Safe to eliminate one fan from a two fan Antec power supply?

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

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hero
Posts: 30
Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2004 3:52 pm

Safe to eliminate one fan from a two fan Antec power supply?

Post by hero » Fri May 07, 2004 10:16 pm

I'm thinking of removing the bottom 92mm fan from either a Smartpower 350W or a TruePower 330W power supply to quiet the PSU down.

1. Would just an 80mm exhaust fan, probably a Nexus, be fine for a PSU like that?
2. I wasn't planning on adding the 120mm intake (SLK3700-BQE), but would the 120mm case exhaust fan create too much negative pressure for the 80mm exhaust in the PSU to cool it efficiently?

Sure I coulda just got a Nexus PSU, but I got the SmartPower with the case and have had the TruePower for almost a year so it's cheaper to just mod one of these with a nice $15-20 fan.

1911user
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Post by 1911user » Sat May 08, 2004 8:03 pm

I removed the bottom 92mm fan from an Antec SL350. It's been running that way for 2-3 months now. It is much quieter without the 92mm fan. I did use a piece of plastic to cover the front 1/2 of the 92mm hole. That forces the air to flow over the heatsinks rather than take the easy path straight to the 80mm PSU exhaust fan. I don't think the 92mm was temp controlled and ran at a steady speed.

Last week, I bought an Actec SL350S (quiet version of SL350) from someone with an SLK#3700BQE case. It is quiet. The differences between the two are the SL350S only has a single 80mm exhaust fan, the bottom of the PSU (where the 2nd fan would normally go) is solid metal, and there are 2 rows of air slits (sl350 has 1 row) at the back of the PSU.

If you replace the 80mm fan, make sure it is temp controlled and preferably monitored. The 80mm in the sl350 PSU (rig#1) turns 2400-2600RPM at a constant 100% load. The fan would turn 2900RPM with direct 12V power.

Viperoni
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Post by Viperoni » Sun May 09, 2004 5:32 am

IMO it's better to get rid of the 80mm and keep the 92mm so ALL of the air goes through the HS.... Antec's run hot enough to begin with.

DraGoNsLaYeR
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Post by DraGoNsLaYeR » Thu May 20, 2004 5:25 pm

I don't trust myself enough to a mod a PSU, but would sticking an object to jam the blades be just as effective? I have a TP430 and the whining sound is really annoying. I don't know which fan makes the nosie or even if it is a fan.

Apoc
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Post by Apoc » Wed Jun 30, 2004 2:44 am

When i jam the 92 mm fan, it starts making a very loud clicks. Modding a PSU isn't that difficult. Just make sure the cable is unplugged, and you are safe. If you are going to test it when it's open, I would recommend plugging the cable into the PSU first, and into the power jack after that.

greeef
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Post by greeef » Wed Jun 30, 2004 4:40 am

I have an antec 350W trueblue supply. I bought a psu cover for £1 which eliminated the 92mm fan. I then replaced the 80mm with an old quiet cpu fan, and glued+thermal pasted a couple extra heatsinks onto the pathetic ones that were there (had space cos the 92mm fan was gone). It's virtually silent, fan never seems to ramp up at all.

oh, i replaced the blue LEDs for orange ones, and the cover is orange. So i suppose it's a trueorange supply now.

griff

ForTension
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Post by ForTension » Wed Jun 30, 2004 5:00 am

Apoc - Unplugging the cable from the PSU does NOT mean you are safe. The capacitors (the big cylinder things) still hold a dangerous punch. Removing the 92mm fan from the housing keeps you well away from the “guts”, but replacing the 80mm can put your fingers in close proximity to the caps. Replacing or removing a fan is easy, but the possible danger means not everyone should attempt to open a PSU.

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