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Quiet Fan Plug n Play kit for RSP-500-48


Item description

My wise teacher Lao Tzu once said, "Silence is a source of great strength." He would have hated Stern Spike machines.

Anyone that has a Spike pinball machine knows that the fan is WAY TOO LOUD and really annoying, especially in a home environment.

This fan kit is designed to replace the stock 34.6dB fan in Stern Spike power supplies to make it almost silent. This replacement 12.8dB fan has less CFM (airflow) than the Stern one, but the practical difference is that just means the fan runs longer to drop the temp back down to ~104F or less once the temperature in the power supply turns it on. In testing with this fan installed on multiple machines, the RSP-500-48 power supply never exceeded ~122F (the power supply critical shutdown threshold is ~158F), however, all possible pinball machine configurations cannot be known, so you are installing this kit at your own risk.

ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU DO THE PAPER TOWEL TEST TO MAKE SURE THE NEW FAN IS TURNING ON AFTER INSTALLATION IS COMPLETED. Note that replacing the fan in your power supply may void your warranty since you have to open the power supply and may have to cut some goo (depending on when your power supply was made) to release the cord for the existing fan before installing the replacement.

The kit includes the fan with custom wire length and connector, two thread-cutting screws, and fully illustrated step-by-step installation instructions.


NOTE: THIS FAN IS FOR MOST STERN SPIKE MACHINES and BIG LEBOWSKI ONLY. PLEASE CONSULT THE COMPATIBILITY CHART IN THE PICTURES WITH THIS LISTING.


(For international orders, please use http://www.pinmonk.com)


FAQ

1. How loud is the Stern Fan? How quiet is the Pinmonk one?

Meanwell has used two different fans in the power supplies Stern uses, both are very loud. The current one is the loudest of the two. Depending on which one is in yours, the noise is between approximately 34dB and 38dB. The Pinmonk fan is less than 13dB. Since decibels aren't linear that's about 10x quieter.

2. Since this fan pushes less air, does the fan come on more often?

The Meanwell power supply Stern is using has a thermal scheme that dictates when the fan comes on, and when it turns off. For the 500w version, the fan comes on when it hits 122 degrees inside the power supply and stays on until the temperature comes down below 104 degrees, when it turns off. So the fact that the pinmonk fan kit pushes less air than the stock fan just means that it runs slightly longer when it does come on to bring it down to <104F again. It does not mean the fan comes on more often than a stock fan.


3. But if the fan's quiet, how will I know when it fails? Will it burn up my power supply if it isn't cooled?

If the fan fails, the worst that can happen is the power supply will gradually throttle power. If it gets to 158F, it will turn off. There is no danger of it damaging a machine or the power supply as a result. See the temp throttling chart on the photos on this page. If a fan fails (and we don't know of a Pinmonk one failing in more than 3 years of selling these), you'd replace the fan and the power supply would be back in business. It would not "burn up."

4. Can't I make my own?

Yes. In fact, this product started as a DIY tutorial I posted on pinside. That tutorial with part numbers is still here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/replacing-stern-spike-noisy-ps-fans

That said, the fans sold here are custom made with a power-supply-specific wire length and connector at the factory and special thread-cutting screws. DIY is fun, but with parts/shipping and time, it's not much cheaper than the plug and play kit here.



Item photos

fan-kit-contents-sml.jpg
packaging_wood background.jpg
Fan Compatability Matrix 2023-07-29.jpg
PowerSupplyComparison (resized).jpg
RSP 500-48_temp_graph (resized).jpg



Order now!

Pick a variation

Spike Quiet Plug and Play Fan Kit In stock
$ 19.00



Price

$ 19.00

Ships for $ 8.00 Free shipping on orders over $ 100.00 This item does not ship internationally.

In stock



Listed in

Mods > Cabinet - Other


Questions?

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