SPCR

Just warning you guys - I ordered five of the famous D12SL-12 fans from them and have been extremely disappointed with their noise output. There is a "whirring" noise that accompanies the expected "airflow" whoosh at 5v, 7v, and 12v.

FWIW these are marked "809." The Yates I've ordered in years past from Jabtech were marked 609 and sound dramatically better - very little bearing noise whatsoever, just the slight mechanical whine @ 12v and the typical whoosh, dead silent at 5v. These 809 fans sound no better than the Lian-Li fans included with my Rocketfish tower.

Just a heads up ...

So, it's more of a change in the fan manufacturing than the vendor? I wonder if that's a date code (where 809 = sept 2008 and 609 = sept 2006)?

I'd hate to trash a decent supplier because you received a lot of poor fans.

Yate-Loon's are always a crapshoot. When they're quiet, they're very quiet, but when they're not, there's a lot of clicking or whirring.

Most people buy a bunch of these at once, like you did, and choose a couple of the best. It's surprising to see all 5 be bad though...

They all sound exactly the same - "whirring" noise from the bearings.

I too was rather disappointed ... oh well. I guess it's Petra's from now on?

I am by no means bashing Jab-Tech themselves here - they're a stellar etailer and I'm a big fan, it's just that I'm not too pleased with this batch of Yates I received from them.

given that all 5 display this fault, it may be that your shipment was damaged in transit. have you contacted jab-tech regarding this issue?

http://www.overclock.net/air-cooling/48 ... truth.html
(Sorry, it won't let me post links yet, so you'll have to copy/paste.)

There are several visibly different fans, all verified as authentic YL's, being sold under the same part number. My Jab-Tech D12SL-12s did indeed have the smaller hubs. My new Petra's Tech Shop D12SL-12s had the larger ones.

For $3 fans they are fine. If you want better fans buy Scythe Slipstreams or Scyth SFlex instead.

It doesn't bother me that the quality is lower on the $3 fan vs the $8 and $13 fans. It's still leaps and bounds quieter than the Antec tricool that came with my Solo.

Oh and for the record the $3 yate loons I got are marked 511 not 809 or 609.

JaYp146
Highly probably that the fans have no capacitors inside, unfortunately it is quite common. Without capacitors fans work but sound much worse.

This reminds me of the SilenX fans. They are silent a first but all of them turn noisy in a short period of time. It's just a case of poorly designed bearings. My favorite fans are Acoustifans with dual ball bearings. Scyth S-Flex's are good to but I think the ball bearing fans will outlast them.

cmanley wrote:Scyth S-Flex's are good to but I think the ball bearing fans will outlast them.

That view doesn't match the numbers posted

S-Flex: 150,000 hours
Accoustifan: 60,000 hours
* MTBF of normal ball bearing Fan: 50,000 hours
Slipstream: 30,000 hours
* MTBF of normal sleeve bearing Fan: 20,000 hours

Obviously if I'm willing to buy a $3 Yate Loon I'd be happy to use an accoustifan but I'm not willing to believe its significantly more reliable and I'm not going to pay any more for it than I would for any other ball bearing fan.