Replace fans in supermicro hotswap fan housing.

[Morgan Simmons]

Hello all. I was wondering if it was possible to replace the fans in a supermicro hotswap housing. I'd like to keep the stock hotswap arrangement, but change out the fans themselves for something more quiet since my cooling requirements aren't as high.
I have an SC826 chassis which has 3 midplane 80mm x 38mm fans. It would be great to be able to put an 80mm noctua fan in the hotswap housing, but I don't want to try to just try to take it apart and break it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Marshall

 

[sth]

swapping fans is fairly easy in the supermicro hot swap chassis but finding ones that are as efficient is tough. Quieter yes, but watch your temps after "upgrading" as they might not be as effective as cooling your disks etc. You can buy spare chassis mounts from eBay cheaply to experiment with. Look for fans with high static pressures to ensure the air moves past the wall of drives (in my experience noctua don't work well in these situations). Let us know what you find.

 

[Morgan Simmons]

Hi There.
I think i might have messed up the question.

Here is a pic to help clarify
http://store.supermicro.com/media/c...5d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/f/a/fan-0094l4_front.jpg

I'd like to keep the white fan housing, but change out the fan itself in the housing. I see that there are screws to remove the fan, but I'm not sure how to unlatch the 4 pin connector without breaking the white housing. Is it possible to do that?

Thanks
Marshall

 

[Morgan Simmons]

Yup. Did it for my 24 bay supermicro. Just take a flat head screwdriver and place it in the small tab little ledge end part of the white latch-like tab near to where the 4 pin fan connector is, and it should pop right up. You can use a small knife too if you like. Should work the same. Just be careful not to pry too hard and break the plastic tab. After modifying/replacing the fans with another quieter 4 pin fan, the tab snaps back in place.

Awesome, Thank so much!
Which fan did you replace them with?

 

[Morgan Simmons]

I replaced them with 3 80mm noctuas running at full speed and they are silent with plenty of airflow.