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Replace inverter fan with quieter, lower CFM fan


AgentPooky

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I have a small inverter that has an 80mm fan that is always on. It's not that loud, but it's louder than I'd like.

I was looking at replacing the fan with something quieter from Noctua, and I don't have space for a bigger fan, so I have to stick with 80mm.

The current fan is around 50CFM, while the Noctua is rated at 32CFM. 

Is that 20CFM going to pose a massive risk to the safety of the inverter? 

Could I monitor the temps somehow to make sure it doesn't overheat? 

 

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It would be better to put a secondary fan on the outlet side of the inverter to "suck" the air out, thereby reducing the temp and keeping the noisy fan quiet.

I just added a pc fan on the outlet, but it is unfortunately driven by a 220V step down to 12 V DC power supply which I put on a timer, from 9am to 5pm daily. Problem solved. The new fan is quiet and solved the problem.

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2 minutes ago, FixAMess said:

It would be better to put a secondary fan on the outlet side of the inverter to "suck" the air out, thereby reducing the temp and keeping the noisy fan quiet.

I just added a pc fan on the outlet, but it is unfortunately driven by a 220V step down to 12 V DC power supply which I put on a timer, from 9am to 5pm daily. Problem solved. The new fan is quiet and solved the problem.

The current fan is a 2-pin fan, so I don't think there's any way to reduce the noise, because as I understand the 2-pin fan will just run at a fixed rpm?

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6 minutes ago, AgentPooky said:

The current fan is a 2-pin fan, so I don't think there's any way to reduce the noise, because as I understand the 2-pin fan will just run at a fixed rpm?

2 pin could be voltage-controlled

 

33 minutes ago, AgentPooky said:

The current fan is around 50CFM, while the Noctua is rated at 32CFM. 

Is that 20CFM going to pose a massive risk to the safety of the inverter? 

Could I monitor the temps somehow to make sure it doesn't overheat? 

 

Fan ratings are based on Airflow and Static pressure. Airflow (CFM) measures how much air it can move in Feet per minute. More cool air = cooler

(Static pressure could be described as how "strong" the wind blows)

Most inverters offer temperature monitoring and overheat shutdowns. I have 2 standing fans pointing at my inverters on a shelf that blows a ton of Air at them

image.thumb.png.2fcf94dc64438a64763f29595bd8e7ba.png

image.thumb.png.9ab7c2ef77b55ad07e68fb4d8e8c37de.png

Edited by PsyWulf
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22 minutes ago, PsyWulf said:

2 pin could be voltage-controlled

 

Fan ratings are based on Airflow and Static pressure. Airflow (CFM) measures how much air it can move in Feet per minute. More cool air = cooler

(Static pressure could be described as how "strong" the wind blows)

Most inverters offer temperature monitoring and overheat shutdowns. I have 2 standing fans pointing at my inverters on a shelf that blows a ton of Air at them

image.thumb.png.2fcf94dc64438a64763f29595bd8e7ba.png

image.thumb.png.9ab7c2ef77b55ad07e68fb4d8e8c37de.png

Mine is a simple unit that doesn't offer any temperature monitoring solution that I can access. It's one of those portable ones and I have it by the TV. The fan runs at a constant speed 24/7, although I think in a hot condition it would increase. 

It's a pity I can't seem to find a quiet 80mm fan with the same CFM. 

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Ah yeah cheap inverters,due to the relatively small size and volume of air needed to move in that tiny space it can get pretty loud, You could see about adding a thermal probe and attaching that to a heatsink in the unit to scale the speed up based on temperature if you're a tinkerer

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8 minutes ago, PsyWulf said:

Ah yeah cheap inverters,due to the relatively small size and volume of air needed to move in that tiny space it can get pretty loud, You could see about adding a thermal probe and attaching that to a heatsink in the unit to scale the speed up based on temperature if you're a tinkerer

I don't love messing with powerful electricity. The fan isn't very loud as it is and never changes speed (sounds like a PC with cheap fans), but I wanted to see if I could drop in a good quality quiet fan to get it even softer. 

I just don't want to overheat anything. 

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Is it feasible to hover one of these in the box:  https://www.takealot.com/techme-temperature-lcd-digital-thermometer-with-1m-probe-white/PLID72300978

And monitor:

1. fully charged temp
2. temp on battery power
3. temp during charging

Then put in the lower CFM fan and do the same to check the difference? If it heats up higher, shut it down and put the old fan back?

I'm running less that 250W off it (TV, amp, and light).

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