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suphuckers

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So I wasn't sure where the best place to post this was, so I chose here.

I thought maybe this would help someone. I can't be the only one with a noisy fan.

Recently the fan in one of my RM4's started making a bunch of noise. I took it apart. I was able to get it to quiet down by taking off the sticker/cap and putting a tiny amount of oil on the end of the shaft. I was afraid it would start making the noise again, so I went looking for a new fan.

I was able to find the exact same fan that's in there, but the 1 or 2 that I found were a bit pricey. I did a little bit of looking around, and here's what I came up with....

https://xbox-experts.com/shop/xilence-red-wing-case-fan-80mm-126/EUR/

I got 2 of these shipped for about $15. It doesn't have the same connector on it, but I just used the connector off of my original fan. I soldered the wires together and used a bit of shrink tube. It only took me about 1/2hr total, including the time I spent disassembling the RM4.

To look at it, it's basically the same fan as the original, but it's better made. It has a few more fins and it has a pulse wire that I just snipped off for computers to monitor the fan speed. The air flow is about the same as the old fan, and it's pretty much completely silent. I turned it off instead of on once because I didn't realize it was already on. It's that quiet.

Soooo, If anyone has a noisy fan... There ya go ;)
 
Good find -- I've always thought my RM100 heads had noisy fans to begin with, though I guess you cant really hear it once I turn the sound up lol...

-Adam
 
I always thought the fan on the RM4 was very noisy, I think I'll follow this steps.
 
Noisy in general, as in I want to turn the unit off when the guitar is silent.
In a band situation it's not a problem, but when I'm playing home or recording, anytime the guitar is silent I hear a loud fan. I reckon it's not a huge deal.
 
Thanks Suphuckers! The fans in every Randall head I have ever owned had noisy obnoxious fans. I plan on upgrading to this very soon.

I did find a place in the us that sells the same fan though.

http://www.xoxide.com/xilence-80mm-redwing-fan-pwm.html
 
Thanks for posting this. I've done the same mod on Friday (probably only a couple of hours before you posted this). If you think RM4 fan was loud then you haven't heard my RT2/50 before it went through the same treatment (FINALLY!).
 
I have a couple of questions about this fan biz.
Yes all of my fans are loud as soon as I turn the amp on. That noise always bugged me. Has nayone noticed the fan noise coming through the power section? I turn the speaker off and can hear the fan hum. When I turn the speaker back on I hear the hum plus a little bit of an amplied hum. When you guys put the new fans in, did it get rid of that too? It seems to be mostly in my RM50s.
In my RM4 I sometimes turn it on and the fan is really noisy. I then turn it off and back on and it is a lt better but still unusable if I have an open mic in the room.
What I wonder is if the RM50 somehow picks up the fan noise and mildly amplifies it somehow and if these new quiet fans will deal with that?
Boys, we are honing in on perfection here.......
 
My fan problem was just like that... turn the RM4 on and off to get it to quiet down. I decided to replace the fan when turning it on and off about 10x was required. Mine was really loud. It made an almost buzzing sound before I lubed it. Now I really/honestly can't tell it has a fan in it.

I bought extra fans to put in my RM100 and my other RM4. I never noticed any fan noise in my RM50. Although I did buy a fan for it too. Maybe it's not working? :shock:

Anyways, I do hear some fan noise coming through the speakers in my RM100, and the fan is loud as can be (Though not as loud as the RM4 fan was). That's the next fan I plan to replace, but I haven't done it yet.

Soooo can't tell ya if it'll fix the problem or not.

Maybe you could let us know? ;)
 
I recently picked up an RM20 head and have been using it for practice. I just noticed that I don't hear the fan operating, as I do with my RM100 and my RM20 combo.

I've quit using the head for fear of damaging it. I'd like to fix it, but I have a couple of questions.

Does anyone know whether the fan is on a fuse that might be blown without affecting the rest of the amp? If so, which fuse?

Or does the fan need to be replaced, period?

Thanks,
Jim
 
I just replaced a fan in one of my RM4s. A previous owner put an Arctic F8 80mm fan in it which was absolutely dead silent but also moved almost zero air. The sound would start cutting out after the RM4 it had been on for a while. I swapped out the Arctic F8 with a Noctua NF-A8 FLX and that fixed the issue. I have another RM4 with a stock fan in it and on my SPL meter the Noctua and stock fan are almost exactly the same but the stock fan has this mechanical buzzing sound to it which the Noctua does not so the Noctua is much less noticeable. The Noctua also comes with a low noise adapter (L.N.A.) cable so it can be made quieter but running at a lower speed but I'm happy with it at full speed. On paper the Noctua moves much more are at full speed (I don't have the equipment to test airflow) and about the same decibel level as the stock fan. Or you can put the L.N.A. on and get quieter than stock and still move more air than the stock fan. You will need to do some work to get the 3pin fan to connect to the 2pin plug the RM4 uses BTW, pretty sure this is true if you bought an aftermarket Xilence Red Wing 80 fan anywhere off the internet as well.

TL;DR
If you're looking to replace the fan in an RM4 I recommend the Noctua NF-A8 FLX over the stock Red Wing. It's about $16 on Amazon which is small change compared to the cost of the modules you're protecting.

Noctua NF-A8 FLX
Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) 2000 RPM
Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%) 1650 RPM
Airflow 29.66 cfm
Airflow with L.N.A. 24.37 cfm
Acoustical Noise 16.1 dB(A)
Acoustical Noise with L.N.A. 12.9 dB(A)
MTBF (A.K.A. Life expectancy) > 150,000 h (17 years)

Red Wing 80 (Stock fan)
Fan speed at full speed (12V), RPM ±10% 1500
Air volume at full speed (12V), CFM ±10% 19.6
Noise level at full speed (12V), dB(A) 15
Life expectancy @ 25°C continuous use 3 years
 

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