Comments on: Silence Your Fans With The ’7 Volt Trick’ http://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/ Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:29:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jason Faulknerhttp://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12723 Jason Faulkner Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:49:18 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12723 Mark,I understand where you are coming from. I was just posting on this site a well known 'tried and true' trick done by many. Do a Google search on 7 volts and you will find lots (and lots) of success stories.I wouldn't have posted it here if it is something which I knew (or had a feeling) was sketchy.Personally, I don't do any modification of hardware, but that shouldn't mean I can't post links to information which some people might want to try. Mark,

I understand where you are coming from.
I was just posting on this site a well known ‘tried and true’ trick done by many. Do a Google search on 7 volts and you will find lots (and lots) of success stories.

I wouldn’t have posted it here if it is something which I knew (or had a feeling) was sketchy.

Personally, I don’t do any modification of hardware, but that shouldn’t mean I can’t post links to information which some people might want to try.

]]> By: Mark Curtshttp://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12722 Mark Curts Mon, 28 Jul 2008 01:32:24 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12722 Jason, It would be great if you could give first hand experience and say either, "Hey, I've actually tried it and it worked for me..." or "My experience was not so good..."Many of us who are less hardware than software oriented want to hear from someone who's willing to take a risk himself before we're ready to commit to something we've never tried before. Jason,
It would be great if you could give first hand experience and say either, “Hey, I’ve actually tried it and it worked for me…” or “My experience was not so good…”

Many of us who are less hardware than software oriented want to hear from someone who’s willing to take a risk himself before we’re ready to commit to something we’ve never tried before.

]]> By: hitchfacehttp://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12721 hitchface Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:05:03 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12721 I'm with ya Jason. Lots of people do this trick successfully. If you are gonna screw with computer innards, know what you are getting yourself into and the potential risks. Goes with anything else. I’m with ya Jason. Lots of people do this trick successfully. If you are gonna screw with computer innards, know what you are getting yourself into and the potential risks. Goes with anything else.

]]> By: Redfruitoilshttp://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12718 Redfruitoils Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:18:34 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12718 Would not really recommend this for high power computers.. since you need to take in all the cooling you can get.An attempt to silence your fans could as well lead to your system being overheated. Would not really recommend this for high power computers.. since you need to take in all the cooling you can get.

An attempt to silence your fans could as well lead to your system being overheated.

]]> By: Jason Faulknerhttp://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12699 Jason Faulkner Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:53:33 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12699 I don't think removing this in necessary. Lots of people on this site get help overclocking their CPU which could potentially fry your processor/MB etc.If people want to try this, I'm just passing the information along. Personally, I am not comfortable doing this on my machine, but I'm also not comfortable OC'ing my CPU either.Different strokes. I don’t think removing this in necessary. Lots of people on this site get help overclocking their CPU which could potentially fry your processor/MB etc.

If people want to try this, I’m just passing the information along. Personally, I am not comfortable doing this on my machine, but I’m also not comfortable OC’ing my CPU either.

Different strokes.

]]> By: ALaneBro82http://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12688 ALaneBro82 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:58:22 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12688 This would theoretically work. However, you must be very careful to NEVER touch the 12V rail to the 5V rail. You would most like brick your power supply if you did touch the two together.In all honesty, I wouldn't recommend anyone actually try this. That 5V rail is meant to "source" current... in this configuration, it is "sinking" current instead.A much simpler mechanism is called a potentiometer (think dimmer switch for your dining room light). It varies resistance via a knob and allows the user to directly control the speed of the fan.You might think about removing this article. I feel it could do much more damage to people than it could possibly help them. This would theoretically work. However, you must be very careful to NEVER touch the 12V rail to the 5V rail. You would most like brick your power supply if you did touch the two together.

In all honesty, I wouldn’t recommend anyone actually try this. That 5V rail is meant to “source” current… in this configuration, it is “sinking” current instead.

A much simpler mechanism is called a potentiometer (think dimmer switch for your dining room light). It varies resistance via a knob and allows the user to directly control the speed of the fan.

You might think about removing this article. I feel it could do much more damage to people than it could possibly help them.

]]> By: Sharron (kkomp)http://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12676 Sharron (kkomp) Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:06:16 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12676 Actually there is a flaw in the way that the comment is written, in the "How it Works" section. The circuit itself will work; but I feel I was too hasty in publishing and have a glaring error in there somewhere. Actually there is a flaw in the way that the comment is written, in the “How it Works” section. The circuit itself will work; but I feel I was too hasty in publishing and have a glaring error in there somewhere.

]]> By: Sharron (kkomp)http://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12675 Sharron (kkomp) Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:59:17 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12675 AC motors are generally much simpler than DC motors: I won't go into the technical details, save to say that on both the resistance of the inductor coil(s) varies according to Ohm's Law with a decreasing voltage causing an increase in the current used; therefore causing a greater heat output logarithmically proportional and relative to the increase in joules used by the unit at any given voltage. - Clear?In short then; there is something in the point you query. All-in-all, however, with the high tolerances built in to the motor unit in question, running at limited wattages and using only milliamperes, any such proportional heat increase should be so negligible overall as to be academic - unless one gets down into the 1.* - Volt scale; at which point the motor wouldn't function anyway until the voltage was increased substantially.So yes the theory is correct; but for all practical intents and purposes in this particular application it can be discounted as virtually irrrelevant. AC motors are generally much simpler than DC motors: I won’t go into the technical details, save to say that on both the resistance of the inductor coil(s) varies according to Ohm’s Law with a decreasing voltage causing an increase in the current used; therefore causing a greater heat output logarithmically proportional and relative to the increase in joules used by the unit at any given voltage. – Clear?

In short then; there is something in the point you query. All-in-all, however, with the high tolerances built in to the motor unit in question, running at limited wattages and using only milliamperes, any such proportional heat increase should be so negligible overall as to be academic – unless one gets down into the 1.* – Volt scale; at which point the motor wouldn’t function anyway until the voltage was increased substantially.

So yes the theory is correct; but for all practical intents and purposes in this particular application it can be discounted as virtually irrrelevant.

]]> By: Slowly Fans, Slowly | Beyondhttp://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12668 Slowly Fans, Slowly | Beyond Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:56:16 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12668 [...] commented on a blog article at PC Mech http://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/#comment-12662 about slowing down computer fans. (For the purpose of making them less noisy.) I ended up writing [...] [...] commented on a blog article at PC Mech http://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/#comment-12662 about slowing down computer fans. (For the purpose of making them less noisy.) I ended up writing [...]

]]> By: hitchfacehttp://www.pcmech.com/article/silence-your-fans-with-the-7-volt-trick/comment-page-1/#comment-12667 hitchface Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:54:31 +0000 http://www.pcmech.com/?p=7270#comment-12667 I use a fan controller on my PC, but it essentially does the same thing for more money. Most every fan should be able to run on 7 volts. The only fans that I DO NOT recommend doing this to are ones that have controllers built in, like the Antec Tri-Cool units. Modifying a plug to give it a certain voltage and then using the switch to try and draw more or less than that might cause problems. I use a fan controller on my PC, but it essentially does the same thing for more money. Most every fan should be able to run on 7 volts. The only fans that I DO NOT recommend doing this to are ones that have controllers built in, like the Antec Tri-Cool units. Modifying a plug to give it a certain voltage and then using the switch to try and draw more or less than that might cause problems.

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