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Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: mindprober on May 30, 2004, 06:36:30 AM
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Does the stock power supply in the A3000D use the same size fan as those typically found PC's for cooling the case? I believe they are 80mm. If so, I would quickly replace the A3000 fan as it is unecessarily noisy by today's standards.
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Dunno about the A3000, but I replaced the one in my A4000 last year which was an 80mm fan, but I can`t imagine them being different sizes given CBMs love of cost cutting and standardising parts.
Two things to note though..
1. Be very careful inside the PSU, even when turned off they can hold enough juice to do you some harm.
2. Make a note of which way the old fan turned, ie. did it suck air in, or blow air out ?
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As far as I know it's suppose to blow air out of the box (sucking junk into the diskdrives).
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Yep, a standard 80mm case fan should work fine. Not a bad idea to replace fans every so often. Both for cutting down on noise, and increasing air circulation.
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As mentioned, it's a standard 80mm 12V DC fan, available pretty much anywhere. I replaced one just recently.
I'd suggest paying slightly more for one with ball bearings as opposed to the cheaper and louder bronze sleve bearing ones.
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Thanks for all the info, folks. A new fan is on the shopping list for today. Hey, maybe I'll even spring for one of the ones with the LED's. Heh.
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Doobrey wrote:
.... but I can`t imagine them being different sizes given CBMs love of cost cutting and standardising parts.
You know, there are a few things about this that always made me angry:
#1 - When you work on an old Amiga like a 2000 or a 3000, the screws for the case covers are completely non-standard, in fact, if I am not mistaken the A2000 uses 2 different types, 4 of one odd size for around the bottom of the case cover, and one monster one for the back. I am not positive of this, since I lost all of them eons ago ... so essentially, I am screwed ....
#2 - Cost. You would think that with all the cost cutting and using parts that no one else wanted (can you say Zorro slots??) that they could have peddled Amiga's to people for around $50.00, but Nooooooooo. When I bought my first A2000HD, it had a meg of RAM, 1 floppy, a 2090 board (no auto-boot ROMs, those were extra, a lot extra ...) and a whopping 20 Meg Miniscribe MFM HD which allowed me plenty of time to brew and poor a cup of coffee when typing 'list' in a CLI window since it was so slow. My friends and I would open 2 CLI's, and do a list on a floppy and the HD to see which one would be done first, it was like a geek version of {bleep}-fights. The price for this machine? $2800.00 without monitor, an even $3,000.00 with monitor and some software package that escapes me now.
Sorry for the long post, but, I feel much better now. :-)
- Mike
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@drwho-
I'll agree, somewhat. Certainly with the problems you mention in #1. C= used standards when it felt like it, and then threw them out in the most annoying of places. The styled and proprietary case screws were certainly not brilliant design. Keyboards are another gripe of mine. The AT keyboard port had been standardized for how long? Long enough that the A2000/3000 used the same port (their cost savings), but a different pinout and keyboard controller, so you had to use an Amiga keyboard (stick it to the customer).
As for #2, I somewhat disagree. Sure, the A2000 was expensive in it's day. But look at what it was up against. It was still cheaper than a monochrome Macintosh.... And a PC back then was an AT or XT with CGA or monochrome. Maybe the high-end machines were 286s with EGA, but those were way more expensive than the A2000. And look how much more useful the A2000 was. It was a highly-usable, modern, color computer, while everything else on the consumer side of the market was junk. The A2000 was the affordable powerhouse of its day. Its only competitors on features were high-end workstations (SUN SGI, etc) that cost many thousands of dollars more. So really, I think they peddled 'em for pretty cheap, considering what everyone else was trying to do!
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I'm not sure if it is possible but check and see if you can fit one or two smaller fans in the front of the A3000 I guess about where the CPU slot sitts (and even seal other parts of the case from air leakage with dukttape). Just to get better airflow, cooler air where it's needed and to prevent junk from being drawn in trough the diskdrive(s).
I sold my A3000 machines quite some time ago so don't remember how much room there was left in the front.
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Hi
> As far as I know it's suppose to blow air out of the box (sucking junk into the diskdrives).
In the A3000T the fan sits at the inner side of the PSU, so it blows the air INTO the PSU-case (and through that box and out of the tower case at the back side).
Back a few years I've made a mistake as I replaced this fan. If you take the PSU out of the tower to replace the fan you can easily accidentically exchange the direction of the fan, because it is opposide to the usual direction. After putting back the PSU into the case I wondered why the case was getting so hot, it was sucking the hot air out of the PSU and blowing it into the case :-)
Noster
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@drwho:
Atleast my A2000 uses screws with millimeter threading of size M4 (I might be wrong about the size M4, but I am 95% sure) to hold the case cover, the powersupply, the drivebays and maybe something more I have forgotten. You should be able to find these kinda screws in most hardware stores.
/Patrik