One burnt fan that doesn't suck for Antec is enough

[Flasherly]

Don't forget to check case fans:

Mine was a hidden Antec fan - hidden because it's within, also an
Antec case, in such cases which do not permit visually sighting
through the front-panel grill to the fan vanes.

An Antec case fan that came with three speed settings, specifically.

At the lowest speed setting, but of course, it's quiet enough not be
heard.

Hardly noticeable when it burns out, assuredly.

Although, when it burns out, it just might sit there doing nothing in
particular, your guess being as good as mine for how long, except for
heating up to around 190F at the burnt-out core motor. Perhaps, even
doubling, conceivably, for a power-supply tester.

The HDs were running at 125F, which isn't too major so far as
catastrophe go in the Amiss Dept.

I'm also thankful the PS didn't burn up, remotely in the same sense
for that to be qualified for now being abused. Sad but true, it's no
longer my dear, once-a-cherry power supply, even if a despoiled PS is
preferable, any day, over reamed-out MB regulators and fried fan
headers.

I replaced the burnt fan for now with a noisy fan running at a higher-
set RPM. An Antec fan, once again. Oh, well. That's all I could
find on my spare-parts shelf.

If I continue to run with this case, I do believe that it's just about
time I should break through Antec's plastic front for a glory hole,
though, and fully impress the valid, working need for an operational
fan on my HDs at all times.

Quality is an issue to me. I'd thought Antec above stooping so low,
but now I know. (I've seen it before, too, Antec colored fans I
quickly spotted upon failure, summarily dismissed without much
forethought, until this particular one smote my butt but good.)

 

[Flasherly]

..

The temperature drop over an extended 80G transfer between two drives
that fan had cooled is now 30F less with the replacement fan.

 

[larrymoencurly]

Don't forget to check case fans:

Mine was a hidden Antec fan - hidden because it's within, also an
Antec case, in such cases which do not permit visually sighting
through the front-panel grill to the fan vanes.

An Antec case fan that came with three speed settings, specifically.

At the lowest speed setting, but of course, it's quiet enough not be
heard.

Hardly noticeable when it burns out, assuredly.

No temperature monitoring software to detect this and either sound an
alarm or shut down the computer?

I have some old Antec SmartPower II PSUs, each with 2 thermistors. One
thermistor clearly controls the PSU's fan speed, but I can't figure out
what the other thermistor does, and I have tried connecting a 100 ohm
resistor across it to simulate a hot temperature, but nothing happened.
Even the output voltages stayed the same. Anybody?

 

[The Daring Dufas]

No temperature monitoring software to detect this and either sound an
alarm or shut down the computer?

I have some old Antec SmartPower II PSUs, each with 2 thermistors. One
thermistor clearly controls the PSU's fan speed, but I can't figure out
what the other thermistor does, and I have tried connecting a 100 ohm
resistor across it to simulate a hot temperature, but nothing happened.
Even the output voltages stayed the same. Anybody?

Could it be for external monitoring and reporting? Can you determine
where it's connected in the circuitry? O_o

TDD

 

[Flasherly]

No temperature monitoring software to detect this and either sound an
alarm or shut down the computer?

I have some old Antec SmartPower II PSUs, each with 2 thermistors. One
thermistor clearly controls the PSU's fan speed, but I can't figure out
what the other thermistor does, and I have tried connecting a 100 ohm
resistor across it to simulate a hot temperature, but nothing happened.
Even the output voltages stayed the same. Anybody?

You just reminded me. I think this fan I put in, I may have taken out
of a failed PS unit - that is, everything but the fan didn't work.

Depending where the second is mounted and what it's connected to ...
there's some large components involved in a (frequency) switching PS,
besides heatsink blocks, that are heat intensive. Ultimately it's
whether specific to the brand and engineering design concept, a
generic budgetary constraint of lesser manufacturer or smarter
innovation worth having, that'll be the trick.

 

[Paul]

No temperature monitoring software to detect this and either sound an
alarm or shut down the computer?

I have some old Antec SmartPower II PSUs, each with 2 thermistors. One
thermistor clearly controls the PSU's fan speed, but I can't figure out
what the other thermistor does, and I have tried connecting a 100 ohm
resistor across it to simulate a hot temperature, but nothing happened.
Even the output voltages stayed the same. Anybody?

I have a motherboard with a two pin Thermal Monitoring header. And
the Antec thermistor connects to that.

The odds of you having both ends of that solution, are pretty slim.
There aren't that many motherboards with such a header. And not a lot
of power supplies, bothered with the monitoring capability. The Antec
had that cable, but my other power supplies don't.

As for the Flasherly experience, I've actually had something similar
happen to the ventilation fan in my car. If you run the fan at the
lowest setting, the dropping resistor (a coil of wire) heats up
to such a degree, that it eventually burns out. Before it was
replaced, the fan actually lost the two lowest fan settings.
The dropping resistors are arranged to sit in the air stream,
but apparently that was not enough. Once the assembly was
replaced, I no longer ran the car ventilation at the low
settings (because, it would just burn out again). So blame
this on how the dropping resistor is done. It has to be
cooled, if it is dissipating a lot of power. My preferred
way to drop voltage, is with a voltage regulator (as they're
thermally protected, if worse comes to worse - they shut down
on overheat - and then you get a hint and some symptoms to
work with).

For the fan itself, you can monitor RPMs via the third wire.
Many computer brushless DC fans, don't have the RPM wire. If
you want an RPM wire on your fan, you have to shop for one.
The fans that typically ship in a $50 case, don't have the
RPM signal, and are simple two-wire fans.

Also, some fans offer a simple logic signal, which changes
state if the fan stops rotating entirely ("STALL"). And that
fan option is not compatible with typical home computers.
So don't buy one of those, unless you have a way to use
the logic signal. It is the alternative to the RPM signal,
and is popular in equipment designs other than computers.

A couple months ago, I bought an AC powered cooling fan
for a project (tube-axial design). And it is "impedance protected".
That means, if I jam my finger in the fan blade, and prevent
it from turning, the heat generated inside the fan body
will not burn it. It's guaranteed not to overheat. And
that also accounts for why the motor, is super-weak, and
barely able to spin. The noise the fan makes, is annoying,
and if you're in the market for an AC fan for a project,
don't buy one of those. Find something else. It sounds
like a jet engine. It takes about 30 seconds, before
it gets up to full speed.

Paul