Cooling fan, power supply question

[page3]

Hi all,

I have one of the following keeping my computer cabinet cool.

https://www.acinfinity.com/component-cooling/rack-...

It’s great, except that even on the lowest fan setting it is just too loud!

PSU is 12V 2.5a.

If I use a spare PSU, which is 5v 2a it appears to work great. Screen is much dimmer, but the fan speeds are correspondingly slower and perfect. Is this safe?. If so, might I assume a 7W 2.5a PSU could be the perfect compromise? Powerful enough to drive the display, but weak enough to keep those fans spinning slower?

Apologies for such a basic question, but I want to be safe. Clearly supplying >12v would be daft, but is the opposite true?

[ruggedscotty]

switchmode rectify the mains and chop that through a high frequency conversion. fan is there to keep it all cool.

need to know more whats the set up and w2hat you are running

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The power brick that comes with it is 12v 2.5a.

The fan unit (linked above) is basically a temperature controller with led display and four 12v fans.

I’m wanting to supply 5v (or possibly 6) in order to have enough to power the display, but slow down the fans. My brief trial of a 5v supply seemed to bare this out.

I do want it to be safe though.

Here is a photo of the install as it stands now. Planning on moving power to the top and neatening things up.

Edited by page3 on Saturday 11th January 20:51

[anonymous-user]

I always thought that using a lower rated voltage supply the device wouldn't work or not as intended
That may be the result you experience

Go too high voltage and you blow the board.
I suspect your power supply will just give up in a short period of time

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I’m hoping it works similar to motherboard fans - give them less voltage they go slower.

The only additional bit here is the led controller.

Interestingly, I have another (different) AC Infinity cooler and that one came supplied with a 6.5v 2a power brick. It only has three 12v fans though but what appears to be exactly the same led controller. The back of that controller says 7v 2a, but I can’t get to see if the specification of the new one is different because it’s an all in one unit.

[anonymous-user]

As you've found , it'll just run slower. It's pretty much what cheapo fan speed controllers in PCs do anyhow. Shouldn't harm anything. they'll stall when you go too low.

I'm assuming that's a pc at the bottom, hence the cooling ?

Personally, I'd make it myself. One much bigger fan, a speed controller with thermostat, and it would be almost silent.

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RogerDodger said:

I'm assuming that's a pc at the bottom, hence the cooling ?

Yes. My first UnRAID/Plex self-build in a Node 304 case. Also a HP Microserver Gen8 on the shelf below, plus UPS and a Mac Mini.

[Monty Python]

The general rule is that the smaller the fan, the faster it runs and the nosier it gets. Best way forward is to work out the largest size fan you can fit and then find the quietest one.

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Monty Python said:

The general rule is that the smaller the fan, the faster it runs and the nosier it gets. Best way forward is to work out the largest size fan you can fit and then find the quietest one.

The AV Infinity kit is nicely designed, although fundamentally it’s just pc kit dressed up to look good. The ‘rack mount’ version I got just seemed such a lucky find as it exactly fitted where I had a gap already at the top of the cabinet (previous house owners built it, not me) and was exactly the right width to span the gap, but fit inside it. Result!