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Fan replacement for a Mac SE/30

retrobecanes

Active member
What do you recommend (make and model) for a fan replacement for the SE/30?  I have seen some recommend the Silenx IPX 34-16.  Would that work?

 

Huxley

Well-known member
What do you recommend (make and model) for a fan replacement for the SE/30?  I have seen some recommend the Silenx IPX 34-16.  Would that work?
Funny you posted this - I've been thinking about replacing the (loud, wiggly) fan in my SE/30 too, preferably with something very quiet. Definitely curious to see any responses on this threat...

:)

 

Reasons.

Well-known member
I've had a good experience with the Noctua NF-A6x25 in my SE/30. It's much quieter than the stock fan (which was the louder one, so take that for what it's worth). Plus, it includes a power pass-through that can be used with the SE/30's hard drive power plug. Basically, you don't have to solder if you don't want to. I did just for peace of mind, but if you're frightened of the iron it's nice. It's only about $15 on Amazon, which is also nice.

 

techknight

Well-known member
Quiet is fine as long as it has the same, or (better) higher CFM. the stock fan isnt good enough as it is, the flyback still overheats and fails. 

 
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Scott Squires

Well-known member
The Notctua NF-A6x25 is a quiet fan that has equivalent airflow to the Elina (which seems to be the highest airflow among SE and SE/30 fans). If you want to try something very very loud but with twice the airflow, you might try the Delta AFB0612EH-ABF00.

 

BadGoldEagle

Well-known member
It's the exact same size as the original fan, so it should fit nicely on the shroud. Just get rid of the 3 pin connector and solder the red and the black wire accordingly. The blue wire is for speed control. Don't need that. Then tighten it up with the old screws and you're done.

Any idea how noisy the original fan is? I've seen figures between 25dB and 35dB...The delta one is rated at 46.5dB!!

I wanted to replace the fan on my 5010 SE. It's in my to do list at the moment.

https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/28241-macintosh-se-fan-mod-2016/

The 60mm Acoustifan DustProof is another alternative. 

13.7CFM @12V and only 16.9dB! The original Sanyo unit is a 12CFM fan, so not a great deal more... But certainly silent!

And it's BLACK. So it won't looks outta place in your SE. The Noctua fan is certainly better (17CFM) but I couldn't live with a brown fan...

 

just.in.time

Well-known member
Techknight, do you think that Acustifan unit @13.7CFM would provide adequate airflow? All my compact Macs are on their original fans.

I don't mind some fan noise, but the reviews for the Delta high flow unit say it sounds like a jet taking off.

 
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techknight

Well-known member
it depends on the design of the blades. 

Best thing to do is experiment. Attach a thermal probe to the flyback and measure the temperature with a stock fan, CRT brightness all the way up. take a measurement on the flyback after its been running for awhile. 

Do the same thing again with the different fans. 

see whcih ones the best with quiet! 

 

just.in.time

Well-known member
I guess this poses another question.  Does running the CRT brighter burn out the flyback faster than say 50% brightness?  I mean, it makes sense that it would shorten the life a little bit, but is that an amount of time measured in an hour or two, or 100s of hours over the life of the machine?

 
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Scott Squires

Well-known member
Why not get the Noctua? It is 19 CFM and very quiet. I misread the Elina specs before, it's also a ~12 CFM fan. So you'll get 50% more airflow over stock with the Noctua. I would not trade the CFM of the Noctua for the dBA of the Acoustifan. I don't have this exact Noctua fan, but in my experience with other Noctua fans it will be quiet enough.

 

techknight

Well-known member
I guess this poses another question.  Does running the CRT brighter burn out the flyback faster than say 50% brightness?  I mean, it makes sense that it would shorten the life a little bit, but is that an amount of time measured in an hour or two, or 100s of hours over the life of the machine?
Yes, but nowhere near as fast as it would the CRT. 

Not only does the flyback have finite life under heat/load conditions, but the CRT cathode itself definitely has a lifespan. 

a Flyback transformer can "theoretically" last forever if the internal materials dont break down, and its not under undue stress electrically and thermally. I can prove this fact as my 1994 Magnovox tube TV I had since new still has its original flyback, still working, and still has a picture as it did when new. But one thing it DOES have is good airflow! 

Also with CRTs, the more you use the CRT and the brighter its used at, the more cathode material that gets burned away and oxidized. Eventually you will lose enough cathode material to cause a drop in emissions. Emissions drop ever so slightly as the tube wears. But there is a point at which it begins to affect the picture. 

The first thing that happens is the corners get blurry/out of focus, and when adjusting focus, you can sharpen the corners but the middle goes blurry and vice versa. Then it get so weak that the image begins to "bleed" from oversaturation of the drive signal. The saturation point drops as electron emissions drop. 

On color tubes, the first to go is usually red and green. But not always. You can tell when the emissions drop below 25% is when the color bleeds like fire off to the left side of images. Such as if you have a nice bright sun in a movie scene, the sun has a blurred fiery flare coming off the left side, and it looks "washed out". Thats the sign of a dead tube, again from over-saturation of the cathode drive from the loss of emissions. 

When a color tube starts looking like that, that means your emissions are now lower than 25% of health. 

black and white tubes (like our compacts) will "bloom" and look fuzzy around the edges, and it WONT sharpen up with the focus control. But the brightness level has a severe effect. Thats a weak black and white tube. 

 
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techknight

Well-known member
Well as long as you use it sparingly, Or, keep a few spares on hand if your going to use the crap out of it, you should be ok. 

But yes... one day. For now there are WAY more CRT based computers out there than there are vintage TVs, but once upon a time, there were more vintage TVs than compact macs (of course, they werent vintage then...). 

The Vintage and Antique TV collecting industry is now suffering this fate, as replacement CRTs are non existent. BUT. there is a BUT... they have so so many different types of CRTs for each make and model its hard to keep up with and would explain why, whereas these compact macs are all the same.  

 
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