Enermax 550w - No More Noise - Gets damm loud under load

[microfire]

Got the original Enermax box in front of me tonight. In big words is printed on the top "No More Noise"

For along time now I have been putting with the Enermax 550watt FCA model power supply with its loud fan when under load. Even with good case air flow. Arggggh I hate this!

If I attempt to lessen the air flow in my case for a more silent every day enviroment, the damm fan in the Enermax fan wants to go faster ALL of the time. Almost 100% sure its the 90mm fan in the bottom of the power supply. Turning the control on back of power supply will not slow the big ******* fan.

I also have a Enermax 350watt FCA that does the same thing.

Can I just rip this fan out and do away with it? or will the power supply be sure to melt down and die.

[Diablo23RD]

Try to mod the 92mm fan to 120mm, you can get better air flow to not worry about melting the PSU :D
I have the 431W Enermax, it is quiet at full load but the 12V is under volt! Hate Enemax now!

[microfire]

Great!, took me awhile to be in the know.

Its simple.
Theres a thing inside the power supply called the thermistor glued onto the coils. This is what causes the fans to ramp the speed up.
I unattached it and move it off the hot coil, so it would speed up so soon. That didn't work very well, fans to loud for me still. Unplugging the 92mm fan must of made things a tad hotter inside.
Couldn't take it any longer, I took my snips and cut off the thermistor. The fan never ever speeds all anymore, I can still dial the 80mm an up to whatever level I want on the back and it stays at that setting.
Runs a bit toasty on low, but im sure it can take it. If it doesn't, to bad, bye bye.

Here's a picture of the nasty germ, dirty insect..

http://img100.exs.cx/img100/7610/thermistor.jpg

[ZachM]

You can wire a potentiometer to the end of the 2 wires you cut the thermistor off of. Then you will have manual control over the fan by turning the knob. I did it to my 120mm Vantec Thermoflow. I used a 10k OHM potentiometer from Radio Shack. Link (http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F002%5F011%5F000&product%5Fid=271%2D282). If you have a multimeter it would be best to measure the resistance of the thermistor when it is cold. Then get a pot to match that. Your fan may need a different pot than mine.

[cetoole]

You can also just get a quieter fan, like a Panaflo L1A and replace it. Is the current fan soldered in or does it have a plug?

[microfire]

The fan control dial on the back of the power supply still works perfectly, no need to solder on a potentiometer. :)

I really wanted a Panaflo, but I am straped for cash. I have 4 spare 80mm case fans sitting around anyway.
I had to consider my other fans in the case, they are not as silent as a panaflo, so buying just one fan without replacing all of them would not be worth it.

What I did was pull out the 80mm enermax fan, brand is Globe Fan, rated at 0.23A.
Disconnected the 92mm.
One of my spare 80mm fans was also a Globe Fan, this one rated at 0.17A, replaced old 80mm with this.
Dialed on what probarly be about 7v, not that it made much difference since the speed determines the noise. The bearing was going in the old one, so the change over was worth it.