Good Fan Brands

[Wester547]

Re: Good Fan Brands

The Adda fan I mentioned above came from this power supply. The fan was full of oil when I took that power supply apart to take those pictures, and it still spun freely and performed like a new fan. It is the common Adda AD0812HS-A70GL.

All the Dell Hipro 250Ws of that time (including mine, which was closer to 280W-300W for how overbuilt it was) used that fan. I think yours lasted so long because it was used 24/7 and didn't have the mechanical abrasion of being started as sleeve bearing fans don't handle too many power cycles well because of that. The one in my PSU on the other hand had over 6,000 power cycles and 16,000 hours on it, so that probably didn't help. ^^; Not only that, but old Dell Dimension 8200s were designed in such a way that they "tested" the power supply and CPU fan for a second every time you'd give the system power (5Vsb) before turning it on; that didn't help either (though it can be disabled in the BIOS but then you'd have the system automatically power on whenever it's given power). Maybe ADDA just went down in quality over time; I read a post on here of the same model seizing after 11 months of 24/7 use at almost full speed.

[Behemot]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Yep thats true also. We are talking about several generations here. Nobody can guarantee they have constant quality…

[Wester547]

Re: Good Fan Brands

It seems that I was wrong about ADDA datasheets having no mention of lubrication - they do describe their sleeve bearings on the check listing of bearings as "oil impregnated sleeve bearing", but they probably didn't "impregnate" their sleeve bearings with that much oil.

[Gariarto]

Re: Good Fan Brands

I'm interested in fan longevity and have always settled on ball bearings. I've used a LOT of fans fom a few different manufacturers over the years and found inconsistent results. Recent years I've been using Thermaltakes' variable speed offerings just about everywhere and I've yet to have anyone complain.
I've also been trying the Rosewill brand from Newegg. I don't know who actually makes them but they seem to be fine so far.

Just out of interest, anyone know what prematurely kills the lighting LEDs in fan casings ? Some seem to last years while others don't make a couple of months.

[Agent24]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Just out of interest, anyone know what prematurely kills the lighting LEDs in fan casings ? Some seem to last years while others don't make a couple of months.

Cheap crap LEDs? Or maybe some fans overdrive them. Or both.

[Behemot]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Well, if we are talking about silent and olg-life fans, than Noctua is also the way to go…got a few of them (NF-P12) for like 5 years now and don't think they are any more noisy than before.

[Wester547]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Minebea have been ideal in my experience. They push lots of air and are very reliable (some even push as much as Sunon fans do, though for better or worse in CPU fans - that could make them rev up later than sooner which could mean more heat). They just become loud over time, though that doesn't bother me - it seems to be a far too commonplace misconception for failing fans on other forums, IMO.

[Pentium4]

Re: Good Fan Brands

I got suckered into buying a value pack of Link Depot fans. Those things are damn loud. They move a decent amount of air but not worth all the noise

[Pentium4]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Thread revival?

I try to make a mental note of good and bad brands...of course the ones mentioned on the good list I have not had a problem with. My favorite mid grade fans are Late Yoon, Globe Fan, and Power Logic

Good ones I have come across:
Muhua Industrial - In Win uses these in a lot of their cases, seen them up to 6 years old, no issues, sufficient oil in the bearing
ARX - Only seen one fail, and it was ran 24/7 in a PSU for 7 years. Usually they have sufficient oil
Ever Cool - I've seen quite a few of these in cheaper PSU's, and they're usually very quiet and have plenty of oil in them

Bad ones:
T&T - These things are trash, I have seen 8 of them and 7 of them were seized, not much oil in the bearing
Powmax - Figures these would be bad I've seen quite a few, more failed than not, and 2 of them didn't work but weren't seized, must have been the motor or transistor that failed in them
Sunbeamtech - I've only come across 4 of them but they were all very badly seized after ~3 years

[Agent24]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Sunbeamtech - I've only come across 4 of them but they were all very badly seized after ~3 years

I bought two of those, with LEDs in, both still going strong, over 6 years old. But not a very big sample!

[lti]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Evercool fans seem to be the same quality as Sunon. They both have the same noise and vibration issues as well.

[Pentium4]

Re: Good Fan Brands

I bought two of those, with LEDs in, both still going strong, over 6 years old. But not a very big sample!

These were non-LED ones maybe the LED ones are made better

Evercool fans seem to be the same quality as Sunon. They both have the same noise and vibration issues as well.

I did notice one of them makes that "ticking" sound, not too bad though. Is that what you are talking about?

[c_hegge]

Re: Good Fan Brands

T&T - These things are trash, I have seen 8 of them and 7 of them were seized, not much oil in the bearing

Agreed. I've seen them fail lots of times. One of them was responsible for my cooked Delta.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Good Fan Brands

The Sunon maglev fans seem to last forever.

Mine just gave me trouble recently in July. It now hardly spins, if at all!

Seems to have too little lubricant and I can't lubricate it from the back like usual, because of their unique spindle design.

[Behemot]

Re: Good Fan Brands

I don't like those maglev craps. Those are just some stupid sleeve bearing fans expensive like hell but in reality they quite often don't run much longer than ordinary fans. They are dying both in laptops and 24/7 operation (enterprise level network infrastructure). And you cant service the crap. Good old ordinary sleeve bearing fans you can service, or at least "true" self lubricating oil/fluid bearing. Some of them even are serviceable, it does not neccessarily mean fluid=sealed.

[Pentium4]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Agreed. I've seen them fail lots of times. One of them was responsible for my cooked Delta.

Ohhh that was the fan that failed in the cooked Delta? I thought it was a death Adda. I'm surprised Delta would use them

[c_hegge]

Re: Good Fan Brands

^
Nope, it was a Thieves & Thugs. The PSU was actually from an ASUS barebones PC, so guess who probably asked Delta to use that fan...

[Pentium4]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Oh, figures. Just to save some pennies

[cheapie]

Re: Good Fan Brands

I'm holding a Delta AFB1212GHE-CF00 (120mm, 12V, 240CFM) right now. At 5 volts, it moves about as much air as a normal fan on 12 volts (and makes about as much noise). I only hear "clicking" when it first starts. It's quite loud at first on 12V, but on 5V it's barely audible, and sounds similar to a (very very quiet) diesel engine (almost). The Nidec Beta SL 80mm cooling my modem makes that noise much more loudly. And yes, at 12 volts, the Delta will force the Nidec to stop and start running backwards.

[lexwalker]

Re: Good Fan Brands

Get ball bearing fans, especially those industrial quality ones like Sanyo Denki. Guranteed long life and not get jammed like el-cheapo sleeve bearing ones...

Alternatively there's Enermax Twister Magma fan (also in the ball bearing category), powerful and quieter than most other high CFM fans around.