# Replacement fan



## jswartz (Apr 20, 2004)

I would like to replace the fan in my TiVo HD XL. From what I can tell, it is a standard 70mm case fan, but it looks like it has a two pin connector. I checked NewEgg and Microcenter, but didn't see a fan like this. Does anyone have a recommendation on where I can purchase a good replacement fan? I see that DVDUpgrade and Weaknees have them for $20 plus shipping, but I'd prefer to pay less and know more details about what I am getting. Thanks.


----------



## dwit (May 5, 2004)

According to the reviews at newegg.com, at least a couple of buyers were very satisfied with this Evercool model in their Tivo HD. One other described it as somewhat loud, but according to the other 2 reviewers, he/she probably did not wait for the slowdown, after the initial "brisk" blowing during start up(somewhat like the Premiere's fan).

Also explained by the reviewers is how to use the 3-pin connector on the Tivo's 2 pin motherboard (pretty easy and "common sensical"). I can attest that a 3-pin connector fan works in a Tivo, but I cannot personally attest to the "pwm" slowdown.

It does have a (less than)28db noise rating, compared to the stock Tivo fan rating of about 24db. Moves a bit more air than the stock fan, I believe.

At $8 total, shipped, may be worth a try.

If you decide to try it, post your review, here in this thread.

Good luck.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119040


----------



## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

The Pemieres fan when it first fires up is louder then my bathroom exhaust fan.


----------



## jswartz (Apr 20, 2004)

Thanks for the help. I ordered the Evercool. The nice thing with NewEgg is that even with standard shipping, most things show up here next day.


----------



## lillevig (Dec 7, 2010)

Joe01880 said:


> The Pemieres fan when it first fires up is louder then my bathroom exhaust fan.


Unitron has been quoted elsewhere in this forum as promoting the removal of the sticker over the fan and re-lubing the bearings. I agree with him as that is often a cheap solution. These fans are almost always brushless and just need cleaning and re-lubing until the bearings get shot. As for that bathroom fan, I kept one going for years with the old clean/re-lube trick.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

jswartz said:


> I would like to replace the fan in my TiVo HD XL. From what I can tell, it is a standard 70mm case fan, but it looks like it has a two pin connector. I checked NewEgg and Microcenter, but didn't see a fan like this. Does anyone have a recommendation on where I can purchase a good replacement fan? I see that DVDUpgrade and Weaknees have them for $20 plus shipping, but I'd prefer to pay less and know more details about what I am getting. Thanks.


I didn't see this post in time for some reason or I would have suggested checking surplus dealer allelectronics.com for a 2 wire fan.


----------



## jswartz (Apr 20, 2004)

Hi all. Thanks for your help. I'm not ready to have a final verdict on whether I've fixed the TiVo, but I did install the Evercool fan. It installed very easily (I already had a Torx driver). Although it is louder on startup, it is *much* quieter than the original fan, which I believe was faulty from the start. I could easily just plug the three wire connector over the two prongs on the motherboard. In terms of the fan, all is well. Thanks again for your help.


----------



## dwit (May 5, 2004)

jswartz said:


> Hi all. Thanks for your help. I'm not ready to have a final verdict on whether I've fixed the TiVo, but I did install the Evercool fan. It installed very easily (I already had a Torx driver). Although it is louder on startup, it is *much* quieter than the original fan, which I believe was faulty from the start. I could easily just plug the three wire connector over the two prongs on the motherboard. In terms of the fan, all is well. Thanks again for your help.


Good to hear that it looks like the fan is working out. It's so (relatively) inexpensive, I might just get one to keep on hand, just in case...


----------



## Atomic Taco (Jan 28, 2005)

I bought a used HD box and it came with a DOA fan. I got the Evercool fan in the mail today (pretty sure it would've gotten here two days earlier if NewEgg would just ship First Class and not SmartMail). It is *much* _louder_ than the stock fan, even after the TiVo is fully booted.

I popped open another HD unit, which has a JMC fan, similar to the first one here which pushes 22.0 CFM at 24.3 dBA. The DOA fan I received is similar to the one here that pushes 24.23 CFM at 30.8 dBA. The Evercool is spec'ed at 34.78 CFM at <28 dBA. 4 dBA doesn't sound like much but the extra 10-12 CFM is a dead giveaway. I wish I had a way to test the actual output. I'm sure the JMC and Cofan fans are each way less than 24 dBA. I can barely hear them standing a foot in front of the TiVo. I can hear the Evercool in the next room.

I'll be returning the Evercool and doing what I should've done the first time--picking up a brand new JMC on eBay.

Edit: This fan on NewEgg looks like it might be a decent alternative. But I'm sticking with the eBay fan.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

I put the Evercool in both my Tivo's to get extra cooling. When they first boot up yes they sound like an air raid siren, but once it gets to the second screen they go totally silent. I dunno, you must've gotten a bad fan and I would try to get a replacement. I dont know how you hear this thing in the next room. I cant even hear it standing right in front of the Tivo. This is the perfect fan for the Tivo and at a great price. I even ordered 2 more extras just to have them on hand. I wish I had done this back when I first got the Tivo's. I would totally recommend these Evercool fans to anyone.


----------



## Atomic Taco (Jan 28, 2005)

MeInDallas said:


> When they first boot up yes they sound like an air raid siren, but once it gets to the second screen they go totally silent. I dunno, you must've gotten a bad fan and I would try to get a replacement.


I waited 10 minutes after the TiVo was fully booted and there was no change. I don't want to send fans back and forth to NewEgg, so I just got the JMC which I know is quiet before, during, and after booting.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

Well thats a shame I hate to hear that it didnt work out for you. I been really amazed at how cool my TiVo's run now, around 35C. Sometimes they even go lower if the house is cooler. They were running around 43C before I replaced the fans. At first when I put them in yeah they were so loud, but like everyone said as soon as the second screen showed up they just went silent and I took the covers back off to make sure they were working. I still walk by them everyday and stick my hand in the back to make sure air is blowing out. It's a shame they worked so well for everyone else but you couldnt get them to work. They are such a great deal.


----------



## Atomic Taco (Jan 28, 2005)

MeInDallas said:


> They are such a great deal.


The JMC was fifty cents less.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

Atomic Taco said:


> The JMC was fifty cents less.


50 cents for 35C instead of 43C? I'll take it! :up:


----------



## Atomic Taco (Jan 28, 2005)

If you look at the spec'ed airflow, the Evercool is pushing a lot more air. It would make sense that it makes the system cooler. That extra air comes at the expense of extra noise. And I can't hear the fan over the stock WD Green Drive.

The existing unit I have with the JMC is running at 45°C. Ambient room temperature is about 21°. Since that 8 degree difference doesn't make anything run faster, I'm happy with 45. TiVo does indeed call it "Normal".


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

I looked at that and yes the fan does run faster and push more air, but the "extra noise" you speak of does not exist on my TiVo, so really the only expense that exists for me is the extra heat the unit has to endure. A unit that runs at 43C which mine was running at, once converted is 109.4F and with the new fan its running at 35C converted to 95F which is a difference of 14.4F degrees cooler. Also I have upgraded to a WD Green 1TB drive, also completely silent with AAM settings tuned to 80h (128).

Anyone that knows anything about computers and electronics can tell you that heat is the worst enemy for these things. If you're fine with 45C then I'm happy for you. If I can run mine at 35C and possibly save mine from the heat and still have a silent TiVo, then I'm ecstatic. I've been looking for a cheap way to cool this thing down since I bought it. A hard drive in a computer runs so much cooler, why cant a TiVo?

I wouldn't say that TiVo has anyones best interest at heart. If someones TiVo doesn't last very long, then all they are going to do is sell more TiVo's.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> I looked at that and yes the fan does run faster and push more air, but the "extra noise" you speak of does not exist on my TiVo, so really the only expense that exists for me is the extra heat the unit has to endure. A unit that runs at 43C which mine was running at, once converted is 109.4F and with the new fan its running at 35C converted to 95F which is a difference of 14.4F degrees cooler. Also I have upgraded to a WD Green 1TB drive, also completely silent with AAM settings tuned to 80h (128).
> 
> Anyone that knows anything about computers and electronics can tell you that heat is the worst enemy for these things. If you're fine with 45C then I'm happy for you. If I can run mine at 35C and possibly save mine from the heat and still have a silent TiVo, then I'm ecstatic. I've been looking for a cheap way to cool this thing down since I bought it. A hard drive in a computer runs so much cooler, why cant a TiVo?
> 
> I wouldn't say that TiVo has anyones best interest at heart. If someones TiVo doesn't last very long, then all they are going to do is sell more TiVo's.


Put a hard drive cooler fan on the hard drive.

Yes, it will take a little ingenuity.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

unitron said:


> Put a hard drive cooler fan on the hard drive.
> 
> Yes, it will take a little ingenuity.


I've thought about doing just that.

Where would you connect the power to? Get a "Y" splitter and use the same connector the fan uses?

Also does anyone have any idea what the un-used 4 pin connector on the motherboard is for? I've looked all over these forums and cant find anything on it, and of course TiVo acts clueless about it.


----------



## dwit (May 5, 2004)

Atomic Taco said:


> If you look at the spec'ed airflow, the Evercool is pushing a lot more air. It would make sense that it makes the system cooler. That extra air comes at the expense of extra noise. And I can't hear the fan over the stock WD Green Drive.
> 
> The existing unit I have with the JMC is running at 45°C. Ambient room temperature is about 21°. Since that 8 degree difference doesn't make anything run faster, I'm happy with 45. TiVo does indeed call it "Normal".


Virtually "silent" as opposed to "can hear it in the next room"? Big discrepancy there. Either we are not talking about the same fans, or something else is askew.

I think it's pretty obvious we are not talking about the same items, or your fan, or the Tivo(fan controller?) is defective. I think it's also possible that the Evercool fan, having a 3 pin connector, may not be connected in the best possible way, in your case. Are you using the 3 pin, motherboard connector, or the included molex connector? If you are using the 3 pin motherboard connector, maybe you have it backward, or maybe you have the wrong 2 pins connected.

Otherwise, of all the reviews here and at Newegg, you are the only one to describe it as "very loud"(installed in the Tivo HD)?

Concerning the Ebay fan: I'm sure it is acceptable, but it is a "sleeve bearing" fan, whereas the Evercool has "ball bearings". All things considered, a ball bearing fan is considered to be a step up from a sleeve bearing model. The ball bearing fan should stay quiet, for a longer period, and require less maintenance.

All that said, it would be nice to get a few more fan reviews here.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> I've thought about doing just that.
> 
> Where would you connect the power to? Get a "Y" splitter and use the same connector the fan uses?
> 
> Also does anyone have any idea what the un-used 4 pin connector on the motherboard is for? I've looked all over these forums and cant find anything on it, and of course TiVo acts clueless about it.


Extrapolating my knowledge of S1 and S2 motherboards to TiVos in general, I would advise against connecting anything in parallel (or series for that matter) with the "chassis" fan. Apparently the TiVo motherboard has temperature sensor circuitry, and this controls how fast the chassis fan spins. The switching transistor may not be able to handle the current that would be drawn by 2 fans in parallel, which would result in having zero fans, the opposite of what we're going for.

Somewhere recently online I saw a picture of the inside of an S3 or S3 HD that showed the power and data harness for the stock SATA drive.

Let me see if I can find it again and see it I can make out enough detail about the non-drive ends to figure the best way to tap off +12V for a hard drive cooler fan.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

dwit said:


> ...All that said, it would be nice to get a few more fan reviews here.


The upgrade forum has a SATA/IDE adapter thread, which I was able to get the mods to "stickify". You should start a replacement/upgrade fan thread in that same forum and ask the mods to sticky it.

Or maybe start it, get a number of worthwhile posts on it, and then ask for it to be stickied.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

Here's a pic of it if that helps you


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> Here's a pic of it if that helps you


I need to see the other ends.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

OK here's where the power is connected to the power supply, I hope this helps more. It's hard to take a clear pic of it


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

Also, does anyone have any idea at all what this 4 pin connector is for on the motherboard? I might post this on the main forum to see.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> Also, does anyone have any idea at all what this 4 pin connector is for on the motherboard? I might post this on the main forum to see.


The TX (transmit), G (ground), and RX (receive) labeling on the board adjacent to 3 of the 4 pins probably means that it's a serial port of some kind.

A quick Google later...

If you Google

Serial Console on THD

the first response should be to a thread on the "site whose name must not be spokent here"

Here's the direct link

http://www.************.com/forum/showthread.php?56384-Serial-Console-on-THD.

which you can see gets filtered.

But if you can Deal with searching the internet's vast Database, you'll know you're in the right place.

Let me know if you find out what that 4th pin is.

Although it could be nc (no connection) and they just used a 4 pin to avoid mixing it up with a 3 pin fan header. Does the HD have a 2 or 3 pin fan header?


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

unitron said:


> Does the HD have a 2 or 3 pin fan header?


The fan is just a 2 pin. The replacement everyone has been using from Newegg is a 3 pin but you just put it in the red and black wire holes and the motherboard takes care of the speed.

Thanks for posting about the 4 pin, I am going to look further into that one. I was hoping for another power connector of some kind, but looks as if its some sort of diagnostic. I'll go read more about it. I'm going to work on that hard drive cooler too, I been wanting to do that for a long time now.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> The fan is just a 2 pin. The replacement everyone has been using from Newegg is a 3 pin but you just put it in the red and black wire holes and the motherboard takes care of the speed.
> 
> Thanks for posting about the 4 pin, I am going to look further into that one. I was hoping for another power connector of some kind, but looks as if its some sort of diagnostic. I'll go read more about it. I'm going to work on that hard drive cooler too, I been wanting to do that for a long time now.


Do you know which end of a soldering iron to hold?

Do you own a volt/ohm meter or multimeter?

*If* you know what you're doing you can tap into ground and +12V (should be the yellow wires, but that's not guaranteed, hence the need for the meter) where the wires come off of the power supply.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

I have a soldering iron yes and know how to use it. I dont have a voltmeter though. I'm thinking I can borrow one from someone though I know. Would it be best to tap off the wires that are going to the hard drive? I know in the older Series 2 you could just get one of the many molex adapters and add stuff there where the hard drive was connected so easy.


----------



## Atomic Taco (Jan 28, 2005)

MeInDallas said:


> A hard drive in a computer runs so much cooler, why cant a TiVo?


Is that what the About page shows me is HDD temp?

Here's a graph of the HDD temp of one of my servers. Prior to the big jump in April the server was in a colocation center with lots of fans and a massive HVAC. In April, I pulled this box out of the colo and it sits at home with the top off. IIRC, the HD I have in there was actually pulled out of a TiVo HD. It's a Seagate something.











dwit said:


> Are you using the 3 pin, motherboard connector, or the included molex connector? If you are using the 3 pin motherboard connector, maybe you have it backward, or maybe you have the wrong 2 pins connected.


I plugged the three pin connector in to the mobo where the other fan was. I had the red and black cables in the mobo. The other cable was blue and as I understand is just a speed control and the fan wouldn't work if both the red and black weren't plugged in.



dwit said:


> Otherwise, of all the reviews here and at Newegg, you are the only one to describe it as "very loud"(installed in the Tivo HD)?


Yes, that was me. Maybe "in the next room" is a bit of an exaggeration because I was within a visual sight line of the unit, but I was more than 12 feet away.


dwit said:


> All that said, it would be nice to get a few more fan reviews here.


Indeed

--

Regarding adding an extra fan, I wonder if the TiVo's PSU could be replaced with this?
http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-90

You'd get the extra 4 pin connector you need, plus a non-proprietary SATA power connector. Plus, the brick sits outside the TiVo, so you _might_ not need the TiVo fan at all. Based on the fan's position on the TiVo, it appears it is there to cool the PSU more than the other components.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> I have a soldering iron yes and know how to use it. I dont have a voltmeter though. I'm thinking I can borrow one from someone though I know. Would it be best to tap off the wires that are going to the hard drive? I know in the older Series 2 you could just get one of the many molex adapters and add stuff there where the hard drive was connected so easy.


I was thinking, without ever actually having had my hands on an S3 power supply, that you could unsolder the yellow wires, add a skinny yellow wire into the hole with them, and re-solder, and the same with a skinny black wire for the ground. Don't actually mess with the hard drive's power leads except for temporarily unsoldering 2 of them at the power supply.

Those 2 wires could be the bare leads from a fan, but I'd feel much, much better if there were some sort of disconnect involved that allowed easily disconnecting the hard drive fan without leaving either of the wires added to the power supply "exposed", electrically speaking.

Another possibility is an item I used back in the '70s on car stereo installs.

3M makes a "Scotchlock" connector that's sort of "T" shaped. The crossbar part of the "T" pierces the insulation of the wire you're tapping into, and the up and down part of the "T" is a 1/4" female quick connect, and there's insulating plastic enshrouding the whole thing except for the end where you plug in a 1/4" male quick connect with an oversized insulating shroud that goes over the insulating shroud of the "T" connector.

Perhaps you could find them in an auto parts store if you don't have a decent electronics supply house in town, as so many of us no longer do.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Atomic Taco said:


> ...
> Regarding adding an extra fan, I wonder if the TiVo's PSU could be replaced with this?
> http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-90
> 
> You'd get the extra 4 pin connector you need, plus a non-proprietary SATA power connector. Plus, the brick sits outside the TiVo, so you _might_ not need the TiVo fan at all. Based on the fan's position on the TiVo, it appears it is there to cool the PSU more than the other components.


The TiVo doesn't use an ATX power supply, it uses a TiVo power supply (in some cases supplying a low current 30 or so Volts for the reverse bias on the tuner varactors, a sort of Zener diode used as a voltage-variable capacitor), and there's speed control and temperature sensing circuitry on the TiVo motherboard for the chassis fan.

Also, the TiVo's chassis fan may be near the power supply's heat sinks, but the air inlet holes are placed so as to cause the fan to pull air over the motherboard and hard drive as well, and I'm sure that's not co-incidental.

What would be great, and will never happen for legal liability and cost of UL approval reasons, is a piggyback power supply that had spring metal contacts to connect to the AC jack on the inside where there's exposed metal, so that it and the original power supply shared the same line cord coming from the wall socket.


----------



## Atomic Taco (Jan 28, 2005)

unitron said:


> the reverse bias on the tuner varactors, a sort of Zener diode used as a voltage-variable capacitor


All that's beyond me.

But in response to your parallel plug thing, you could always get something like this and run the fan on it. While it wouldn't power on and off with the TiVo, you could put it on a switched outlet or ignore it since unplugging the TiVo is such a rare occurrence.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Atomic Taco said:


> All that's beyond me.
> 
> But in response to your parallel plug thing, you could always get something like this and run the fan on it. While it wouldn't power on and off with the TiVo, you could put it on a switched outlet or ignore it since unplugging the TiVo is such a rare occurrence.


You'd have to find a way to run the output cable of that thing into the TiVo or the hard drive fan cable out of the TiVo.

Not saying it can't be done, but I like the idea of keeping it all inside the TiVo better, but others may have other preferences.

Thanks for the link, though. It looks like something that would be handy on the test bench.


----------



## husky55 (Feb 2, 2008)

OK, as a Tivo owner who has really struggled with the fan noise in the Tivo HD for the last three years, let me share some experiences.

I bought the Ebay JMC ,the Newegg Evercool and also the OEM fan from WeakKnees for both my HD and Premiere. The fans are different sizes of course.

The JMC has 2 pin and plugs right into the TivoHD fan connector. It's a real replacement for the Tivo OEM fan Cofan. Output is the same, may be a little quieter. 

The Weakknees OEM fan was just as loud as the OEM fan that I thought was defective. Costed about $20.

The Evergreen fan has 3 pins and a molex and pushed more air and was noisy even after the initial blast off. 

The Tivo HD is placed in a standing shelf which also contains my receiver, BD player, Media player and HD etc...Unhappily it's in my BR and I am a light sleeper so I am particularly sensitive to noise.

My net is I am still looking for that quiet fan for the TivoHD.

My Premiere OEM fan is quieter than the Evercool fan.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

husky55 said:


> OK, as a Tivo owner who has really struggled with the fan noise in the Tivo HD for the last three years, let me share some experiences.
> 
> I bought the Ebay JMC ,the Newegg Evercool and also the OEM fan from WeakKnees for both my HD and Premiere. The fans are different sizes of course.
> 
> ...


Perhaps thin little rubber washers, 2 per fan screw, one outside the case, one inside.

Peel back the label on the non-blade side and check for adequate lubrication.

I recommend a mixture of light grease and light oil (like sewing machine oil or 3-in-1).


----------



## husky55 (Feb 2, 2008)

Thanks for the suggestions. You inspired me, so I will take out the Evercool today and put the Cofan or JMC back on with lithium grease and 3-in-1 oil and see what happens.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

unitron said:


> Another possibility is an item I used back in the '70s on car stereo installs.
> 
> 3M makes a "Scotchlock" connector that's sort of "T" shaped. The crossbar part of the "T" pierces the insulation of the wire you're tapping into, and the up and down part of the "T" is a 1/4" female quick connect, and there's insulating plastic enshrouding the whole thing except for the end where you plug in a 1/4" male quick connect with an oversized insulating shroud that goes over the insulating shroud of the "T" connector.
> 
> Perhaps you could find them in an auto parts store if you don't have a decent electronics supply house in town, as so many of us no longer do.


OK, I remember these things now and I never thought about this but its an extremely great idea! I used these things on my 1980 Camaro 

My creative ideas are going crazy now! I've already got the cover off looking at how I can do this thing. A HUGE THANK YOU FOR THIS IDEA! :up:


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> OK, I remember these things now and I never thought about this but its an extremely great idea! I used these things on my 1980 Camaro
> 
> My creative ideas are going crazy now! I've already got the cover off looking at how I can do this thing. A HUGE THANK YOU FOR THIS IDEA! :up:


That's not quite the one I was describing.

That one does insulation piercing on both wires, and you have to take it apart to unhook the added wire.

What I'm talking about has apparently come to be known as a Scotchlock T-tap.

Here's a page with a good illustration of them I found through Google images.

http://tech.bareasschoppers.com/resources/the-problem-with-wire-tap-connectors/

I mention how I found it so as not to mislead anyone into thinking I ride or otherwise know anything about motorcycles.

As you can see, you choose the T-tap according to the gauge of the wire you'll be tapping into, and can choose a male plug with a barrel sized for the wire you'll be doing the tapping with.

Since fan leads are usually about half as big around as drive power leads, this works out better than the side by side, both wires the same gauge, type in your picture.

Electrically, it's pretty much the same deal.

It was your picture of the wire bundle running back to the power supply that triggered my memory of the T-tap.

So you can put away the soldering iron, and get out the crimping tool (for the male disconnect to go on the fan wire).


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

OK this is great! I found these on Amazon for under $3 for a set of 4 matched. This will be perfect! Thank you so much for your help!!!


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> OK this is great! I found these on Amazon for under $3 for a set of 4 matched. This will be perfect! Thank you so much for your help!!!


What gauge wire do they say the T-tap is for, and what gauge wire do they say the spade connector is for?


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

unitron said:


> What gauge wire do they say the T-tap is for, and what gauge wire do they say the spade connector is for?


Well that particular one is 14 - 16 guage, but they have several different sizes listed on there you can get. I have to make my way out to the garage tomorrow and find my guage measurement tool and figure out what size to get. I just havent made it out that way yet. Too many shows to catch up on


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> Well that particular one is 14 - 16 guage, but they have several different sizes listed on there you can get. I have to make my way out to the garage tomorrow and find my guage measurement tool and figure out what size to get. I just havent made it out that way yet. Too many shows to catch up on


The power supply wires are probably 16 or 18, and the fan wires are probably about 22.

If you have a drive fan with bare wire leads (or clip off any connectors--leave a little wire to splice to something else in the future), you might be able to remove the plastic on the spade connectors, slide them down the fan wires to thermal safety, strip enough insulation from the fan wires to give you enough bare wire to fold over a time or three, insert that in the barrel of the spade connector, and flow some solder in there, although if the wire takes up enough space, crimp first, then flow solder, and after it cools slide the plastic back down to cover the spade connectors.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

I was actually thinking about putting one of these on there. I have a lot of them from over the years when I have bought fans. I could clip off that one molex end (in red), then attach the bare wires and it'll have 2 different hook ups, and then at some point if I decide to change things around I can just unplug whats there and then plug in the new fan. This way you can put different stuff on there if needed. You got some GREAT ideas! :up:


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

MeInDallas said:


> I was actually thinking about putting one of these on there. I have a lot of them from over the years when I have bought fans. I could clip off that one molex end (in red), then attach the bare wires and it'll have 2 different hook ups, and then at some point if I decide to change things around I can just unplug whats there and then plug in the new fan. This way you can put different stuff on there if needed. You got some GREAT ideas! :up:


I didn't realize your junk box was that well stocked.

I started to also suggest as an alternate to putting the spade terminals on the fan leads that you could attach a 4 pin Molex to the power supply leads (might as well find the +5 lead as well and do all 4 wires) and leave the fan's lead stock.

This has the advantage that a set of T-tap and spade connector will be the right gauge size for both the power supply wires and the leads from the thing in your picture.

Be sure not to have that 2 wire thing in the photo floating around inside the TiVo with those bare pins energized and exposed.


----------



## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

Scotch locks and other such splices are never a good idea. Best to do what it takes to make a proper crimped splice termination. 

My TiVo is behind glass doors so fan noise is not a problem for me.
But when building PCs. I use zip ties (not looped) to secure the fan to the chassis, and small chassis grommets in compression to act as insulators/washers between the fan & the chassis.


----------



## tds4182 (Dec 16, 2003)

jswartz said:


> I would like to replace the fan in my TiVo HD XL. From what I can tell, it is a standard 70mm case fan, but it looks like it has a two pin connector. I checked NewEgg and Microcenter, but didn't see a fan like this. Does anyone have a recommendation on where I can purchase a good replacement fan? I see that DVDUpgrade and Weaknees have them for $20 plus shipping, but I'd prefer to pay less and know more details about what I am getting. Thanks.


Weaknees will sell a replacement OEM fan for $19.99 and they are a sponsor on this site.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Teeps said:


> Scotch locks and other such splices are never a good idea.


Why not?



> Best to do what it takes to make a proper crimped splice termination.


You do understand we're talking about adding a hard drive fan (that probably comes with a 4 pin Molex connector or passthrough) to a TiVo that only has a SATA power lead?



> I use zip ties (not looped)


There's more than one way to use a zip tie?


----------



## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

unitron said:


> Why not?


Even "properly sized" they can cut individual strands of wire which is not good.

If I had to splice wire and only had scotch lock or wire nut as options. I'd use a wire nut, over any kind of self stripping connector.

But that's just me... your mileage will vary.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Teeps said:


> Even "properly sized" they can cut individual strands of wire which is not good.
> 
> If I had to splice wire and only had scotch lock or wire nut as options. I'd use a wire nut, over any kind of self stripping connector.
> 
> But that's just me... your mileage will vary.


We aren't talking about splicing wires, we're talking about tapping into them.

And what I'd do on DC circuits 50V and under at no more than a couple or four amps is not necessarily what I'd do on 120 or 240V AC circuits.


----------



## Atomic Taco (Jan 28, 2005)

Back to the TiVo case fan, my JMC arrived yesterday and I just put it in. This thing is straight out of the Milford Academy--I'd never know it was there. Sys Info says it's running at 35°C (Normal). I've had it plugged in for about 15 minutes. The fan is currently pointed towards me and is about 3 feet from my ear and I can't hear it.

For future reference, the seller is mitek-products. Though it was delayed several days by USPS, the seller shipped quick and did everything else you can expect for in a seller. Plus it's less than half what WeaKnees wants for the same thing.


----------



## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

I replaced the fan in my TiVo HD earlier this year, and I used the Acoustifan referenced in this thread:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/archive/index.php/t-442600.html

It's been running for months now and it's silent.


----------



## MeInDallas (Jul 31, 2011)

If you're going to pay $24 for a fan you might as well buy an actual Tivo replacement fan and get 3 of them while you're at it for that price.


----------



## Atomic Taco (Jan 28, 2005)

MeInDallas said:


> If you're going to pay $24 for a fan you might as well buy an actual Tivo replacement fan and get 3 of them while you're at it for that price.


Yabut, that one is dust *proof*!


----------



## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Atomic Taco said:


> Back to the TiVo case fan, my JMC arrived yesterday and I just put it in. This thing is straight out of the Milford Academy--I'd never know it was there. Sys Info says it's running at 35°C (Normal). I've had it plugged in for about 15 minutes. The fan is currently pointed towards me and is about 3 feet from my ear and I can't hear it.
> 
> For future reference, the seller is mitek-products. Though it was delayed several days by USPS, the seller shipped quick and did everything else you can expect for in a seller. Plus it's less than half what WeaKnees wants for the same thing.


Did same here with the fleabay $7.50 JMC fan and it's been working great, very quiet.


----------



## JonHB (Aug 28, 2007)

unitron said:


> Perhaps thin little rubber washers, 2 per fan screw, one outside the case, one inside.
> 
> Peel back the label on the non-blade side and check for adequate lubrication.
> 
> I recommend a mixture of light grease and light oil (like sewing machine oil or 3-in-1).


Stumbled upon this thread looking for a part number for the fans in my Tivo HD and Premiere XL.

After seeing the comment regarding oiling the fan, I did just that. After peeling off the label, there was actually a little rubber plug there. I put in a drop of 3 in 1 oil, replaced the plug and label and reinstalled.

I've only done the Premiere XL so far, but now the fan is dead silent!

Thanks for the suggestion.

edit: Just did the JMC OEM fan in the Tivo HD and it is now silent as well.


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

JonHB said:


> Stumbled upon this thread looking for a part number for the fans in my Tivo HD and Premiere XL.
> 
> After seeing the comment regarding oiling the fan, I did just that. After peeling off the label, there was actually a little rubber plug there. I put in a drop of 3 in 1 oil, replaced the plug and label and reinstalled.
> 
> ...


I'm not sure how long just the oil will be good for, which is why I recommend the light grease for body and the light oil to keep it slippery.


----------



## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

/Bump

Is this still a good option? Seems like some people love it and others hate it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119040


----------

