Jury-Rigged Fan - Is It Safe?

[edges]

Is there anything unsafe about using a fan from an old power supply
box in lieu of a regular 80mm fan? I ripped out a fan from the power
unit on an old machine, and stripped the two wires. I had a look at
the old machine's cpu fan, which plugged into one of the large white
power connectors, so I pulled the two leads out from that connector,
stuck in the two leads from my newly salvaged fan, and plugged it into
my current computer. Well, it works! The thing seems to be a standard
80mm fan, and is working as my new case fine right now.

Is there any way to tell if its doing anything funny to my power
supply or voltages? This was really a shot in the dark, on a computer
I don't much care for, I really have little idea what I'm doing (other
than being well-aware I should not touch anything inside the old
machine's power supply), but it does seem to be working. I'm just
worried my power supply might blow up or something.

 

[kony]

Is there anything unsafe about using a fan from an old power supply
box in lieu of a regular 80mm fan? I ripped out a fan from the power
unit on an old machine, and stripped the two wires. I had a look at
the old machine's cpu fan, which plugged into one of the large white
power connectors, so I pulled the two leads out from that connector,
stuck in the two leads from my newly salvaged fan, and plugged it into
my current computer. Well, it works! The thing seems to be a standard
80mm fan, and is working as my new case fine right now.

Is there any way to tell if its doing anything funny to my power
supply or voltages? This was really a shot in the dark, on a computer
I don't much care for, I really have little idea what I'm doing (other
than being well-aware I should not touch anything inside the old
machine's power supply), but it does seem to be working. I'm just
worried my power supply might blow up or something.

Presuming same voltage, and current low enough to be within
the capability of the supply line, compatible size, it will
work fine. One of the larger problems with very old fans is
that many were quite crude, poor airflow:noise ratio
compared to modern fans (certainly not all, there were many
good older fans but in the typical old PSU for a "PC", I see
mostly junk fans albeit more hefty than modern junk fans).
The other larger problem is a fan has a finite lifespan,
that lifespan could be mostly over at this point
particularly if it's a sleeve bearing type, though with the
sleeve bearing you can relube it to greatly extend that
lifespan.