xrackpro fans

I'm really unsure where to put this, but as it does deal w/ a case (a server rack/case, to be honest) I thought I would give this subforum a shot. Mods, please feel free to move this to a more appropriate subforum, if applicable.

I recently purchased an xrackpro2 (http://www.xrackpro.com/XRackPro2-12U-Noise-Reduction-Enclosure-Cabinet-p/xr-nre2-us.htm) to rackmount some of my gear. My intentions where to organize as well as silence, as much as possible. The problem is, while it does a good job, I feel that the fans are too loud and move more than enough air.

So, long story short, I am trying to slow the fans down. All of the fans are hooked up to a single 2 prong plug that goes into an outlet. I am looking for a device similar to a zalman fanmate, but for a two prong plug so that I can adjust the speed of the fans and balance speed vs airflow to my liking. Does anyone know where I could acquire such a device for a reasonable (sub $15) price?

Thanks in advance.

maybe you can PM this guy, he got his http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1558382

I wish I can help out more but it is a start

Thanks for the tip. He will be receiving a PM shortly .

lazy7689 said:

All of the fans are hooked up to a single 2 prong plug that goes into an outlet.

Click to expand...

So in other words, they are AC fans. In that case I have never seen the type of controller you are looking for, nothing that's going to be like your normal case fan controller. Most are going to be a type of motor controller and not the kind of plug and play you are looking at nor in the price range. I also find it odd you spend 2k on a case and yet are skimping ($15 limit) on the most important part, which are the fans. Best would be to just replace the fans with something better at a lower RPM range. Speed rating of the fans in the case right now would also be helpful.

I got your PM. Might as well make this public for other XrackPro2 owners.

lazy7689 said:

I'm really unsure where to put this, but as it does deal w/ a case (a server rack/case, to be honest) I thought I would give this subforum a shot. Mods, please feel free to move this to a more appropriate subforum, if applicable.

Click to expand...

Yeah its difficult to find the right forum for this. Ultimately I decided the case/mod community would appreciate what were trying to do here. I had a mod move my XrackPro thread to this forum awhile back.

lazy7689 said:

The problem is, while it does a good job, I feel that the fans are too loud and move more than enough air.

Click to expand...

Yes, the fans on the back are more than sufficient air flow and they do make a considerable amount of noise. Let me put things in perspective first. Since I don't have a decibel meter I will use the volume at which I must set my TV (in the same room) to comfortably hear everything.

• Front door open. Both PC's running, Rear fans running.
  Volume = 15
• Front door closed, Both PC's running, Rear fans running.
  Volume = 12/13
• Front door closed, Both PC's running, Rear fans off
  Volume = 11

As you can see I too would benefit from reducing the fan noise. Since this is something I have been wanting to address but haven't gotten around to. I will take the plunge with you and work on finding a solution.

lazy7689 said:

Does anyone know where I could acquire such a device for a reasonable (sub $15) price?

Click to expand...

I doubt we will hit that price mark. Honestly I am willing to spend about $50 for a decent noise/airflow reduction on the fans.

BlueFireIce said:

So in other words, they are AC fans.

Click to expand...

As BlueFireIce pointed out they are AC fans. The way I'm going to approach this is first find replacement fans. If that is a no go then try to find a device that can reduce their speed if it exists. Finally, as a last resort, we can completely swap them out for DC fans and a new power source.

We should do ourselves a favor and climb back there and figure out what model they are. Thankfully, I purchased my XrackPro via craigslist and the previous owner happened to be a photo studio. So below is a picture they took of the fan. Its rather impossible for me to actually get to the back of my XrackPro2 at the moment so this picture will have to do.


We can pretty much figure out what model it is based on the picture.

They are made by U.S. Toyo Fan Corporation
Full Model# USTF120381152T (I think that is what it says)
USTF Series
12038 so its the 120mm by 38mm fan
Spec sheetfor all 12038 fans
My fans are model 1152T so that means they are actually:

There is another model below mine which has these specs:

They also have a model that is 25mm thick instead of 38mm
So that doesn't buy us anything.

[Strike= ]Reading further, if you click on their "fan selection guide" they have different DBA and CFM ratings for these same two models .....
[/s]
Actually, I think that is just a dumb website mistake. Because those specs are identical to the Advantage Series Fans. I think the admin just forgot to change the cfm and dba numbers when he copied and pasted to save time.

So it looks like we could downgrade our fans slightly. The cheapest I could find the USTF120381151T was $21.03 each ($84.10 total, ouch). I don't know if 2 db (a) @ 1M would be an audible improvement. It would be a 29% reduction in airflow (304 -> 216 CFM) and a 6 watts savings! Assuming you also pay 14 cents a KWH that is a savings of $7.39 a year, So in 11 years your investment will have paid for itself!

Perhaps we should look into other AC fan manufacturers.... I tried some google searches but honestly I'm not finding anything with better spec's than the USTF120381151T.

BlueFireIce said:

AC fan controller.

Click to expand...

Yeah, this.

Or go to Lowes or Walmart or Home Depot and buy a ceiling fan controller.

BlueFireIce said:

So in other words, they are AC fans. In that case I have never seen the type of controller you are looking for, nothing that's going to be like your normal case fan controller. Most are going to be a type of motor controller and not the kind of plug and play you are looking at nor in the price range. I also find it odd you spend 2k on a case and yet are skimping ($15 limit) on the most important part, which are the fans. Best would be to just replace the fans with something better at a lower RPM range. Speed rating of the fans in the case right now would also be helpful.

Click to expand...

Honestly, my $15 limit was not a hard limit and just a way to let others know what I deemed "reasonable" because what is reasonable to some might not be reasonable to others. Also, I didn't spend 2k on the case because I bought it second hand at a great price.

BlueFireIce said:

AC fan controller.

Click to expand...

This was exactly the type of device I was looking for. Thanks a lot.

nowwhatnapster said:

snip

Click to expand...

Wow, lots of good info, there. I too thought of changing out the fans but my inelegant solution was to replace the fans with "standard" computer case fans and hooking them up through a fan controller to my server's psu.

Currently, my rack contains my server, (relatively low power) desktop/workstation and a gb switch. Due to the server being the most important one out of the two computers and the one that's on 24/7, tying the fans to that machine makes sense. However, the wires going all over the place would make the back of the rack look like a mess.

lazy7689 said:

Wow, lots of good info, there. I too thought of changing out the fans but my inelegant solution was to replace the fans with "standard" computer case fans and hooking them up through a fan controller to my server's psu.

Currently, my rack contains my server, (relatively low power) desktop/workstation and a gb switch. Due to the server being the most important one out of the two computers and the one that's on 24/7, tying the fans to that machine makes sense. However, the wires going all over the place would make the back of the rack look like a mess.

Click to expand...

Normal DC fans can be a very good option, as you have many fans and brands made around the idea of low noise. AC fans are often meant for another kind of environment, which needs its own power supply and high CFM, the racks and servers they are often used in, noise is not that big of a concern. The option I would have done is DC fans hooked to a AC/DC brick with a molex connection for the fans, FrozenCPU, Jab-Tech etc etc all have these, most people use them for Cabinet cooling. That way your choice of quiet fans is far far larger.

Thanks for the tip. I never would have thought to look for AC/DC bricks with a molex connector. I'm likely going to try the first solution you posted, the AC fan controller, since that'll be the cheapest option. If it doesn't work properly the AC/DC brick w/ molex will be the backup plan.

BlueFireIce said:

AC fan controller.

Click to expand...

That controller might fit the bill however the output plug is designed for a single fan and we have 4 fans. So we need something to daisychain the fans to that 1 plug.

(edited out a bunch of stuff from my original post because its irrelevant now)

It looks like Toyo used to make a "Jumper Cord". Unfortunately it is discontinued...

Then I found this. but that's not really what we need.

Then I found these. Could buy 4 of those and splice them together..

Finally I found this


This one looks like the best option. Only $7 and change. With the fan controller were only at about $20 plus S/H. That is pretty darn good. We might need to custom make something to connect the two.

What does everyone think? Should I buy those and give it a whirl? In all honesty I am starting to feel like swapping out the fans for DC would be easier at this point. Does not seem to be a lot of selection for AC fans and accessories.

nowwhatnapster said:

That controller might fit the bill however the output plug is designed for a single fan and we have 4 fans. So we need something to daisychain the fans to that 1 plug.

(edited out a bunch of stuff from my original post because its irrelevant now)

It looks like Toyo used to make a "Jumper Cord". Unfortunately it is discontinued...

Then I found this. but that's not really what we need.

Then I found these. Could buy 4 of those and splice them together..

Finally I found this


This one looks like the best option. Only $7 and change. With the fan controller were only at about $20 plus S/H. That is pretty darn good. We might need to custom make something to connect the two.

What does everyone think? Should I buy those and give it a whirl? In all honesty I am starting to feel like swapping out the fans for DC would be easier at this point. Does not seem to be a lot of selection for AC fans and accessories.

Click to expand...

Yea, I didn't even notice that the output on BlueFireIce's solution wasn't a female 2 prong AC.

It seems like daisy chaining those adapters along with the fan controller would give us a cheaper solution than using AC fans, unless you had extra AC fans sitting around.

If I can find some time this weekend, i'm going to do what I proposed earlier and try to hook my DC fans to my server psu give it a whirl.

I just got an XrackPro2

This AC fan speed controller that is posted above seems like the way to go. Why not cut the plug off the original power cord and splice this into it?

why not just grab a junction box, and dimmer switch, and wire it up to the back of the case? $10 in parts from lowes. 5 minutes of time. easily adjustable, no fancy wiring. I'm not seeing why this is complicated.