Modding a PSU with a new fan?

[Big.Wayne]

Hello,

I've got a few old ANTEC 350w PSU's that are working fine but the fan is starting to make a racket and I wondered whats involved in swapping out the old fan for a nice new one?

I remember several years ago trying this but found the included 80mm fan had a funny non-standard header so I couldn't simply unplug it and install the new one.

These PSU's are three-four years old so I'm not too worried about voiding the warranty by opening them up but I just wanted to hear any tips or feedback from somebody else that has done similar?

Also how dangerous is an unplugged PSU? I don't want to blow myself up either!

I am going on a two week break soon so if I leave them on a shelf unplugged will that drain them and make it a bit safer to work?

Thanks in advance

 

[Big.Wayne]

It isnt worth the risk tbh.

No pian no gain as they say!

Do it though Good way to get into the whole fan replacement malarky

Thanks for the feedback!

I warn ya though its addictive making a quiet pc! And expensive!

No worries, I been into quiet PCs for years but I am trying to avoid the expense of new PSU's when working on el-cheapo builds using reclaimed parts, I know plenty of people running older Pentium3, Pentium 4 and AthlonXP systems who don't have a lot of spare cash and would really benefit from the quiet computing enviroment, some of these machines are so noisy it can bring tears to your eyes!

So if I can bring ear-bliss by modding in the quiet fan its something I will do. I guess I will have to get myself a little solder kit and sus out how to splice wires in the PSU's with non-standard or soldered headers.

So one last thing, if I leave the PSU unplugged for two weeks it should be pretty safe right?

 

[Big.Wayne]

Ok thanks, yes I already do that power cycling thing to drain the extra charge but I wasn't sure if that really did get rid of 99% of the charge.

What I didn't consider is that the PSU may regulates the fan speed, not sure how to find out if this happens or not on the PSUs I have, I'm sure not all PSUs did this?

That does indeed complicate things further, if I buy a quiet fan it may be really feeble if the PSU gives it just 7v to run, or If I buy a stronger RPMs fan thinking the PSU will reduce its speed and it doesn't I'm gonna still have noisy PSU's lol!

What do you reckon?

 

[Big.Wayne]

could you wire in a resistor of some sort to lower the voltage?

haha, I can undo 1000 screws take something apart and then put it all back together again but can I wire in a resistor? No I don't think so, at least its not something I've done before but I do want to step up my game a bit so. . . .

Think what I will do it look up the spec of the branded ANTEC PSU and see if it controls the rpm, that would be the logical step.

3-4 year old, it is on borrowed time, I wouldn't spend much time or cash on moddng one

Hmmm,

Well its been lightly used and according to my LCD power tester its all good, strong rails and PG signal etc so I thought it would probably be worth revamping? I mean a couple of fans is gonna cost a tenner so I thought it would be worth a punt.