"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:rt65i2hee0gscckoi8k60gpoc9fosu9gpo@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:40:10 GMT, "The poster formerly known
> as Colleyville Alan" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:
>
>>"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
>>news:4i14i257d7nrqgilu2bnji15nfi2fgicsa@4ax.com. ..
>>> On Tue, 03 Oct 2006 02:27:11 GMT, "The poster formerly known
>>> as Colleyville Alan" <nospam@nospam.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>First the rant-
>>>>My case cooling fan has bad bearings and is very noisy. So I went to
>>>>the
>>>>Dell site to try and find a replacement.
>>>
>>> Ok but why do you want same fan again?
>>
>>So it will install easily, with minimal hassle. The fan worked well for 4+
>>years and then the bearings started making noise, so having another 4
>>years
>>of decent performance suits me fine. I am not opposed to getting a
>>different (read better) fan, but I want to keep the installation as simple
>>as possible. Like, pop out the old one and pop in the new on.
>
> Ok, but many fans last far longer than 4 years, and until
> you know what the fan is exactly, there is no reason to
> believe another wouldn't just pop in.
>
>
>
>
>>I believe that it is a fixed speed fan. This computer is 6 years old and
>>uses a Pentium with 866 mhz, not one of the newer chips that doubles as a
>>space heater. So it's cooling needs are more modest. When the fan was
>>new
>>it was not that noisy, so replacing this fan with the stock unit should
>>match my needs.
>
> It is premature to conclude it's fixed speed. That is a
> function of the motherboard, most often, but doesn't
> necessarily depend on it being a newer, hotter running
> system. Even so, it is useful to remember it's a lower heat
> system to the end of a realization that the fan may never
> need to move a lot of air, so a lower speed fan may be
> sufficient.
>
>
>
>>
>>> In short, get your fan dimensions and # of pins it uses, and
>>> from there you might pick out a more ideal model but also
>>> keep in mind your room ambient temps (highest they'll be
>>> year-round), so you don't get something TOO low.
>>>
>>> A random suggestion would be a Panaflo "M" speed, it's
>>> probably a 92mm x 25mm thick fan but measure to be sure.
>>> http://www.svc.com may have some and low USPS shipping too
>>> for single parts or very small orders.
>>>
>>>>On some other screen, I also tried choosing the model but while it had
>>>>Dell
>>>>Dimension XPS it had series like 200, 500, 700 but not B866. It had
>>>>some
>>>>series ending with M or MT - I am not sure, I cannot even find the page
>>>>I
>>>>got stuck at earlier today.
>>>
>>> You could always pick a different model # so long as it uses
>>> same size fan.
>>
>>That was the trouble - I could not find the dimensions or, indeed, any
>>specs
>>about the fan.
>
>
> "Find" is not necessarily a matter of looking for some text
> spec somewhere, rather of opening the system and measuring
> it (if you can't tell at a glance what size it is, which is
> easy once you are accustomed to dealing with fans).
>
>
>>I happened to find a couple of other posts from people who
>>had to replace their fans and found that the fan as 92mm - but could not
>>find even that info on the Dell site.
>
> You need to get hands-on, deal with the actual hardware in
> front of you... forget Dell's website and pop out the fan...
> should take 2 minutes to remove, measure, reinstall.
>
>
>
>>Yep - the shroud simply lifts off. It was the case into which the fan
>>fits,
>>not the shroud to which he was referring.
>>
>>> What I'd expect is you have a plastic piece that slips or
>>> clips onto the rear wall of the case. Onto that, the fan
>>> slides on, then the outer shroud that bends towards the CPU
>>> heatsink, has a couple of large plastic clips on 2 sides.
>>
>>That's it!
>
> Yes but the key issue is whether they used a similar
> arrangement as on later models, where the fan is standard
> and just slips into the frame, or if they did something odd
> and integrated the fan motor into a larger frame.
>
> Examining the fan out of the system should provide all the
> information you need.
>
>
>>
>>> If it were a sleeve bearing fan, you might be able to relube
>>> it, though I suspect it's ball bearing as I vaguely recall
>>> some of them were (but all? I don't know.).
>>
>>It is ball bearing. My earlier attempts at lubing brought temporary
>>relief.
>
> A linked picture of the fan assembly, disassembled, would go
> a long way. I mean take a picture, since there doesn't seem
> to be any easily found online.


I replaced the fan assembly tonight with the CompUSA 92mm fan. It works
fine and is nice and quiet. On two sides of the casing that hangs on the
back of the tower, there are slots into which the sides of the fan "slide".
I use quotes around the word slide because the fan does not exactly slip out
easily. I thought that maybe Dell used some glue to weld the parts together
so that you'd have to buy the combination of the two pieces, but after about
12 minutes or so I got them apart.

I found that inserting a jewler's screwdriver between the fan and the casing
and then pressing directly on the edge of the fan got it to start moving.
Once I got one side free, the second side was a bit easier. I was paranoid
that I would break the case. But putting the new fan into the casing was
pretty easy because when you press it down, the two sides snap into the
slots in the casing. After that it was easy to slip the unit back into the
tower and plug it into the MB. I was glad of that, I half expected that
since the MB expected a 3-pin connector, my fan would have a 4-pin connector
just so the computer gods could laugh at me once again.

Anyhow, thanks for the help. The unit is much quieter, the power supply is
louder than the new fan wherease before, the old fan was a very big
noisemaker. I ordered a new PS from PC Power and Cooling and since it is
called the Silencer, I am optimistic that when I install it, the computer
will be quieter still.

Thanks to all who helped, gave suggestions, encouragement, etc.
Alan.