Recently I bought a Mean Well LRS-350-24 AC/DC power supply to drive a decent length of LED strips. It turns out the fan in this power supply is kind of loud - it has only kicked in twice but both occasions I was astonished about the loudness of the fan. A quick Google showed that I'm not alone in this.
I found a site selling an alternative (mirror) but with shipping included it would have cost me $26.45 (and that's with it being on sale and delivery in max. 45 days - ain't nobody got time for that!). The offer is for a 24dB, 12cfm fan. I bet we can do better, cheaper and faster - the holy triangle!
So I set out to find a fan that is:
- Quieter than the stock 34dB fan, and preferably also quieter than StevesLeds' offer of 24dB
- Does at least 10cfm
- Fits (e.g. 60mm, 15mm thick max) and works (12V)
Turns out; there's quite a few if you look around. I settled on a SilentiumPC ZEPHYR 60 (SPC012). Relevant specs are:
- Size: 60mm x 60mm x 15mm
- Rated voltage: 12V
- Rated current: 0.11A
- Air flow: 10cfm
- Noise Level: 18.7dB
- MTBF: 50.000hrs
Sounds like a match to me! So I ordered, paid €4,50 for the fan, €4,50 shipping from a local retailer and received my fan in the mail the next morning. Replacing the fan is a breeze; simply unscrew the cover and unplug the original fan (note the orientation of the plug for the +/- wires! Or better yet: take a photo!)
You can then either:
- Cut off the connector from the original fan and connect it to your new fan using some electrical tape or, better: a dab of solder and shrink-tube.
- Cut of the replacement fan's connector. Then remove the white socket gently with pliers (just pull, but carefully) and solder the wires to the pins where the connector used to connect.
You may need to measure / experiment a little which wire is 12V, ground and "tach/signal/sense" on the fan; only 12V and ground need to be hooked up.
Mount the fan on the cover, close the cover and you're done!
Hi, how did the replacement fan work for you? Did it keep the temperature down or spin up as frequently?
ReplyDeleteIt seems to work fine. The power supply is mounted tucked away in a cupboard so I don't actually know how often it actually comes on because it's quieter than the original fan which I did hear outside of the cupboard. So for me it worked out fine. I'm happy I did the easy, and cheap, replacement.
DeleteThanks for the info. Good to hear that the replacement provides adequate cooling to the PSU!
DeleteAre you running at close to maximum load of 350W?
No, I'm running well below the maximum load; I'm only powering 8m of LED strip (around 24W).
DeleteSee https://gathering.tweakers.net/forum/list_message/64736962#64736962