Noisy small equipment fans
On Sat, 27 Nov 2010 20:29:13 -0600, Ignoramus18541
wrote:
On 2010-11-19, Ignoramus5827 wrote:
I have a couple of devices with very noisy and annoying fans. One is
an old laptop and another is a car inverter. In both, fans make a very
annoying, inconsistent, and rattling sound. Before taking those things
apart etc, I wanted to double check what is the typical cause of this
and how to deal with them.
A little update. I received the 20 dB replacement fan from
Digikey. The cost was $11.46. I tried it on a power supply and it was
as quiet as advertised. I installed it in the inverter and the
difference was nothing short of dramatic. I have to make an effort to
hear that fan, it is almost silent.
Note that the CFM rating matches the original. The difference is
mostly cost, this fan probably cost $3 to produce and the original, I
would guess, 50 cents.
With a 50k hours service life, even adjusted downwards for running in
hot summers heat, this will clearly last me a very long time. Assuming
1 hour per day use of inverter, and being conservative about fan life,
it would be 20,000 days, or 54 years. Then, at the age of 94, I might
splurge for a new inverter. ;-)
We'll see how it really works out though.
i
Quick, order a spare fan so in 54 years you can save the cost of
replacing the inverter. At 94 you'll never get your money's worth out
of a new inverter!!!!
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