secondary psu-heatsink reaches 55 C. then rpm's are going to rise till 100% at 63 C.

at 15% to 20% the arctic psu-fans are silent. the psu does run quite a lot hotter though. it (the secondary heatsink with the t-balancer temp-probe) hoovers around 55 to 57 C now.

Is it possible to put a 3-pin fan connector onto a 2-pin connector? I don't have a soldering iron, and these Powerstream fans are driving me nuts. I've got some yate loon and panaflo low speed 80mm fans to swap in, but no way to change the connectors.

Depends on the PSU. I've seen some that use a 2-pin connector that is mostly the same as a standard 3-pin fan connector. You might need to snip off a bit of plastic to make it fit. In which case you need to make sure you get the power and ground wires right. But others use different forms of headers. My Seasonic SS300SFD was like this. I had to cut and solder the original connector to a standard 3-pin connector.

You can always open her up and take a look. Just remember to be careful in there. High voltage!

The powerstream is already sitting open on my desk, where it will lay until I get the quieter fans into it. The stock fans use a 2-pin connector, and I've been looking online for a 2 to 3 pin adapter, but I can't find any.

Hello,

it's recommended to read the forum stickies before posting IN the stickies Your question about the 3-pin to 2-pin adapter is already discussed in this thread. Also, one of the stickies say "adding your location to your profile will help people pointing out good places to shop for the supplies you need".

And finally, to balance my bitching...

WELCOME TO SPCR!

a link to a fan swap for a Antec SU380 (Seasonic) PSU.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/vi ... 817#307817

and also for the Seasonic S12II 380W

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/vi ... 292#353292

Hi there.. I've got a PSU with two 80mm fans, the Antec SP-500 (It came with my TX1050B and I still use it). There's one fan on the inside of the case, a thin one, which is always on. Then there's a regular-sided 80mm in the back which will start running whenever it's needed (only seen that like twice, in a hot summer, using a lot of power because I was testing some stuff...).

I've still got a Nexus 80mm here, so why not replace the fan from the inside? Well, it doesn't fit, so I'll put it on the outside of the psu, on the inside of the case ( ), but that doesn't matter. However, the fan in the PSU has this two-pin system, and a blue wire for the rpm readouts, like some other PSU fans have in this sticky. It's no problem to desolder some and replace the 3-pins with a 2-pins connector on the fan for me.
However, as the Nexus fan uses different rpms, I need to know if the fan in the back will still work when it's needed if I replace the 'always-on' fan with this Nexus.

I'm not too desperate to replace the fan, but if it's no problem I'll just replace it

I don't see why it would affect the secondary fan. I believe that one only kicks in when the temperature gets too hot. And I'm going to assume that the always-on just means it supplies a steady 5V to the fan. Is this the one that's powered by the fan connector in the cable harness? I also have an SP-500 and there's a rather long fan connector cable leading from the psu that I plug into the board.

Thought that too, just want to be ffs before I fry my PSU
The blue cable goes to the board, and from another place a blue cabe goes to the mainboard, yes. I didn't follow all the routes on the print, but I guess that cable is just for RPM readout in general, probably for the back fan.. (maybe that's why there's always one 0rpm in my speedfan, whatever board or version I use...)

Today I went from this...




Thats a FSP 350W with a Nexus fan

... to this



PSU still healty after 5 months with undervolted Nexus @ 7v



But I was curious of the new 800 rpm chocolate fans, so I gave it a try. But this time softmounted.



Don't put your fingers in here...



Back where it belongs


Results? The old Nexus was audible, but still very silent at 3 feet, this new softmounted Noctua is only audible at one feet or so. So it was well worth the effort.

I have a PC Power & Cooling 750W and it has the 2 pin connector. I cut off the wires from the old fan and then stripped a quarter inch off them and slid them in to holes of the 3 hole connector from the new Scythe Kama 1500 RPM I put in. I then wrapped the connection in electrical tape.

It seems to be wired correctly because the fan spins for a second when I turn the computer on. But then it stops spinning.

Anyone know why? Simplest solution?

It might be that it doesn't get enough power. Since lower speed fans usually have higher starting voltage, I suggest you see another Kama fan, rated around 2000 rpms or slightly more with lower starting voltage.

I thought of that, but it IS actually starting. it's just stopping right after.