Will a PSU work if it has the fan(s) disconnected?

[HeroOfPellinor]

Do power supplies, quality ones like Antec/Fortron/Etc, need to detect the fan connected before they'll start? Just wondering what would happen if I snipped the wires to the included fans of my Antec 330W and removed the fans and replaced them with quieter fans connected to a rheostat.

 

[Nebor]

THey'll work fine. Power supplies do build up heat quickly, so make sure you get a fan on there pretty quickly.

 

[T8000]

All Power supplies I tried worked fine when the fan was connected to an external connector, so I do not think there are any power supplies able to detect their fan. Just disconnect the fan connector from the power supply board and connect it to the fan controller. You can always reconnect the fan (or insert a more quiet one) if it does not work.

 

[eelw]

The only downside with moving the PSU fans to the Mobo fan headers is that you may no longer benefit from the built in temperature probe found on some PSUs.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: eelw
The only downside with moving the PSU fans to the Mobo fan headers is that you may no longer benefit from the built in temperature probe found on some PSUs.

Thank you all for the info.

I believe the TruePower has some kind of 3 pin connector which may output that temp to the MB, which makes it a perfect candidate for some modding. I'd like to remove one fan and replace the other with a quieter fan and see if I can get by. Maybe with just the bottom 92mm and the exhaust where the 80mm ducted to the 120mm case exhaust would be sufficient. I'm thinking of running a duct down to the 120mm exhaust on the outside and relying on that law of aerodynamics whereby creating negative pressure creates a vacuum...like when you blow horizontally across the top of a straw and can make water draw up the straw.