7 Volt fans. Good Idea Or Not?

[funkenbooty]

I’ve got noisy case and power supply fans that I would eventually like to replace but can’t afford to now.

Stumbled across this interesting idea for making existing fans quieter.

I’d be interested to hear your opinions on this article.

 

[wedor]

It doesn't look particularly wise to me, there is no ground now just 2 power leads, I can't imagine that the power supply is set to run like that.

 

[JohnWill]

If you really want a quieter fan, I'd just buy a quieter fan. However, for the small amount of current the fan pulls, this will probably work without issues.

FWIW wedor, The P/S works to keep the regulated voltages at the rated outputs, so it should indeed supply 7V to the fan. I don't see any technical issues here.

 

[funkenbooty]

but can’t afford to now

 

[Spyd]

I can only say a word: scary.
I personally don't want to short the two leads... and another thing is... without ground, this doesn't add lots of electrical interference to the +5v?

 

[McTimson]

I ran a bunch of fans like that a while ago, they worked fine, and it kept them quiet too. I would be careful if you were going to change the PSU fans though...one wrong move with those things and you could be on a trip to the hospital...

 

[JohnWill]

I don't see the DC fan adding any electrical noise, you have to consider the very low impedance of the P/S voltages, they're all effectively at ground for any noise that's an issue. The DC fans are pretty electrically benign, I doubt this would be an issue.

 

[rockinmale]

Just adding my two cents.....

From what i gathered at that site. This is only a CASE FAN mod. This has nothing to do with the modding the Power supply. There should be no reason to open a power supply whatsoever. Unless your an authorized technician.

This is of course the el' cheapo version. I have seen the 7v molex connectors on several moddding websites. I believe they were charging around 7-8 bucks.

All i have to offer is some common sense.
If your confident enough that you can pull it off then by all means go for it! Just remember if you mess up their are the consequences to pay and it may be more than you bargined for....

 

[Alex Ethridge]

I have run fans at 5 volts and 7 volts for years because I just get tired of the noise. I do it with the power supply, too. I ran them all at 5 volts until I ran into some that wouldn't spin up without help on 5. That's when I started using 7 volts on some.

The only thing you have to be sure about is that you have sufficient cooling. Personally, I run all my machines (except my wife's) without case sides so air flow is never a problem. The sides to three of my machines are on a shelf in the basement.

 

[funkenbooty]

I really appreciate everybody’s input.

I have an old noisy Pentium 200MMX home built; I think I’ll experiment with that one first. Probably will only do the 7volt modification on the case fans.
For the power supply I was thinking about getting a quality quiet fan.
No sense in buying a whole new P/S if a quiet fan is all it really needs. I'm broke anyway.
Does anyone know a brand name of a P/S fan that is quiet?

Thanks

 

[rockinmale]

If you own a pentium 200mmx you dont need any addtional cooling fans. The old pentiums didnt produce as much heat as they do today. Disconnecting these fans will lessen the sound.

As for the power supply. The power supply is a non serviceable item. I highly recommend leaving this alone if you do not know what your doing. Poking around inside is not advisable. The PSU stores alot of electrial energy in the unit when not in use. Without properly discharging the power supply before servicing, you could end up in the hospital as also quoted by McTimson.

I would be careful if you were going to change the PSU fans though...one wrong move with those things and you could be on a trip to the hospital...

If you plan on doing this you have been warned.

Just an FYI
Some fans have connectors and some are soldered to the board. Just so you know the fan connectors on a psu are different than a normal case fan. You will have to mod the wiring to make it work.

Do at your own risk!

Enough said
stay safe
rockinmale