What fan can I replace this one with?

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Tickles14

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Feb 13, 2014
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I've just took apart my noisy micro refrigerator, it's an insulin cooler that keeps medicine at a temperature of 2-8 degrees celsius. It's good apart from the noisy fans. Now I was confused when I took it apart as I'd never heard of a DC brushless fan before. So I'm now wondering what can I replace it with? Can I replace it with a standard fan that's the same size as it? Or do I have to replace it with another DC brushless fan of the same specs? I want to find a near silent replacement, will this be possible? Is it the fan that actually makes the noise?

Here's a few pics of the fan and motherboard:

http://oi61.tinypic.com/o8ij52.jpg

http://oi62.tinypic.com/14dezqx.jpg

Pics were a bit too big so I've attached links instead lol :)

Thanks, really appreciate any help.
 
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It has to be the same size, but since i don't know the specs, you would still likely have to get a fan of the same power requirements (not more, as this will just be more powerful and louder)
so at bare minimum, same size fan, at max, same power requirements.

if you can, try to find the airflow specs of the fan, and find something that has similar specs in terms of airflow
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Tickles14

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Thanks, that will be fine. I haven't measured up yet but I'm almost 100% certain it's 50mm x 50mm x 10mm.

But however, given the fact it's from a refrigerator, I'm not sure if it needs to be a DC brushless fan or if I can just replace with any fan as long as it's the same size, also customer support won't be an option here as they don't seem to understand me as they're a Chinese company. So I'm relying on your answers :)

So you reckon I can replace with any fan as long as it's the same size? If that's the case then I should be able to achieve my near silent goal.
 
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Tickles14

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Ok then, that makes sense. So the next question is, can I replace it with a DC fan of more volts and amps or does it have to be the exact same specs and size? Because trying to find something the exact same size and exact same specs is hard enough, let alone trying to find something near silent.
 
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Brantyn Gerik

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It has to be the same size, but since i don't know the specs, you would still likely have to get a fan of the same power requirements (not more, as this will just be more powerful and louder)
so at bare minimum, same size fan, at max, same power requirements.

if you can, try to find the airflow specs of the fan, and find something that has similar specs in terms of airflow
 
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Tickles14

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How do I find out those specs? The manufacturer of the fan doesn't seem to exist. I've got all my info so far from the sticker on the fan. I'm stuck here :(
 
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Tickles14

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That's not a problem, I can do this easily. But I'm still uncertain on what fan to look for. Should I just look for a same sized DC brushless fan? If I buy one that's 12 volts instead of 5 volts, what will happen?
 
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Tickles14

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Ok, I'll look for 5 volts and the same size. So do you reckon amps will matter? Will that also short the circuit if I have more or less amps?
 
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Tickles14

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Ok last questions, what amount of decibels are considered as near silent? I'm not sure what the decibels of my current fan is but it's easy to hear from across a 12ft room, even when it's covered up. I'd guess at 35-40 decibels, but I could be wrong. Would anything under 20 decibels be near silent?

Also if there's currently two cables coming out of the fan, does this restrict me to a fan with a 2 pin connector or can I go for any connector?
 
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James Mason

James Mason

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Dunno, if this is exactly the kind of fan you need after reading through the thread a bit, but it appears to be the best quietest 50x50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835352002

But it;s designed for computers, so like everyone says you'd have to solder it yourself, which means cutting the cables and ect.

Found some info about brushless fans not being anything special at least:
"Brushless fans are pretty much standard.
Basically, brushless refers to the way that the moving motor gets power from the wires.
Ball and sleeve refer to the bearings themselves.

You can get brushless ball or sleeve bearing fans. So basically, the brushless is usually standard in fans made in the past few years.

Don't get sleeve bearing fans. Ball bearing are good; another good one is called hydro-wave bearing. It's sort of like a sleeve bearing, but with several enhancements that make them as reliable as ball bearing fans. I have some 120mm Panaflo fans that use hydro-wave bearings. Those things are powerful, but very quiet."
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=689278
 
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Tickles14

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Thanks for the reply but the current fan is 5v, so will this fan still work? I've seen this fan before and really like it as it's quiet, very quiet but will it work? It seems to be the correct size, but what about amps and volts and even RPM, will they matter? It's quite cheap so I may get one and test it out, when testing it, how could I tell if it's not right? Will it instantly short the circuit? Will it burn? I don't know what to look for?

 
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