Idea for modding Fortron FSP300

PSUs: The source of DC power for all components in the PC & often a big noise source.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee, Devonavar

Bluefront
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 5316
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2003 2:19 pm
Location: St Louis (county) Missouri USA

Post by Bluefront » Sun Oct 24, 2004 5:18 pm

Fortron PSUs come in all sorts of configurations....many with different names. You just never know...

Have you ever seen this Fortron mod? It opens up the inside of the PSU for much better airflow. I used it in the photos with an NSU 1000......drawing all the cpu exhaust heat through the Fortron...no problems.

mshan
Posts: 413
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 2:26 pm

Post by mshan » Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:17 pm

Hi:

Is that little white connector in the lower right hand corner the fan connector? (if so, will it accept a standard two pin fan connector or can it be simply popped off and replaced with any two pin fan cable ala the fan swap FAQ?)

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bluefr ... m=4cfa.jpg

Bluefront
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 5316
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2003 2:19 pm
Location: St Louis (county) Missouri USA

Post by Bluefront » Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:37 pm

Yeah....that's the fan connection. I doubt there's any "standard" two-pin connector. The pin spacing is usually the same....but you might have to trim back the connector on a two-pin fan to get it to fit.

This is an Auhora 350w model. However.....I've never seen two Fortrons that were the same inside. Some fans are hard wired (soldered) straight to the board.

You know....now that I think about it, this is actually a 300w model that came with a clear LED fan. Think it came from CompUSA.
Last edited by Bluefront on Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

mshan
Posts: 413
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 2:26 pm

Post by mshan » Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:42 pm

How much difference did externally mounting the fan make in terms of noise levels?

And did it compromise cooling of the power supply in any way?

Bluefront
*Lifetime Patron*
Posts: 5316
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2003 2:19 pm
Location: St Louis (county) Missouri USA

Post by Bluefront » Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:46 pm

Actually much quieter and cooler.....less back-pressure, less turbulence, better airflow. You might have a clearance problem with some setups.....but if it fits, it's a great mod. :)

cmcquistion
Posts: 278
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 6:05 am
Location: Tennessee

Post by cmcquistion » Sun Oct 24, 2004 7:52 pm

mshan wrote:Hi cmcquistion:

My only concern is that airflow in my Antec Sonata is much lower than your Compucase LX-6A19.

Also, what type of peak ambient temps do you have during summer months?
Airflow resistance may be a problem with that case, in any configuration. I highly recommend you mod the front intake, somehow. Antec made it quite restrictive.

My case temps generally range from 33-37C. I have only two case fans and they are both Evercool 120mm Aluminum fans, running at 5V. The airflow is comparable to the popular 120mm Globe fan, at 5V.

cmcquistion
Posts: 278
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 6:05 am
Location: Tennessee

Post by cmcquistion » Sun Oct 24, 2004 7:53 pm

Bluefront wrote:Actually much quieter and cooler.....less back-pressure, less turbulence, better airflow. You might have a clearance problem with some setups.....but if it fits, it's a great mod. :)
I really wanted to mount my fan, externally, too, but my setups just haven't had the clearance. I generally build with Evercase 4252's and Compucase LX-6A19's, these days. Every system has had the processor too close to the PSU, to be able to do that mod. It looks very promising, though.

Rusty075
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 4000
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Contact:

Post by Rusty075 » Sun Oct 24, 2004 8:17 pm

Hey Cmcquistion, good to see you still kicking around. (Or at least still reading the forum reply notifications. :lol: )

Anything new from your neck of the internet?

cmcquistion
Posts: 278
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 6:05 am
Location: Tennessee

Post by cmcquistion » Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:38 am

I check by from time to time and I always read the front page articles.

Not much going on with me. I've been experimenting with ducting a Thermaltake SilentTower CL-P0025 with a single 120mm Evercool at 5V.

I wrote a bit about it, here:

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=15217

I never did make a more permanent duct. I've been using the cardboard and duct tape duct for several months, now.

This system, now has only three fans: a 120mm Evercool at 5V in the PSU, a 120mm Evercool at 5V ducted with the CPU heatsink, and an Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer (on low) on the Radeon 9800 Pro. The CPU is a P4 3.0C running at 3375 MHz. I think this system is as quiet as I can get it, so I'm a little bored with it, now;)

Zyrin
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 3:15 pm

Post by Zyrin » Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:37 am

zalman uses a pulse modulation system maybe? on their fanmate fan controllers?

dexton
Posts: 48
Joined: Sun Dec 28, 2003 6:37 am
Location: Sweden
Contact:

Post by dexton » Mon Dec 06, 2004 1:49 am

Zyrin wrote:zalman uses a pulse modulation system maybe? on their fanmate fan controllers?
nopes, its a simple variable resistor (connected to a heatsink for cooling)

Aleksi
Friend of SPCR
Posts: 889
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2004 11:34 pm
Location: Finland -- Folding For SPCR

Post by Aleksi » Mon Dec 06, 2004 4:19 am

Hi guys

I wrote about my "problem" in my first post here. Put I thought this thread would be more appropriate for it.

I have a Antec Sonata that has two Nexus 120mm fans @ 5V. One for intake, second for exhaust. My rig is Athlon 3000+, 768mb, 80gb IBM and 160gb Maxtor, LG DVD-burner and a Geforece 4 Ti 4200. The PSU I'm using currently is the FSP300-60PN(PF).

I've read several posts about the fan swaps and mods of this Fortron PSU. When my computer is idle, the PSU is silent. Not just quiet, but silent. But immediately when I start surfing the web, it speeds up instantly. My CPU usage is about 10-15% when I do this.The main problem is obviously the fan controller circuit.

I've been considering swapping the stock fan on the PSU to another 120mm Nexus fan. This would also give me chance to observe the fan RPM. However, this would drop the maximum CFM from 72 to ~39 CFM. Obviously, with the fan controller, the thing I'm most conserned about is the cooling when my CPU usage is 100%, like gaming. While running Prime95, my PSU exhaust is around 35C.

The Noiseblocker modified Fortrons (using the SX1 fan) delivers roughly the same amount of air as the Nexus. So I think I would be safe to do it. But I haven't found any pictures from inside the Noiseblocker Fortrons. Do they have the regular heatsinks, so that the only changed part is actually the fan?

I'm sorry for the long post, but any opinions about the fan swap and any possible dangers conserning would be VERY appreciated.

-Aleksi

Rusty075
SPCR Reviewer
Posts: 4000
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2002 3:26 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Contact:

Post by Rusty075 » Mon Dec 06, 2004 4:53 am

Zyrin wrote:zalman uses a pulse modulation system maybe? on their fanmate fan controllers?
The fanmates don't use PWM either.

ronrem
Posts: 1066
Joined: Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:59 am
Location: Santa Cruz

Post by ronrem » Tue Aug 21, 2007 12:45 am

MikeC wrote:
einolu wrote:some fans just stop reporting rpm when undervolted... one blower fan that i had on my cpu stopped reporting rpm with anything under 12v! Probably something to do with the circuitry of the fan or something... anyway, pix? and could your respond to my post?

~EO

ps: asus q-fan kinda sux
Generally, it is the fan monitoring circuits in the motherboards that can't track low rpm. Those engineers are probably told that 1000 rpm min speed is all they need to design for.

cmcquistion --

Since you're using 120mm Fortrons all the time, why don't you try one upside down with a top CDbay fresh air intake duct? As per Lilla's post. As long as you have a case that gives ~1" or more space above the PSU, you should not hear turbulence if the fan is spinning at under 5V...

Just a thought.

My Panaflo 80L modded PSU systems all feature PSU intake ducts and none of these PSUs run hot or ramp up in fan speed.
The flipped PSU could even allow something like the low RPM Evercool Green 140 mm which I'd mount on the top of the case rather than directly on the PSU. A Yate 140 might also work though it's stock RPM is higher.

I'd shroud it mainly to deflect the sound.....but care would be taken to not inhale the PSU's exhaust.

jaganath
Posts: 5085
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:55 am
Location: UK

Post by jaganath » Tue Aug 21, 2007 1:38 am

holy thread resurrection batman! :lol:

Post Reply