How I quieted the 40mm fan in my Shuttle SN45G

Info & chat about quiet prebuilt, small form factor and barebones systems, people's experiences with vendors thereof, etc.

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chrispitude
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Location: Saylorsburg, PA
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How I quieted the 40mm fan in my Shuttle SN45G

Post by chrispitude » Wed Nov 24, 2004 7:00 pm

The 40mm power supply fan in my Shuttle SN45G had become quite noisy. I did some research here and saw some pricey 40mm fans mentioned. I also saw mention of the new redesigned Shuttle PC40 SilentX power supply, but it was also a decent chunk of change.

After some searching, I found a Top Motor 40mm Ball Bearing Fan being sold at http://www.buyextras.com/. Here's the specs from their page:
Top Motor is one of the largest manufacturer of fans worldwide
Features:
-Ball Bearing for Longer Life
-It's a quiet fan compared to other 40mm fans
-We offer 2 years warranty on this fan.
Specifications:
Note: 1 inch = 25.4mm
-Dimension: 40(W) x 40(L) x 10(H)mm
-Voltage: DC 12V
-Rated Current: 0.14 Amps
-Fan Speed: 4500 RPM
-Air Flow: 3.36 CFM
-Noise Level: 14 dB(A)
-Connector: 4-pin
-Bearing Type: Ball Bearing
-40mm fan screws are not included
2 Years Warranty
The fan itself has a 0.08A labelled on it, which disagrees with the webpage specs. The noisy fan I removed from the SN45G power supply was rated at 0.12A. The new fan is much much quieter even at the stock 12V.

The best part? This fan is $4.95, plus a very reasonable couple of bucks to ship it via US Postal Service. If you're looking to quiet down your Shuttle SFF power supply and $8 plus some soldering sounds like a good price, I suggest you give it a shot.

- Chris

PhilgB
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Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2003 4:25 am
Location: Welland, Ontario, Canada

Post by PhilgB » Wed Nov 24, 2004 8:10 pm

I just rigged an 80L1A to mine and aside from the HDD (MP0402H on order), it's pretty close to silent. Going to experiment with some dampening next. A 60mm at 5v would also make a huge difference in noise and be more than enough airflow.

Twill
Posts: 34
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2003 4:05 pm

Post by Twill » Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:00 pm

I would be careful with that, the CFM is a little low. I know that the 250W PSUs use 2x ~7cfm fans. Going below 5-6 CFM, you are going to watch out for your temps.

Just a heads up :)

Twill

vertigosity
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Post by vertigosity » Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:18 pm

PhilgB wrote:I just rigged an 80L1A to mine and aside from the HDD (MP0402H on order), it's pretty close to silent. Going to experiment with some dampening next. A 60mm at 5v would also make a huge difference in noise and be more than enough airflow.
I'd kinda like to replicate that in my own Shuttle cube (an SN45GV2); where exactly would you put that? Would it have to be externally mounted? I cracked my case open and honestly can't find a really stellar location to internally mount an 80mm fan, and would love to hack out those noisy little 40mms. Aside from the PSU, my box is quiet enough for my deaf ears :roll:

PhilgB
Posts: 389
Joined: Sun Jul 13, 2003 4:25 am
Location: Welland, Ontario, Canada

Post by PhilgB » Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:39 am

Hey vertigosity,

I did mount the fan on the inside of the case, but this required me to rotate the hard drive by 90˚. Also, in its current position, the PCB of the PSU is facing the inside of the case and mounting a fan there would not do anything. You first need to flip the PSU around. If you try this right now before making any mods, you will notice two things. The power socket doesn’t fit in the case cut-out, and the metal hook that used to hold up the back of the PSU is now at the bottom.

The second problem is pretty easy to fix. Just bolt it to the grill at the now top side of the PSU and it will almost be in the exact same position. For the power socket, just cut out the obstructing corner with a dremel or saw. Only two screws can be used after this. I positioned the fan as far back on the power supply as possible. This places it directly in front of the large heatsink. With the fan blowing in, I noticed most of the air just blew right back out instead of flowing through. When flipped the other way, used as an intake, the air coming out was much warmer, and the PSU case was much cooler. This obviously raises CPU temps, but in my case, only by a few degrees.

Another thing you will need to cut is the drive tray. Firstly because there is no room to suspend the drive, and secondly because it will collide with the fan.

If you haven’t already, cut out the grill for the ICE cooler and use two fans in a push pull config. Made a big difference in my system.

If I ever do get a decent camera, I’ll post some pics.

Good luck.

vertigosity
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Post by vertigosity » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:16 am

Wow... that is indeed a fair bit of modding, but I'll start doing a little bit of planning out how it might be done. I hadn't done the grill mod yet, I was planning a day or two to pull everything out and hack it all apart. Thanks for replying :)

scotty6435
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Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 3:02 pm
Location: Salisbury, UK

Post by scotty6435 » Sat Jan 29, 2005 6:12 am

I'm hoping to mod my 45G PSU with an external PSU fan using either a slim 80x10mm or a TMD 2 fan. The TMD will be best if it's quiet as there's no dead air at the spindle. Let's hope they undervolt well :)

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