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IBM 5161 PSU fan is much louder than 5160 -- suitable replacement or servicing?

Trixter

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Aug 31, 2006
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I have my IBM 5161 expansion unit next to my 5160 but I don't use it as much as I'd like because the PSU fan is orders of magnitude louder than the 5160 PSU fan. (And it definitely is the fan, as I have both MFM hard drives in the 5161 unplugged.) I understand these fans are not simple replacements with typical modern case fans -- am I right they are AC fans, 220V? Are there modern quiet equivalents? Is the size standard? Or, is there a way to service the existing fan so it isn't so loud? (It's just a loud operating sound... it's not squealing or vibrating or anything)

I searched the forum for previous discussions, but most of them are about soldering to a 12v line and using a fan with much higher CFM. I don't want a higher CFM, I want a quieter fan so I can power it up every time I want to sit down and program for a couple of hours. (It has my EMS and MDA boards, and hosts a monochrome monitor, so it's how I develop graphical stuff with the program on the color monitor and the debugger on the monochrome monitor.) Any pointers for 2018/2019 appreciated, thanks.
 
Early 5150s used AC line-operated fans, but the 5160 and 5161 should have DC 12V fans.

You might want to consider getting one of the cheap Chinese PWM temperature control boards. They often have a temperature probe on a wire, so you can place the probe at the "hot spot". They work well with 2-terminal DC fans. Unless your rig is really pumping out the BTUs, these should go a long way toward quieting your boxes.
 
You'd have to open up the PSU to see if it's a AC or DC Fan, Some had AC and some had DC fans, Size is usually 80x80x38mm in the original PC/XT PSU's, you should have no problem in finding one.
 
DC fans usually have thin red and black wires while AC fans have thicker wires that are both the same color.
 
One can always connect a 12V DC fan to the 5V line. On my Tandy 1000 SL i had to replace the 110V PSU for a TFX PSU, because 220V Tandy PSU's can't be found anywhere, but the damn fan was just too loud. So i rigged it to take 5V instead and now its nice and quit and still pulls a considerable amount of air out of the PSU.
 
I don't grok electronics (yet); is there an easy way to tell other than hooking up 12v DC and seeing if it spins?

As Stone said the fans usually have the specs on them or another good indication is the wire thickness as said by vwestlife though not always the same colour, Depends on manufacture, Or follow the wires and see where they connect to on the PSU PCB, If you're not sure you can always post a pic.
 
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