I'm currently ripping apart my SE/30 for a case mod and I noticed how loud the fan is. It connects to the analog board with 2 wires. Can I use a 2-pin to 3-pin adapter and install a new fan?
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Installing a new fan?
- Thread starter Flamingtoasters
- Start date
Check the manufacturer of your fan first. SEs with rotary fans used two different models: the DC Pico Ace 25 and the Elina Fan. The Elina Fan is significantly quieter than the Ace. Check around for one of those fans (someone parting out an SE may have one) before you look at adaptors (unless, of course, the Elina Fan is the one you feel is too noisy).
Unfortunately, it is the Elina Fan I find too loud. I'm actually working on a project similar to Ze Cube but with an SE/30. One of my goals is to make it very quiet, if not silent.
Ze Cube: http://www.bernardbelanger.com/computing/cube/index.html
P.S. To reduce the analog board size, is there a way to rewire the brightness control nob from the analog board? Could you just dremel a bit to reveal the copper and then solder wires to the board? Without the nob, the board can actually be trimmed by about 50%.
Ze Cube: http://www.bernardbelanger.com/computing/cube/index.html
P.S. To reduce the analog board size, is there a way to rewire the brightness control nob from the analog board? Could you just dremel a bit to reveal the copper and then solder wires to the board? Without the nob, the board can actually be trimmed by about 50%.
ensure the fan is the same voltage otherwise it'll end up messy.
Search for posts in these Forums by JDW on the subject of SE/30, and SilenX or 'iXtrema'. JDW spent quite some time evaluating fans for the SE/30, and strongly recommended the SilenX as a result. They use not ball-bearing but more up-to-the-minute fluid-dynamic bearings. There are those in various modders forums who inveigh against SilenX, but little hard evidence that the fans do not serve their purpose well.
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Well, the original fan requires 12v DC, so the board should be able to drive any fan that operates with that voltage. My only question is, how would I power the fan. Would soldering a 2-3 pin adapter to the analog board work? (the analog board has two wires that connect to the fan)
To supplement this post I will add that you need only sever the two wires of the stock fan, then solder in your new 2-wire fan. The old fan did not have speed control, and you really don't need speed control on any new fan if it is as quiet as the 60mm Silenx fan I used.
To make your connections professional and robust, I recommend cutting two 1-inch lengths of heatshrink tubing first. Then cut the stock fan wires, slip a tube on each wire, then trim the insulation off the wires, solder them to your new fan, then slip the heatshrink over your soldered contacts and heat.
This photo shows the very bottom of the stock Elina fan at top. You can also see the red & black wires twisted together, coming from the fan and leading back to the analog board.
To make your connections professional and robust, I recommend cutting two 1-inch lengths of heatshrink tubing first. Then cut the stock fan wires, slip a tube on each wire, then trim the insulation off the wires, solder them to your new fan, then slip the heatshrink over your soldered contacts and heat.
This photo shows the very bottom of the stock Elina fan at top. You can also see the red & black wires twisted together, coming from the fan and leading back to the analog board.
