Exchanging PSU fan

[Hendrik]

I'd like to put Pabst fans into the PSUs of all my PCs at home. I have already done this with one Antec PSU, because it had been sitting in a drawer unused for several months, and so I figured that there wasn't going to be any current in it. And as you can see, I managed not to electrocute myself.

However, I'd now like to do the same thing with PSUs that are running now, and that will have current in them. How dangerous is this? Is it just a matter of not touching certain parts of the PSU once you have opened it? If so, which parts? Or should a recently used PSU simply never be opened?

Thanks for your replies - you might save my life!

 

[minendo]

http://www.ocmodshop.com/psu.asp

That link may be of some help to you.

 

[Hendrik]

Thanks - that is helpful.

He seems to think you're safe as long as you don't accidentally touch something inside the PSU.

 

[Packy]

Yup. Basically don't touch ANYTHING, and don't poke around with anythng metal. I replaced the fan in my PSU with a Panaflo L1A. It was easy, and only took a few minutes. I didn't even bother snipping off the two-pin lead on the panaflo since it fit through where the wire bundle came out in my PSU. Works great, and now my PSU fan doesn't ramp up and down all the time!

 

[prontospyder]

For the Antec 300W Power Supply, do I need to cut off the wires as the website states or can I just unplug the old fan and plug in the new Panaflo fan? Thanks.

 

[Fireman]

Usually the connectors are different. At least that's what I have found.

 

[whitelight]

as fireman said, the tail of the fans are usually different and sometimes the psu fan might be soldered onto the pcb of the psu. and when installing a new psu fan, make sure the psu has been off for a few days.. preferably a day to let the capacitors discharge. and if you've just let it sit for a few hours, DON'T touch the capacitors or else you'll be in for a big shock.

 

[Hendrik]

Thanks to everyone for their contributions - I'll be doing this with more confidence now!

 

[ShinSa]

<< as fireman said, the tail of the fans are usually different and sometimes the psu fan might be soldered onto the pcb of the psu. and when installing a new psu fan, make sure the psu has been off for a few days.. preferably a day to let the capacitors discharge. and if you've just let it sit for a few hours, DON'T touch the capacitors or else you'll be in for a big shock. >>



I really dont see what all the fuss is about. There really is no danger to changing out your fan in the PSU. You can simply discharge it by leaving it plugged into the wall outlet which grounds itself.

Also it only takes few seconds to completly dischage a cap, not hours. Caps dont hold voltage that long. They're just present in circuit boards not to hold voltage but to regulate it.

I doubt you'll get any shock from touching those uF caps in there. You'll probably get a bigger zolt out of a double A battery.
So just relax and take it step by step. It should be easy as replacing a light bulb.

 

[L00PY]

Call me crazy, but I replaced mine without any long wait. Heck, I even left the mobo and drives connected to the PSU. It all depends on your risk tolerance.

On my Antec 400W PSU, I just unpluged the old ADDA fan. Instead of drilling a hole, I disconnected the new fan wires from the three pin connector, fed them through one of the bottom slots in the PSU case, then reconnected the connector. All it takes is a pin to separate the the connector from the wire on my fan (and Panaflos). I now have RPM monitoring on my new quiet PSU fan.

If you don't mind your new fan ramping up and down, you can power the new fan off the same connector as the old one by splicing them. You'll probably want to use a fan that can handle the same amperage as the stock ADDA fan, .25A IIRC. The Antec / ADDA connector is a squarish two prong connector in my PSU. A Panaflo connector might fit, but you'd have to cut it up some.

 

[keyeye]

I've changed out 4-5 PSU with panaflo's. Works great. No shocks.
Heard that if you turn on the computer with the power unplugged, it discharges the Caps. Have never formally tested if that is true myself .