Help with a PS fan question

[JimMc]

I've got a PS on a crack rack with a fan that sounds like the bearings are going, real loud annoying hum/vibration. Can I run the PS without any fan, seeing how the PS is out in the open, or will it possibly overheat? Hate to lose any WU's until I get to the store and I can't find an extra 80 mm fan in any of my stuff

Frankly, it would be nice to just ditch the fan, quiet things down a little if it won't start a fire or something....

 

[Insidious]

You have a good chance of loosing that PSU if you defeat the fan. Excessive component temps -> insulation breakdowns -> Failure!

The fan sound probably won't be nearly as annoying as the smell without it

-Sid

 

[Assimilator1]

Don't shut off the fan!:Q ,even out of the case the PSU still needs its fan.

Just live with the noise until you get a new fan

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Bah - where is your people's sense of adventure?

Yes you should have a PSU fan but I have been successful on smaller PSUs with running them without fans if the fans die. I leave the cover off of the psu though and haven't done this with a machine that had a big load (ie they only had 1 hdd and maybe 1 floppy - nothing else) I also only did this with Intel chips so YMMV

Be aware that burning up a PSU has the potential to ruin anything attached to it though. Is it worth the risk over a $1.00 fan? nope - get a new fan

CkG

 

[JWMiddleton]

You can take the cover off the PS and point a house fan at it until you can buy a replacement. For the replacement you can order one that is thermostatically controlled. That is they run at a slower speed until the PS gets warm, then it speeds up to bring more cooling air thru the unit. I have a couple and they work great.

 

[Insidious]

I can't believe people with your 'experience' would actually suggest to a guy asking for help
that he/she should run a PSU with no fan..... That is TERRIBLE advise and you should be ashamed
of entertaining yourselves at someone else's expense.

:disgust:

-sid

 

[JimMc]

Hmmm, part of the reason I asked is because I thought I remembered Russ telling me you could run crack rack PS's without the fan, and there isn't much load (1 HD, Celeron and stock fan.) Isn't part of the reason for the PS fan to ventilate the case, not just the PS? With the PS in the open, it is operating at fairly low, room-temperature type conditions.

Perhaps the fan will die on it's own before I get a replacement and we'll all find out what happens. :Q

BTW, it's a Sparkle 235W.

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: JimMc
I've got a PS on a crack rack with a fan that sounds like the bearings are going, real loud annoying hum/vibration. Can I run the PS without any fan, seeing how the PS is out in the open, or will it possibly overheat? Hate to lose any WU's until I get to the store and I can't find an extra 80 mm fan in any of my stuff

Frankly, it would be nice to just ditch the fan, quiet things down a little if it won't start a fire or something....

Most switching Power supplies need forced air movement to stop thermal runaway because the supplies are made smaller that what would normally be needed in metal fin size for ordinary room air static air heat dissipation. If there is a way for you to get the heat sink metal of the Power supply connected to another hunk of metal or more fins you may get away without running a fan. Since this is an open rack situation it sounds like you could add more heat dissapting metal to the switching transistor heat sinks on the power supply to eliminate the need for a fan.

Of course you could hook up one of the fancy water cooling systems with plumbing everywhere and get rid of all fans

 

[JimMc]

Well, it's now a moot question.

Bought a new desk today and in jacking around with all the wires and stuff I managed to FUBAR the hard drive, not recognized by BIOS, rattles a little on power up then nothing. Had some bad sectors, I guess it's time had come.

Amazing how events can conspire to take care of your problems for you....

 

[mechBgon]

Scums! Well, if you get to needing a new 80mm fan for that PSU, drop me a PM. Or if you want to wring a little more life out of the one that's in there, peel off the label and put a drop of automatic-transmission fluid on the bushing (I'm assuming it's a sleeve-bearing fan).