how do you know if your PSU is getting too hot?

[Brodel]

I'm thinking of making myself one of these over the weekend...

http://www.muffledcomputing.com/ps-muffler-detail-1.html

to quieten my PSU because I don't want to replace the PSU Fan and void my warranty. So, is there any way to tell if it's getting to warm? I know the website says

Even in worse case scenarios temperature is affected less than 1%. So in short the mufflers DO NOT ADVERSELY AFFECT AIR FLOW OR CASE TEMERATURE.

but mine is going to be a home made one and would like to be able to test it just to be sure.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

I made one of those out of thin plywood, then covered it with woven fiberglass&epoxy rosin, then lined it with acustic matting=a waste of my time
Make one out of heavy cardboard taped together with duct tape, lined with whatever.
See how it works. I was disappointed in my attempt. There are several reviews on-line
concerning this muffler. Find them. Read them.

Both Zepper and I have changed out the rear 80mm high speed fans on PSUs. We used
an adapter, 80 to 92mm and run an external fan with the same cfm rating as the stock
80mm screemer. 92x25@40cfm,minimum, equals a faily quiet fan.

To reduce reflected noise, line the wall to the rear of the case with thick&dense carpet.
A piece 18"x30" should do nicely.



...Galvanized

 

[Brodel]

thanks for the carpet tip, I was thinkin of doing a similar thing to the muffler but removing the S-Bend and having the hole pointed downwards so the fan noise goes down rather than against the wall behind my desk but wasn't sure if it would get too hot or not.

I'm really tempted to change my PSU fan but like I said, I am unsure about a) voiding the warranty and b) killing myself in the process.

 

[zagood]

Originally posted by: Brodel
thanks for the carpet tip, I was thinkin of doing a similar thing to the muffler but removing the S-Bend and having the hole pointed downwards so the fan noise goes down rather than against the wall behind my desk but wasn't sure if it would get too hot or not.

I'm really tempted to change my PSU fan but like I said, I am unsure about a) voiding the warranty and b) killing myself in the process.

Unless you have a PSU fan that's constantly running, this isn't the best idea. You're not just redirecting sound but also air. If you have a power supply that lowers its RPMs considerably under light/no load, that setup will trap hot air (which rises) in the duct. You'll be trapping not only the PSU exhaust but also the exhaust from any fans in the back of the case.

-z

 

[Brodel]

Originally posted by: zagood
Unless you have a PSU fan that's constantly running, this isn't the best idea. You're not just redirecting sound but also air. If you have a power supply that lowers its RPMs considerably under light/no load, that setup will trap hot air (which rises) in the duct. You'll be trapping not only the PSU exhaust but also the exhaust from any fans in the back of the case.

-z

Yea, that's why I wanted to see if there was some way to monitor temperatures. The muffler from the website says it makes 1% difference in temps at most, so I wanted to know how much more of a difference having the exhaust facing down would be if the impact of the muffler is so little even though the exhaust is in a different direction to my plan.

 

[zagood]

If you're going with the full muffler concept on that page, having the exhaust pointing down would be the worst idea. Too much area to trap hot air in.

Don't know of any onboard temp monitoring for PSUs. You can always stick a temp probe in the PSU if it's got any meshed surfaces.

First thing you might want to try is reducing vibration noise from the PSU. Either pick up one of those silicon gasket kits from Antec or Vantec, or dot some silicon glue where the PSU mates with the case.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=306801&pfp=SEARCH

-z

EDIT: Just thought of something...instead of having the exhaust face down, how about to the side of the computer that's pointing away from you? Won't be as efficient as pointing up, but definitely not as bad as pointing down.

 

[Brodel]

Originally posted by: zagood
If you're going with the full muffler concept on that page, having the exhaust pointing down would be the worst idea. Too much area to trap hot air in.

Don't know of any onboard temp monitoring for PSUs. You can always stick a temp probe in the PSU if it's got any meshed surfaces.

First thing you might want to try is reducing vibration noise from the PSU. Either pick up one of those silicon gasket kits from Antec or Vantec, or dot some silicon glue where the PSU mates with the case.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=306801&pfp=SEARCH

-z

EDIT: Just thought of something...instead of having the exhaust face down, how about to the side of the computer that's pointing away from you? Won't be as efficient as pointing up, but definitely not as bad as pointing down.

Thanks, it isn't really my psu vibrating that's the problem it's just the motor of the fan. I wasn't planning on copying that design totally, I was going to remove the S-Bend so that there was less chance of trapping the air, so it was basically going to be a box with the bottom removed, if that makes sense? I was considering the side route too

 

[zagood]

If you're lazy, you can always try to track down a premade PSU chimney. Gotta run but it's the angled looking thing on this set, I'm sure you can buy them seperately:

http://www.xoxide.com/ovcokit.html

-z