Re: AC Fan use in PC??

On Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:26:19 +0000, Michael A. Terrell wrote:
John G wrote:
"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
Splork wrote:

Other than having to wire a separate external circuit for them,
are there any reasons for not using 120v fans in a PC?? I have a
bunch of good quality units as well as what is needed to mount and
wire them.

The original IBM PC and XT supplies used AC fans.

And they were contained INSIDE the powersupply that even had tamper
proof screws to prevent silly people getting electrocuted on the
supposed safe 120 volts.

12 volt fans have obvious safety advantages when scattered around inside
the general case.

Oh! and those power switches were mostly carefully insulated, but better
practices have evolved so ancient things are not always the way we
should stick to just because they worked when we did not know better.
Real IBM AT power supplies had the switch within the powersupply case.
It was only cheap Taiwan knockoffs that had remote AC switches.

So, you've never seen a properly installed AC fan with the insulated
plug in connector or finger guards? Its a pity that your education is
so lacking. Real computers have air filters on their AC fans. Too bad
you've only played with toys. Some of them have the DC fan mounted
outside of the "Metal Box", and have no finger guard.

BTW, there never were any "REAL IBM AT" power supplies. IBM never
made a power supply for the AT because they all came from outside
vendors. The same vendors that made the power supplies with external
power switches made supplies for the crappy AT case with the switch on
the back corner of the case. If that design was such a good idea, why
did IBM abandon it on their PS/1 PS/2 and Aptiva computers?

Probably because by then they had figured out that it's a PITA to reach
all the way around the back of the computer every time you had to do a
hard reset. ;-)

But, back to AC fans - I've installed AC fans, plugged and unplugged those
little connectors that Michael has described here, but, in all honesty,
I couldn't testify under oath that the ones that I did that to were in
home PCs.

But that's neither here nor there. Splork sounds like he/she knows what
he/she's talking about, and knows 115V from a lollipop, so I say go for
it! ;-)

John G

Wot's Your Real Problem?

People who post meaningless shit and proclaim it as Gospel.

<AOL>
Me, Too! ;-)
</AOL>

Cheers!
Rich

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: AC Fan use in PC??
    ... The original IBM PC and XT supplies used AC fans. ... Real IBM AT power supplies had the switch within the powersupply case. ... It was only cheap Taiwan knockoffs that had remote AC switches. ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: OT: Computer ATX PS near meltdown
    ... The stock power supplies are usually slightly too small for the load. ... And when replacing fans, ... ATX power supplies will NOT last as long as the old AT ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)
  • Re: OT: Computer ATX PS near meltdown
    ... The stock power supplies are usually slightly too small for the load. ... And when replacing fans, ... ATX power supplies will NOT last as long as the old AT ...
    (rec.crafts.metalworking)
  • Re: Power supply question
    ... If you open most power supplies, you will find that the color coded ... multiple wire bundles are all soldered to the same spot within the case, ... I wouldn't do it with all ten fans... ... post that here if you can't determine the total amps that ten would ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: Excessive fan noise on Sun Fire x4200
    ... One of the reasons why sun h/w is so reliable is that it's properly sorted ... But is is more reliable than decent HP or IBM kit? ... I know the Sun SPARC 20 did not suffer from over-cooling. ... it has a lot of fans. ...
    (comp.unix.solaris)