15 Jul
2009
15 Jul
'09
6:25 a.m.
Chuck Guzis wrote:
If I had to have a quick-and-dirty rule of thumb for
selecting a good
fan, it'd be "pick one with a diecast frame".
As far as diecast fans go, the Papst all-metal ones were (and still are)
absolute beasts. Metal frame, metal impeller, and a bloody powerful motor.
I've lost oscilloscope probe tips to them while debugging SMPSUs, and gained a
number of bruises by catching fingers in the impellers while trying to
manoeuvre scope probes into particularly inaccessible spots...
They're still making the line-powered versions (115V or 240V -- 8000A/N series
for 80mm, 3000 series is 92mm, 4000 series for 120mm) but nearly all the
<=120mm DC axials are made entirely of plastic. Not that they're significantly
worse quality; the AC units are probably all-metal for safety reasons.
If you're on a budget, Sunon fans aren't (too) bad, but tend to be a bit noisy
(audibly, not electrically). I don't think they do diecast versions though,
it's plastic or nothing.
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/