Any way to turn off/kill a LED in a fan?

[The Mailman]

okay so the heatsink/fan i've got coming in has a green LED in it

any way for me to kill it off? green doesnt go with my colors scheme and its my favoite choice for AM2 so i dont have many options

 

[Talcite]

unplug it?

 

[avi85]

Originally posted by: The Mailman
okay so the heatsink/fan i've got coming in has a green LED in it

any way for me to kill it off? green doesnt go with my colors scheme and its my favoite choice for AM2 so i dont have many options

I'm gonna assume that you're talking about the cnps9500am2. I don't know how to kill the led but your other option is to buy a cnps9500led (the regular one with blue leds) and switch the fans, I saw this done somewhere, though I can't find it now, then you sell the cnps9500led with a green fan on ebay and maybe even gain a few bucks.

of course all this is assuming that blue goes with your color scheme...

 

[The Mailman]

blue doesnt work either.....but it'd be better


i guess i'll do my usual "drop it on the floor until it works the way i want it" routine

honestly, i've fixed computers that way when i was younger

 

[SparkyJJO]

For the CNPS9500 you'd have to take the fan off, take the blades off the motor, then you could get to the LEDs to shut them off.

Or, you could swap the fan with some other clear/black plastic 92mm fan. There was a thread on xtremesystems forums with someone who did that.

 

[The Mailman]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
For the CNPS9500 you'd have to take the fan off, take the blades off the motor, then you could get to the LEDs to shut them off.

Or, you could swap the fan with some other clear/black plastic 92mm fan. There was a thread on xtremesystems forums with someone who did that.

cool, thanks!

 

[The Mailman]

same goes for a PSU fan, right?
cuz im getting a OCZ Powerstream and its got the blue LED fan and i'd rather have red or just plain nothing

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: The Mailman
same goes for a PSU fan, right?
cuz im getting a OCZ Powerstream and its got the blue LED fan and i'd rather have red or just plain nothing

Have a window? Will the case be under a desk or on it? I have my powerstream in a P180 under my desk, so the blue doesn't bother me.

 

[Zepper]

Yup, either replace the fan(s) or figure out how to cut the leads to the LEDs or just drill thru the LEDs themselves.

.bh.

 

[The Mailman]

Originally posted by: Pens1566

Originally posted by: The Mailman
same goes for a PSU fan, right?
cuz im getting a OCZ Powerstream and its got the blue LED fan and i'd rather have red or just plain nothing

Have a window? Will the case be under a desk or on it? I have my powerstream in a P180 under my desk, so the blue doesn't bother me.

itll be in an HTPC under my tv

the case itself is weird as the PSU is in backwards, inside it. so the fan and exhaust faces towards whoever will be in front of it so yes - the blue LED will be very visible through the metal grid on the front

 

[The Mailman]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Yup, either replace the fan(s) or figure out how to cut the leads to the LEDs or just drill thru the LEDs themselves.

.bh.

it doesnt matter what fan i get, the noise is all in the motor, right?

 

[SparkyJJO]

typically the LED fans for cases or in PSUs have the LEDs around the outside so they are easy to snip. Only a couple fans like the CNPS9500 fan has the LEDs in the hub where they are harder to get to.

 

[ForgetCassettes]

This might be of interest to you

 

[The Mailman]

*bookmarked*

thanks!

 

[avi85]

Originally posted by: ForgetCassettes
This might be of interest to you

that mod, assuming you use the exact same fan, causes a very large increase in temps, at the nexus's fastest it is still worse than the original zalman at it's lowest speed.

the only reason nexus's are so quiet is cause they spin so slowly, it's not like they spin real fast but emit no noise

 

[Zepper]

And the Nexus is just a Yate Loon that already has a voltage dropping resistor built in so they never actually run at 12V anyway. Noise can also be due to the design of the fan blades but, as you said, the motor is usually the source of most noise. IMO, fan blades with square corners on the ends will generate more noise than blades that are shaped like propeller tips at the ends, but the square ended ones will likely move more air than those with rounded ends because there is more surface to grab the air. Another trade-off... Quality and loudness of noise can also be affected by fan orientation - sleeve bearing fans tend not to like horizontal orientation very much.

Using a Zalman or Sunbeam bracket, a 100, 120 or 140 mm fan could be located right up next to the heatsink w/o actually having to be mounted to it. That way you wouldn't have to chop the fan up while also taking some weight off the fan mount.

And if you plan to use the Fanmate that comes with that HSF, test it with the fan you're planning to use. The Fanmate is a PWM speed controller - some of which can cause some sleeve bearing fans like the YL/Nexus to buzz and some ball bearing fans to whine. Apparently Zalman didn't bother to do that so the OEM fan buzzes when adjusted (according to the SPCR modding article)... :roll: According to G-Y, high speed, ball bearing fans (designed to run over 4-5000 RPM) can rattle when slowed beause of the higher tolerance bearings necessary for high speed operation.

I hook my CPU fan directly to my Sunbeam Rheobus fan controller which is a linear controller and doesn't directly contribute to any fan noise changes. I think one of the cheaper Vantec controllers is also linear. The cheap Silverstone one is just resistors - totally passive, so it shouldn't add any noise either.

I tend to prefer ball bearing fans as they can actually push some air and generate higher static pressures than sleeve bearing fans (good characteristics to have for heatsink use). You might want to try the Nidec 92mm sold at bgmicro.com et al. for your experiment. At least Zalman did design their fan mount so that changing the fan out wouldn't be too difficult - perhaps an indication that they don't have a lot of confidence in the longevity of the OE fan...

.bh.

 

[OBCT]

Originally posted by: ForgetCassettes
This might be of interest to you

*bookmarked*