User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Thu Nov 03, 2016 6:48 pm

So when I fired up my new (yes new) Amiga 2000 HD for the first time, I was speechless and thrilled. But, that feeling soon became distracted by the impressively noisy fan tucked inside the machine's power supply housing. After using quiet machines for decades (including the C64 and Amiga 1200) I’d forgotten how much air old “big boxes” could blow. And for a machine rocking a 7 Mhz CPU, the fan’s output seemed obnoxious to say the least. How would I be able to actually use the machine if it was so damned loud? 

I quickly looked around online and soon discovered the 2000 was notorious for being noisy. After a bit of research, I learned about a near-silent fan replacement that only cost $8 brand new called the Enermax UC-8EB.

The key for a fan replacement in these machines is that it be a fairly standard (if you even consider desktop machines standard anymore) thickness of 80mm.

After carefully removing the pristine case for the second time (first time was to remove the battery) I took the PSU out entirely and pulled the fan.

Below are the pictures I captured during the r/r process.


Since the computer is a historical NOS marvel, I took the original fan and put it in a Zip-loc storage baggie for safe keeping.

The overall sound of the 2000 is now drastically quieter. It's not entirely silent (which I would prefer, to be honest). The PSU still emits its own hum, but it's not an issue anymore.

Were there a modern PSU replacement for the old 2000, I'd probably go for it. But it's not worth a hack, and thy shalt never drill a NOS case. Never.

The new fan is awesome.
Attachments
1.jpg
Box of the new fan about to be transplanted.

2.jpg
Shot of the new fan about to be put into the 2000 HD. This side of the fan faces the outside of the computer. It has a nice dual-power option for 3-pin (original plug on the PSU board) or 4-pin (to plug into the main power cord adapters found outside the PSU housing for any/all accessories).

3.JPG
Exterior shot of the original fan, locked into place snug as a bug in a rug.

4.JPG
Exterior shot of the original (noisy) fan with the guard removed. To remove it, you must still remove the case as well as the PSU housing.

5.JPG
View of the old fan still in place, screws in place, from inside the PSU housing with the top removed. Never - ever - touch the capacitors. Those are the large cylindrical objects that sort of look like vertical AA batteries, but shorter. They can hold a charge even when the machine is unplugged and shock the shit out of you. Be careful.

6.JPG
Close-up of the interior side of the new quiet fan (the side facing the inside of the case).


User avatar
terriblefire

Posted Sat Nov 05, 2016 2:15 am

Seriously jealous. :)

User avatar
jdryyz

Posted Sat Jan 05, 2019 11:07 am

Hello.

Glad I found this post.

I wish to breath even more life into an A2000 I recently resurrected. I too am not a "fan" of the original power supply cooling.

I opted to take it a step further and picked up a Noctua NF-A8 ULN. Looks like I can reduce the noise level by another 4dB with this one and it did not cost much more. :)

The problem I see is the original fan connector has black and red wires on the outside terminals (no third wire in the middle) and the color code positions do not match the new fan. With the Noctua, I have red, black and yellow wires. I noticed your replacement fan also has three wires (red, black, and white). I know you cannot expect consistency across this many years and different manufacturers.

So can I just safely attach the new fan without modifying the connector? The keyed connector looks to be standard on both.

I realize this is just DC current but I also do not want to blow the fan by having it wired improperly.


Thanks!
20190105_093402.jpg
Attachments
20190105_093452.jpg

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Sat Jan 05, 2019 1:59 pm

Congrats especially for 'shock the shit out of you'

:D

User avatar
EzdineG
Springfield, MO

Posted Sat Jan 05, 2019 3:08 pm

jdryyz wrote:So can I just safely attach the new fan without modifying the connector? The keyed connector looks to be standard on both.
I realize this is just DC current but I also do not want to blow the fan by having it wired improperly.

Thanks!
You can't just attach the connector as is, unfortunately. I tried this, assembled the 2000 and ended up with a non spinning fan. Fortunately it did no harm, but you will be having to pull the wires and reorient them.
noctua_pin_configuration_12v_fans.png
The polarity should be labeled near the fan connector on the 2000's power supply circuit board (maybe it was under?) Just match it to the above and you should be all set.

User avatar
jdryyz

Posted Sat Jan 05, 2019 4:19 pm

I figured it out.

Contrary to the labeling, all I needed to do was match the colored wires (with yellow left out of course).

Amazing how virtually silent this is!

User avatar
Crispy
Sunhillow

Posted Tue Nov 02, 2021 11:24 am

I just finished replacing my old, worn out A2000 fan with one of these, and holy moly, what a difference! Compared to the old fan, it's whisper quiet.

Installation was fairly easy, and required no soldering. The only extra work needed was to pull the pins out of the connector housing, and rearrange them to match the pinout of the original fan.

Thanks for this post; it saved me a lot of time.





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