Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!hc!beta!unm-la!unmvax!charon!cs2531bn
From: cs2531bn@charon.unm.edu (Lazlo Nibble)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Cooling fans
Message-ID: <2889@charon.unm.edu>
Date: 21 Apr 88 10:08:31 GMT
Reply-To: cs2531bn@unmc.UUCP (Lazlo Nibble)
Organization: The Kate Bush/Mary Steenburgen Anti-Conspiracy
Lines: 42

> I have a GS in a IIe box.  I just got my 3rd card and need a cooling fan.
>  Are there any suggestions as to the best fan for the price...or are they
>  all the same?
>
> Perhaps someone would like to get rid of an old IIe fan?  I'm just looking
> for the cheapest route.
>
> Michael Steele NETOPRMS@NCSUVM.BITNET

I just hit my sixth card with a //e, and the cooling problem was finally
too much to take.  (So was the overload-the-power-supply problem, which is
why I don't have the seventh card in there anymore, but that's another post.) 
Even with the top off and a 5" fan constantly blowing over the motherboard, I
was getting erratic heat-related problems, like random characters popping up in
Applewriter.  Having the thing in a top-off configuration for three years
hasn't exactly kept the thing clean inside either.

So a few days ago I tore the whole computer apart, pulled the motherboard,
vacuumed out all the dust bunnies :-(, washed the case, resoldered the
connections on the speaker mod I had made, cleaned the contacts on all the
peripheral cards...and (here comes the relevant part):

        1) Pulled the out power supply, and
        2) Installed a little 3" Radio Shack fan inside, which I picked
           up from a friend for about $5.

This setup is working great.  With the power supply outside the case,
overheating is practically a nonissue; the fan inside takes care of anything
left over, and I don't have to reach around back to turn the thing on and off
anymore.

No doubt this would void your warranty if you tried it (I've had my //e for
over five years now so that wasn't a problem :-)...but it certainly beats
paying the $60 that all the "real fan" companies (Kensington, et.al.) seem to
want for their setups.  Apple power supplies seem to operate at temperatures
beyond those known to mortal man, so getting the power supply away from the
heat-sensitive stuff will probably solve your problem without even having to
play with a fan.

Something to consider, anyway.  It's certainly the cheapest route, if nothing
else.

Lazlo Nibble (cs2531bn@charon.unm.edu)