rdm@cfcl.UUCP (Rich Morin) (07/17/88)
As many of you may have noticed, the fan in the Mac II is *L*O*U*D*. This is either because the engineers assumed that the power supply would be used at full power all the time, or perhaps because nobody realized someone would be sitting next to the @#$%^ thing. In any case, if you have the usual small number of cards in use, and feel brave, a solution is at hand. Here is a completely unauthorized hack which will almost certainly break your warranty, but which may also save your sanity: 1) Go to your local Radio Shack and buy a 3" (80mm) DC BRUSHLESS FAN, catalog number 273-243A, list price $14.95 This fan draws half the current of the old one, and no doubt pushes a bit less air. It is also considerably quieter (one can actually hear the disk over it (!)). 2) Go home and find: a) A philips screwdriver b) a soldering iron and some solder and tape c) a pair of small diagonal cutting pliers d) a pair of long-nose pliers, preferably with quite skinny tips e) a small jar, to hold bunches of nuts, bolts, etc. 2) Power down the Mac II and related machinery, in some more or less graceful manner. 3) Pull off the cover of the Mac II and look inside. On the left hand side is a shiny metal box (the power supply). It is held in place by a single philips head screw, one or more external power cables, and an internal power cable. 4) Unplug the cables, remove the screw, and gently pull out the frobozz. (You may have to remove one or more circuit cards to do this - be gentle with them, and make notes about where they were and which cables they were using.) 5) Remove the two screws that hold on the cover, and gently pry off the cover, alternating sides until it comes off. 6) At one end, you will see the fan. Just above it, you will see a set of wires leading out of the unit as the aforementioned internal power cable. Clip the nylon tie that binds these wires to the fan. 7) There is a nylon clip holding the above wires. Detach it from the binding post. 8) Unplug the fan, and clip the small nylon tie holding its wires. 9) Unbolt the fan and maneuver it out of the power supply. 10) Bolt the new fan back in place. This is where the long-nose pliers come in, since there is no way to get fingers down into the space where the nuts go. (The Panaflo fan used by the manufacturer has nuts built into it, but no such luck with the RS product...) The nuts from the old fan can be removed and reused with a little bit of effort (screw in a bolt and tap the nut loose by hitting the end of the bolt a few times), but you may just want to use some other nuts you have lying around. BTW, two bolts are plenty to hold the new fan in, if they are across the fan from each other. (Don't kill yourself trying to use all four...) 11) Cut the plug off the old fan (~1.5" from the plug is fine), and attach it to the wires from the new fan, suitably shortened. Wire red to red and black to blue, and tape everything up appropriately. 12) Remount the nylon clip, put the power supply cover back on, remount the power supply, plug everything back together, and try it out. Put your hand down by the airholes in the power supply, to make sure the new fan works... Please note - do this at your own risk, flames to /dev/null, and don't post responses to comp.sys.mac, 'cause I don't read it (I *do* read comp.unix.aux, albeit erratically). Just thought this info might come in handy, is all... -- _ o _ |_ _ _ _ _ o _ Canta Forda Computer Laboratory | | | | | | | | | | | | | | UNIX software consulting and training | | |_ | | | | | |_| | | | | {hoptoad,pacbell}!cfcl!rdm +1 415 873 7841
g-golub@rocky.cs.wisc.edu.CS.WISC.EDU (Joshua Golub) (07/18/88)
In article <309@cfcl.UUCP> rdm@cfcl.UUCP (Rich Morin) writes: > >As many of you may have noticed, the fan in the Mac II is *L*O*U*D*. This > >In any case, if you have the usual small number of cards in use, and feel >brave, a solution is at hand. Here is a completely unauthorized hack which >will almost certainly break your warranty, but which may also save your sanity: > > This fan draws half the current of the old one, and no doubt pushes a > bit less air. It is also considerably quieter (one can actually > hear the disk over it (!)). > ( Hacking instructions deleted ) > >Please note - do this at your own risk, flames to /dev/null, and don't post >responses to comp.sys.mac, 'cause I don't read it (I *do* read comp.unix.aux, >albeit erratically). Just thought this info might come in handy, is all... This is the third or fourth posting of fan replacement instructions, and no one yet has mentioned the 'extra protection' Apple provides. According to my Mac II manual (the one labeled Macintosh II) the fan will work harder if the machine gets hot. (Check the 'troubleshooting' section under 'noisy fan') I'm assuming that there's a sensor which gives the fan a little more power when it gets hot. Now, I've never heard my fan speed up, it stays at a nice, consistent level of loud, but it's nice to know that, if the back gets clogged with dust (or whatever), I'll have some sort of warning. Have any of the fan-hackers tested this fan power increase with their new fans? Can I add some sort of LED to warn me when the Mac II gets hot, and then go ahead and install a quiet fan? Or should I try to keep dust (or whatever) out of the case and pray. . . Yes, the fan is loud, and yes, it sits about a foot and a half away from my head (next to, not under, the monitor) but I can still (barely) hear the hard drive over it. . . what a pain. I should also point out that the power supply is a repair package, and if something nasty does happen to the power supply, and you've torn out the fan, that Apple won't fix it. They will, of course, supply you with an entirely new supply at about three times the cost of a return/repair. -----------. . . Does anyone want to be remembered? I don't.
chow@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Christopher Chow) (07/18/88)
In article <5998@spool.cs.wisc.edu> Joshua Golub writes: ... |no one yet has mentioned the 'extra protection' Apple provides. According |to my Mac II manual the fan will work harder if the machine gets hot. ... | Have any of the fan-hackers tested this fan power increase with their |new fans? Can I add some sort of LED to warn me when the Mac II gets hot, |and then go ahead and install a quiet fan? I don't think the sort of an LED warning system is necessary. As I understand it, the Mac II has an temperature sensor which will automatically cut power if the fan is unable to provide suffcient cooling. Christopher Chow /---------------------------------------------------------------------------\ | Internet: chow@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (128.84.248.35 or 128.84.253.35) | | Usenet: ...{uw-beaver|decvax|vax135}!cornell!batcomputer!chow | | Bitnet: chow@crnlthry.bitnet | | Phone: 1-607-272-8014 Address: 107 Catherine St, Ithaca NY 14850 | | Delphi: chow2 PAN: chow | \---------------------------------------------------------------------------/
g-golub@rocky.cs.wisc.edu.CS.WISC.EDU (Joshua Golub) (07/19/88)
In article <5542@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> chow@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (Christopher Chow) writes: >In article <5998@spool.cs.wisc.edu> Joshua Golub writes: >|no one yet has mentioned the 'extra protection' Apple provides. According >|to my Mac II manual the fan will work harder if the machine gets hot. >I don't think the sort of an LED warning system is necessary. As I >understand it, the Mac II has an temperature sensor which will automatically >cut power if the fan is unable to provide suffcient cooling. > >Christopher Chow Great, just what I want -- a nice, quietly running machine and then >Click< Whinnnnneeeee. . . nothing. My question still stands, is there a way to have a quiet machine and keep that heat protection running. I don't have a lot of cards, but I have cats. (And cat hair clogs ventillation slits) ------------... Still no .sig here.
wetter@tybalt.caltech.edu (Pierce T. Wetter) (07/19/88)
> >As many of you may have noticed, the fan in the Mac II is *L*O*U*D*. This >is either because the engineers assumed that the power supply would be used >at full power all the time, or perhaps because nobody realized someone would >be sitting next to the @#$%^ thing. > >In any case, if you have the usual small number of cards in use, and feel >brave, a solution is at hand. Here is a completely unauthorized hack which >will almost certainly break your warranty, but which may also save your sanity: > [Bunch of stuff about E}zZl9tTKif~installing a new fan in your II] Simpler solution to then fan noise problem----- Put all the cards in your nu buss slots as far as possible from that side. Pierce ---------------------------------------------------------------- wetter@tybalt.caltech.edu Race For Space Grand Prize Winner. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Useless Advice #986: Never sit on a Tack.
kucharsk@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (William Kucharski) (07/19/88)
I don't mean to flame, so please don't flame me...
But I don't think the Mac II fan is loud AT ALL. To even be able to notice
such things, most of you must not spend much time around computers with fans
in them. Or maybe I'm just used to the sound of the Kensington System Saver
I had on my ][+...
--
William Kucharski
ARPA: kucharsk@uts.amdahl.com
UUCP: ...!{ames,decwrl,sun,uunet}!amdahl!kucharsk
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are my own, and may not agree with
those of any other sentient being, not to mention those of my
employer.schoaff@marduk.cs.cornell.edu (Peter Schoaff) (07/19/88)
In article <9aN1c3e0t11010l1MtQ@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> kucharsk@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (William Kucharski) writes: >I don't mean to flame, so please don't flame me... > >But I don't think the Mac II fan is loud AT ALL. To even be able to notice >such things, most of you must not spend much time around computers with fans >in them. Or maybe I'm just used to the sound of the Kensington System Saver >I had on my ][+... > I'll go along with that. During the day I work next to two Symbolics 3620's or some such, each with three big wire-meshed fans on the back. It's quite a relief when I can come home to the quiet hum of my SE, MacBeth. | P. Chris Schoaff | We are the coffee generation, we can't afford cocaine | | | We need a healthy dose to make it through the day | | schoaff@ | Don't Care about nuclear war or poverty or pain | | cs.cornell.edu | We are the coffee generation and life is just a game. |
kaufman@polya.Stanford.EDU (Marc T. Kaufman) (07/19/88)
In article <9aN1c3e0t11010l1MtQ@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> kucharsk@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (William Kucharski) writes:
-I don't mean to flame, so please don't flame me...
-But I don't think the Mac II fan is loud AT ALL. To even be able to notice
-such things, most of you must not spend much time around computers with fans
-in them. Or maybe I'm just used to the sound of the Kensington System Saver
-I had on my ][+...
I didn't think the Mac II was loud, either, until we replaced the fan.
...Does anyone have a fix for loud disks? ;-)
Marc Kaufman (kaufman@polya.stanford.edu)mls@whutt.UUCP (Michael Siemon) (07/21/88)
In article <19376@cornell.UUCP>, schoaff@marduk.cs.cornell.edu (Peter Schoaff) writes: > >But I don't think the Mac II fan is loud AT ALL. To even be able to notice > >such things, most of you must not spend much time around computers with fans > >in them... > > I'll go along with that. During the day I work next to two Symbolics 3620's Yes but consider the original Mac. Just about its ONLY good point was its silence, and that was indeed golden. Consider the plight of the Mac musician; pianissimo is inaudible. I'm not sure I want to hack around in the innards of my Mac, but I sure would appreciate something like the noise reduction suggested by the fan-replacement postings. -- Michael L. Siemon contracted to AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp4!mhuxu!mls standard disclaimer
kucharsk@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (William Kucharski) (07/23/88)
In article <3602@whutt.UUCP> mls@whutt.UUCP (Michael Siemon) writes: >Yes but consider the original Mac. Just about its ONLY good point was its >silence, and that was indeed golden. Consider the plight of the Mac musician; >pianissimo is inaudible. I'm not sure I want to hack around in the innards >of my Mac, but I sure would appreciate something like the noise reduction >suggested by the fan-replacement postings. But most of the "rest of us" :-) would GLADLY put up with fan noise in exchange for REAL keyboards... :-) -- William Kucharski ARPA: kucharsk@uts.amdahl.com UUCP: ...!{ames,decwrl,sun,uunet}!amdahl!kucharsk Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are my own, and may not agree with those of any other sentient being, not to mention those of my employer.
mls@mhuxu.UUCP (Michael Siemon) (07/25/88)
In article <9c0Qw66cSi1010oLN32@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>, kucharsk@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (William Kucharski) writes: > But most of the "rest of us" :-) would GLADLY put up with fan noise in > exchange for REAL keyboards... :-) Well, the fan sure beats having to pump bellows, but you're right -- I'd like a double manual with pearwood naturals and ebony sharps/flats. I never did learn to use a pedal board, so I'll forgo that ... :-) -- Michael L. Siemon contracted to AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp4!mhuxu!mls standard disclaimer