17.009 Why do so few GS power supplies have a fan installed?
Description
This article is from the Apple II Csa2 FAQ, by Jeff Hurlburt with numerous contributions by others.
17.009 Why do so few GS power supplies have a fan installed?
Most users depend upon System Saver GS to handle cooling because the GS
case is not designed to take advantage of an internal fan. With a fan mounted
on the power supply, you can, mainly, blow air around inside the case. The fan
is not much good for drawing in cool air from outside or pushing hot air out.
Another problem is noise-- both the kind produced by a fan when its
bearings begin to go and electrical noise which degrades the quality of sound
output. The fan uses the +12V pins which are needed for simple installation of
a popular sound digitizer card. A fan mounted on the PS case could prevent
plugging long circuit boards into Slot 1 and, possibly, Slot 2.
Perhaps, as Charles Plater seems to suggest, there is some reason for an
internal fan. Mounted on the power supply (which is the only place a mounting
point is available), a fan could blow some air into the power supply.
Supposedly, this could extend power supply life.
Still, many users have 11 year-old GS's with original power supplies which
continue to work fine with no internal fan.
Basically, a PS-mounted fan in a GS appears to be the cure for a problem
which has yet to be discovered.
By: Rubywand
----------------------------
Continue to:
My Books
