Anyone know where I can find a medium-speed Japanaflo?

[Ken90630]

Anyone? I've looked at some of the usual places like 3Dcool.com, SVC, Jab-tech, FrozenCPU.com, and a few others, and every vendor is either out of stock or, if they have 'em, they're the new "Made in China" or "NMB-MAT"-branded ones (also made in China).

I really want to pick up a few new 80mm M1A medium speed Panaflos, from Japan, if any are still available. An M1BX, with the rpm-sensor capability, would be fine as well. Either one would make me very .

PS: I'm not particularly interested in debating, here, the differences between the Japanese & Chinese Panaflos. This has been discussed/debated already in other threads over the last few months. I know what I want, be it right or wrong, and I'd prefer to keep this thread focused on vendors still selling the Japanese M1A's or M1BX's. Thanks in advance.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Take a look-see at sidewindercomputers.com. Then email them to be sure
they are JapanaFlos not ChinaFlos.


Galvanized

 

[Ken90630]

Thanks. Yeah, it looks like they have 'em, but I'm gonna contact Sidewinder to be sure they're the Japanaflos. I'm encouraged by the fact they have some other Panaflos specifically labeled as "NMB-Mat" (Chinese), and the ones I'm interested in aren't labeled as such. But other sites are deceptively selling Chinaflos accompanied by a picture of a Japanaflo, without any specific country-of-origin info, so that doesn't mean anything conclusive.

Thanks a lot for the link.

 

[RalfHutter]

Good Luck! The M1BX Japanaflo's are veerry difficult to find. If you do find a source, I'd be real happy if you could PM me!

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: RalfHutter
Good Luck! The M1BX Japanaflo's are veerry difficult to find. If you do find a source, I'd be real happy if you could PM me!

Well, I checked every vendor I know of and nobody seems to have the Japanaflos in the 80 or 92mm size anymore. I spoke to a guy at Sidewinder a few minutes ago and he personally walked out to the warehouse to check their stock. The ones they have are the NMB-MAT-branded ones, and they're from China.

For what it's worth, he commented that he personally tested the NMB-MAT ones against the Japanaflos and said that to his ears, the NMB-MAT fans actually seemed a little quieter than the Japanaflos. :Q He said they seemed to move the same amount of air too. I didn't order one; told him I'd think about it.

I did order a Chinaflo 92mm from SVC just to test it. And I already ordered a Chinaflo M1A from 3DCool.com yesterday, so I'll test both and do a post if I discover anything newsworthy.

Shopper's fatigue has set in, so I'm giving up the quest on the Japanaflos. :laugh:

Ken

EDIT: BTW, SVC sells this nice little adapter that should, as I understand it, allow you to use a 'regular' Panaflo L1A or 12L (or any Panaflo for that matter) and get the rpm-monitoring capability of an M1BX. And it only costs a buck.

 

[zest]

Heatsink Factoty & Frozen CPU

 

[JBDan]

Originally posted by: Ken90630

Originally posted by: RalfHutter
Good Luck! The M1BX Japanaflo's are veerry difficult to find. If you do find a source, I'd be real happy if you could PM me!

Well, I checked every vendor I know of and nobody seems to have the Japanaflos in the 80 or 92mm size anymore. I spoke to a guy at Sidewinder a few minutes ago and he personally walked out to the warehouse to check their stock. The ones they have are the NMB-MAT-branded ones, and they're from China.

For what it's worth, he commented that he personally tested the NMB-MAT ones against the Japanaflos and said that to his ears, the NMB-MAT fans actually seemed a little quieter than the Japanaflos. :Q He said they seemed to move the same amount of air too. I didn't order one; told him I'd think about it.

I did order a Chinaflo 92mm from SVC just to test it. And I already ordered a Chinaflo M1A from 3DCool.com yesterday, so I'll test both and do a post if I discover anything newsworthy.

Shopper's fatigue has set in, so I'm giving up the quest on the Japanaflos. :laugh:

Ken

EDIT: BTW, SVC sells this nice little adapter that should, as I understand it, allow you to use a 'regular' Panaflo L1A or 12L (or any Panaflo for that matter) and get the rpm-monitoring capability of an M1BX. And it only costs a buck.

JabTech has the 80mm's....garunteed made in Japan...only the L1A's though.

 

[Ken90630]

JabTech has the 80mm's....garunteed made in Japan...only the L1A's though.

Yeah, I know. I still have several extra Japanese L1A's that I picked up from SVC while they still had some, so I don't need any more of those. It's the Japanese M1A or M1BX, 80 or 92mm, that I've been lookin' for. But thanks for the tip anyway.

BTW, anyone know if Papst makes a reasonably quiet mid-speed fan? I've seen a few Papst fans out there, but they all seem to be of the low speed / lowCFM variety.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

I know your looking for Panaflos that are made in Japan. Panasonic most likely moved all thier tooling to China for profit purposes. In a further attempt to cut costs the Chinese may use a lubricant for the bushes that is not of the same standard as might have been used in Japan. Everything else should be the same.

In the past i've used ADDA HYPRO Bearing fans. They are very smooth and silent, they under volt well. #AD0812MX-A70GL, 80mm @ 31.4cfm but they are only available at mouser.com and are made in China. Very high quality fan, not cheap and come in several sizes and ratings. Most ADDAs have gold lables these have green lables.


Galvanized

 

[vanvock]

If you haven't already try CaseCooler, Bestbyte, Coolerguys.com. Not sure if it's exactly what you're after but they list some. I've had good experience ordering from them.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: GalvanizedYankee
I know your looking for Panaflos that are made in Japan. Panasonic most likely moved all thier tooling to China for profit purposes. In a further attempt to cut costs the Chinese may use a lubricant for the bushes that is not of the same standard as might have been used in Japan. Everything else should be the same.

In the past i've used ADDA HYPRO Bearing fans. They are very smooth and silent, they under volt well. #AD0812MX-A70GL, 80mm @ 31.4cfm but they are only available at mouser.com and are made in China. Very high quality fan, not cheap and come in several sizes and ratings. Most ADDAs have gold lables these have green lables.


Galvanized

Panaflo merged with MNB a year or two ago. The Panaflos made in China are built in a new factory on new equipment; they are made exactly the same however. Any difference in quality is down to sample variance and may be an issue of being manufactured from the new line.

There is also supposed to be some improvements in the motor and/or bearing design coming to the Panaflo line but it may take awhile before those work there way over here.

 

[Ken90630]

Thanks, all, for the info and tips. I appreciate it.

Operandi: Mind if I ask where you heard or read about those improvements coming to the Panaflo line? I'd like to read up on that myself.

 

[Operandi]

Originally posted by: Ken90630
Thanks, all, for the info and tips. I appreciate it.

Operandi: Mind if I ask where you heard or read about those improvements coming to the Panaflo line? I'd like to read up on that myself.

I read it awhile ago on the SPCR forums. The guy/gal seemed to work for Panasonic or NMB as certainly had a bunch of info on current and supposedly up coming models as well as the merger with NMB. If I can find the posts again I'll be sure to provide links here.

 

[Ken90630]

That'd be great. I'd like to check that out myself.

Ken

 

[andrewbabcock]

Why does it matter? Everything is made in china anyway...

 

[Bull Dog]

was there supposed to be something better with Japan Panaflo's vs China Panaflo's?

 

[Ken90630]

Originally posted by: Bull Dog
was there supposed to be something better with Japan Panaflo's vs China Panaflo's?

Some people (whose credentials or motivations are unknown to me) have said they think the "Chinaflos" are slightly louder and have a different pitch to their sound. I also saw one site where the write-up said their Chinaflos have "rifle bearings," which would obviously make them different from the HydroWave bearings that make Panaflos what they are. I suspect this may have been a typo or just a mistake on that one site, as I only saw it there, but I don't know. Naturally, I can't remember the site now. :roll: :laugh:

Others swear, often emphatically and with seeming credibility, that the Japanaflos and Chinaflos are exactly the same. I've also heard they're manufactured exactly the same way, but maybe the Chinese plant's QC isn't quite up to what the Japanese plant's was. Who knows ....

I'd think it'd be easy enough for someone at one of the credible hardware sites to simply do a definitive side-by-side comparison of a Japanaflo and a Chinaflo and also physically take each apart to see if indeed they're identical. If I had any extras lying around (that I didn't need), I'd do it. How long would that take? A half hour or something?

Then again, it could be argued that this is a lot of talk about something of relatively minor importance in the overall scheme of things. I've already prolly spent more time typing about it than it prolly warrants. :laugh:

 

[Elcs]

My 5 Panaflo's are all Chinaflo's and I cant grumble.

As Ken90630 said, the best guess in the difference between Chinaflo's and Japanaflo's is probably quality control. Local parts in China may be of slightly lower quality also.

That is... if there really is/was a difference.