If my power supply fan is dead... and I want to save money (I know fans are cheap but so am I) would it be possible to steal a fan (or two?) from one of my old.. ancient... very old... macs?

My ancient but beloved PC shut down suddenly... when I got it back up and checked, the temp was 156 freaking degrees!!!! That's pretty high isn't it? Also the stupid power supply fan's rpm's kept dropping into "the red zone" (below 700 or something like that) and back up again.

It's an old computer so I will also be replacing the... thermal goo... or whatever it is... around the heat sink. I think the moths ate it (see below).

---

p.s. Bugs got into the machine as well. No, literally. There were actual bugs inside it. I had a moth infestation some time ago... one day I saw a worm crawling out of the dang floppy drive. When I opened the case a few moths flew out. Is there something in the machine that moths would like? I think the darn things originally came from a large jar of cashews I got for christmas last year. (what tipped me off was the cloud of moths that flew out of the closed jar when I opened it) I through the whole thing out. I haven't eaten cashews since. They are all gone now thank god... but they practically ate one of my wool jackets.

-vern

I would really recommand to buy a new powersupply.
They are cheap, will be more quite and they very likely will just last longer than a old one where you replaced the fan and possibly damaged something or got the wrong fan inside, etc.
It is just less frustration....

*Fuchur*

PS: Bugs in a computer... now I heard everything

So a power supply comes with a fan?

You are probably right. I just hate spending anymore money on this machine... a little here... a little there... I have to replace this PC soon, I just need to keep it going a little bit longer. How do I know which one to get? I see prices starting at $20 going up to nearly $300? I like $20... I can spend $20... I can't spend $300... I could buy a new machine for $300.

-vern

Easy... on your powersupply is the output printed... something like 300W or something equal.
Get the number and see what connectors you need (how many HDs, a graphiccard, etc.)

Than go to a computer store who sells computer components and look at the powersupplies they can offer.
The more watt you need, the more expensive it will be...

I would say you will end anywhere between 30-40 Dollars.

This may help you: FAQ for Power Supplies
*Fuchur*

Vern,

Although I am sure you know this, I just want to make sure we are talking the same thing. There is a fan inside your power supply. Although it can be replaced with a fan from another power supply, make sure you know what you are doing because there are some charged capacitors in there that can cause a nasty bite if you touch them the wrong way.

Some cases have a different fan (in addition to the power supply fan) mounted on the back of the case to improve air flow. If that is the fan you are talking about, they can be purchased for less than $20 and easily swapped out.

There is also a CPU fan. These can run from $30 to $300 to $3000 (for super fancy water cooled systems) and the cheaper ones can be replaced by most casual users with a little patience. Just make sure that if your motherboard supports a variable speed fan based on temperature control that the fan supports whatever mode your motherboard does (taking the fan to the store is your best bet here. Just ask for a replacement.)

Based on your description of "thermal goo" (thermal paste or thermal grease actually) it sounds like you are talking about a cpu fan, not a power supply fan. These are very different and I would hate to see you spend money on the wrong thing. CPU fans can be replaced from another PC, but note that there are several versions based on cpu type and size, age etc. Not all cpu fans fit all motherboard/cpu combinations. It won't hurt anything to test them out and see, but if it doesn't fit, buy a new one. Also, I know I will get slammed for this, but.... I replace these kinds of things frequently, and have never once in 25 years of working on computers worried about replacing the thermal paste. Yes, it does create a more efficient heat transfer. Yes it technically can extend the life of your cpu. My experience says that something else will likely die, or you will upgrade, long before the lack of extra thermal paste causes a problem. Note however if you are running one of the newer dual core, massive heat generating cpu's then yes, you should add some thermal paste. Ask the store where you buy the fan and see if they can give you some for free (probably not, but some smaller places are cool enough to do this.)

Just my 2 cents.

-Doug

That sounds good. My PC is very... "underpowered". I have one DVD drive, one hard drive and one "average" video card... and... uh... that's it. No second CD drive, no floppy (worms in it I think).

-vern

if the power supply itself is the problem, look at the label to find the wattage, and get a replacement with at least that much... that will actually fit in the hole the dead one leaves.

200w is the low end, and fancy boxes have 400w or higher. it might be causing other problems as well.

oh, and there are different types of motherboard power connectors, but some power supplies will have multiple motherboard cables.

if you need a new cpu cooler, then get good goo.. 'arctic silver' has been good to me. you might even spring for a copper heat sync.

-jon

My 2 cents on P/S : Cost is related to build quality, not watts. You can buy a 500W P/S for $12 and it will probably work for you fine. But, you can also buy a 300W P/S for $300. If you held one in each hand, you can tell which cost $300.

My 2 cents on CPU Fans:

Depending on the processor and age, it could burn the processor up if it doesn't have thermal protection. And, as the famous Tom's Hardware video showed with early AMDs that claimed thermal protection, they actually didn't have any.

My 2 cents on Thermal paste: I agree, in most cases you don't need to worry about it. If you buy a new CPU heatsink/fan, it will probably come with a patch of "thermal compound" already on it. And yes, thermal grease is better, _IF_ applied properly. But this only really matters if you are into overclocking your CPU and stuff like that. And you also have to be careful with it, as some are conductive (like Arctic Silver) that don't dry out, but if you drip some on your MB, get ready to buy a new one. Also, it's only purpose is to fill in any air gaps in the surfaces, it's not really a transfer medium. Anything is better than air.

Also, the fact that you spoke about your CPU/System temperature, it would lead me to believe you are talking about the CPU fan, not the P/S. And you can buy a pretty decent machine for $300 (no OS). If you really want to go ghetto, you can take a normal fan, open the side of the case, and blow air into it to see if it circulates enough air to cool the system down to a usable temperature. Which, can be a huge range depending on manufacture. Older AMD's ran "cool" in the 87C range where equal speed Intels were running 35C. So 156F (is that F?) is only 69C and might be within range of your processor.

EDIT: Maybe the intels were 53C? I can't remember and can't seem to find a chart.. I wish I still had it

EDIT2: Found some CPU Charts Check out the TMax

No it specifically had the CPU fan and the power supply fan as separate listings. I didn't even know there were two fans until I saw that in the... "special" start up... thingie. Windows wouldn't boot if it was too hot. The CPU fan was fluctuating a tiny bit but the power supply fan was ALL over the place. I plan to see about just cleaning everything first to see if that is the problem before I buy anything new. I am assuming though that the fluctuating speed of the fan wouldn't be caused by dirt.

I think the setting for auto shutdown was pretty high. The box was off for 5 to 10 minutes and it was STILL at 156 degrees... man... the weather is getting chilly... I wish I could somehow capture that heat... create some kind of heat exchanger for the computers to save on heating costs.

-vern

You can see the Power supply fan from the rear of the case. You may have alot of dust in your PC which may have been why the moths moved in. They may have been cooked and now be stuck to that heatsink.... nice....lol. Here is a link to a 550watt power supply that I bought that worked fine for me with AMD dual core, 2 x 7900GTs in SLI, and 4 drives including a DVD burner.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817170010

It's only $20, so as long as you don't have one of those wierd shaped power supplies from Gateway or HP, it won't cost much to fix the problem.

Oh and check your CPU heatsink, it may have dust in it---they usually do.

Thanks for all the help!

I can't believe how much I know now about power supplies, fans and... moths.

-vern

Vern's Power Supply Adventure: The Final Chapter...

So, I left you at the point where I decided to purchase a new power supply.

To save time I started looking locally for something cheap or... even used... from an old computer whatever at some of the local repair shops. Nothing. Nada. Even NEW ones were the wrong shape... intake outtakes completely in the wrong spot.

One place near me... the guy MADE FUN OF ME! HE YELLED AT ME!
He said:


And he WALKED AWAY FROM ME with this disgusted look on his face. I thought maybe he was coming back... but he didn't. He left me standing at the counter. I will NEVER go back to that place again for ANYTHING. I had told him I was going to get a new PC soon and I just want a new cheap power supply to get this one running for a little while. What an arse.

So I go to another repair place and they had a PS that was about the same size and had the intake and outtakes in the correct positions and the price wasn't too bad. It was however quite a bit smaller and the screw mounts didn't match and the intake and outtake areas were blocked by the mounting box from the computer and the back panel. I was so fed up with this whole process I grabbed my Dremel, cut away some of the back panel on my PC, drilled new screw holes in it, hooked up the PS and mounted it. It lined up PERFECTLY. I do have a big gaping hole in the back because of the smaller power supply but who cares. Not bad for my first "DYI" computer fix.

The only thing I don't have now is the power supply fan monitor which I think causes problems during bootup. I think the system is looking for that and can't find it so it indicates a hardware monitor error. Just to be sure I watched the CPU temp monitor for about an hour and once it hit about 143 degrees it barely budged at all. I think it's working fine now. CPU fan is good. Temperature looks good. No more spontaneous shut downs... AND the big huge gigantic bonus... it is 80% quieter... maybe more. At first I thought the new PS fan wasn't even working. I had to stick a piece of paper in there to be sure.

I'm a happy camper.

I have to admit... poking around inside the box, looking for parts for PC's at the store and online, cutting that back panel to make the PS fit... I might enjoy building my own PC. At least I would know everything that's in it. I can see the attraction for some people to build their own rather than buy off the shelf. There would be a sense of ownership you couldn't get buying one.

-vern

yes there is a special feeling associated with doing it yourself, but more importantly



Many preMFG'd computers have a good processor but the rest of the computer is junk. I had 2 Gateways that both power supplies blew up, 1 HD died, one of the PSs took the AGP slot out, someone I knew's Dell MB blew some resistors, and I see alot of HPs in the trash.

Knowing what's in your computer ensures that it will last, and if it doesn't you arent going to have to pay $100 S&H to have someone try to fix the wrong thing.

Good job Vern. Just one note of caution. Although I am sure you did, make sure ALL metal residue from cutting and drilling has been completely removed from the PC case. I had a friend who thought he did a good job, ended up with a fire when a small piece of metal arced on the MB causing a short. Luckily, the fire was limited to his case/MB and he easily recovered, but you can see where this might have been a disaster.

-Doug

No worries. Did the cutting in a different location. The part that needed cutting was not "attached" to the computer. No actual "residue"... uh... the "bugs" would have been more likely to cause a fire than anything I did.


-vern

Cool, good to hear.