MaxChill MacMemory - what does this do? (Photos Inside)

[ben68]

I just opened up a new-to-me Plus and found a MaxChill (piezoelectric fan?) glued to the side of the floppy cage. I had to rip it off to get to the screw.

Can someone explain to me what this does and why I need it?

 

[Byrd]

Looks like some weird flappy fan that you got when you upgraded the RAM in your Plus; they’re passively cooled so a fan in such a Mac was never a bad idea.

 

[tanaquil]

Yes, if you read the old magazines from that era, the addition of the fan was a selling point for their memory upgrade. Larry Pina (Mac Upgrade & Repair Secrets) also recommends installation of a fan as a matter of course when doing a power supply (analog board) upgrade on any 128, 512 or Plus mac. Do you still have some kind of Max memory upgrade in the computer, or is the fan the only artifact?

Neat to actually see one! I didn't know they were so... colorful. The piezoelectric type fans are rarer than the squirrel cage type as a rule.

 

[ben68]

Thanks for the info - I haven't booted into that machine yet, so I don't know its memory config. The next time I have it open, I'll shoot a video with it running.