Power Source fan is loud...What can I do about it?

[Sunny129]

the question is simple. can i open my power source up and replace the fan, or must i go out and get a new power source?

 

[mechBgon]

You can open it and replace the fan. I have done it a few times. You will need to be able to connect the new fan, and a good way to do that is to solder the wires and use heat-shrink tubing at the solder points. I like the Panaflo L1A 80mm fans I got from Teamawe, they are quiet and inexpensive.

If you are not confident in your soldering skills, you could get a new low-noise power supply like the Enermax Whisper models, Russ has them at CompuCheap. I have one of the non-whisper models around here and even that one is quiet. It has two fans, too.

 

[ZeroBurn]

if your PSU is working fine for you besides the noise, you don't need to splurge on a new one at all. you can easily remove your fan and replace it with a new quieter one, and is done quite often here actually.

first make sure of the size of your fan- most likely an 80mm fan, and then grab a panaflo from Joe at teamawe (or any other 80mm fan, i'd highly reccommend the panaflo L1As though). get a bare cable one, you don't need leads.

open your power supply, and you'll see the fan w/ a wire connecting to a circuit board. disconnect the wire, and remove the fan. cut the end off of the wire and then connect the 2 bare wires on the end to the 2 bare wires from your new fan. make sure you insulate it. there's 3 ways to really do it- solder the wires together and use heatshrink wrapping, use a crimper w/ butts, or tape them together and wrap them around completely w/ electrical tape. there are small little tublar rubber butts with metal casings inside that you can use which is what i did, just stick one cable in each end and smash the metal casing down to close it and the wire is both secure and insulated.

put the fan back on and plug the new fan (using the old end) to the circuit board and you're set. also, i'd reccommend cutting the metal grill off the back of your PSU where the fan is (circular cuts that allow the air to escape) completely, and replacing it w/ a 80mm grill which you can pick up almost at any site that sells fans. they vibrate a lot less and allow more air to pass by.

 

[Sunny129]

thanks for the replies so far guys...that panaflo L1A is only 21 dBA, which is pretty quiet...could i go any lower even if it takes rpm and airfolw away, or would there not be enough air to cool the pwoer source then?

 

[GiZzO]

Look here on quiet fan comparison

Alota ppl seem to be changing out there PS fans, exchanging what was a powerful PS fan to a quiet very low airflow fan. I would think this would be really harming your PS, it was specifed to work properly with the fan it was supplied with with he optimal airflow to cool it down properly. If you crack open a PS that was designed to be quiet you'll see that there will be heavy use of large heatsinks to disapate the heat better due theres not much airflow. A Overheated power supply not only is gonna die faster cause of the excess heat but will fluctuate in the power it should be outputing.

 

[Tonec]

Replacing the ps fan is essentially the same practice as overclocking your cpu. You are trading better performance (quieter operation) for longer lifespan. If you're willing to risk a $200 cpu then you're shouldn't be worried about a $30 power supply.

 

[StarTech]

If you go the crimp path check these parts from Radio shack:

- Telephone butt-insulated connectors #64-3073 (~$2)

- Crimping tool #64-410 ($8-$9)

These butt connectors just take a wire on each end. They are not big enough for splicing, that is two wires on one end, but great for cutting the old fan out and connecting the new one.

 

[Sunny129]

GiZz0, i have heard about those quiet PS's a few times b4. who makes them, how much do they cost, and where can i get a good one? and most importantly, can i get a 300W one? after the point you made about the fact that a PS is meant to be cooled by the fan it comes with, i wouldnt want to shorten its life, and moreover i wouldnt want fluctuations in the voltages supplied to various system components. so now i'm not so sure i want to replace the PS fan. can you give me some answers to the above questions on those quiet PS's? thanks.

Eric

 

[GiZzO]

My Silencer PS was 110 bucks, but if i was do it all over again id probably go with a enermax unit, dual fans blow a nice amount of air out of the case and through it, quality is the same or probably better then what i have. 330w'er goes for only about 50 bucks too. As for its quietness i dunno, but ppl have said its noiseless, "can't hear that its on"

 

[jhalada]

Sunny,

I just ordered 2 Antec PP-303X which is supposed to be one of the quieter ones. I just ordered them yesterday and have not received them, so I can't tell you hom much quiter they are, but I can tell you they are reasonably cheap. I bought them from something called Techstore for $35.53.

For my personal system I am going to build soon, I am considering one of the Enermax power supplies.

 

[Sunny129]

thanks guys, i'll look into that enermax one. jhalada, if you put those PS's to use anytime soon, will you let me know about the noise they make?