The $1.99 silent Axe-FX fan DIY fan mod

Going to give it a shot tomorrow. I have the fractal fan as my original fan took a dump, it's still noisy so hopefully this will help. Was also thinking about putting some dynamat on the top lid inside to dampen as well.
 
I wonder how pervasive fan noise is. I've owned five units - two Ultras, a II, a II Mk II, and now an XL - and none of them have been noticeably noisy. I can't even hear the IIs in ambient silence (I could hear the Ultras, but they were not objectionable).

Obviously it is an issue for some folks, I just wonder what percentage. Half? two-thirds?
 
AdmiralB said:
I wonder how pervasive fan noise is. I've owned five units - two Ultras, a II, a II Mk II, and now an XL - and none of them have been noticeably noisy. I can't even hear the IIs in ambient silence (I could hear the Ultras, but they were not objectionable).

Obviously it is an issue for some folks, I just wonder what percentage. Half? two-thirds?
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Depends on the model to a large degree. Buddy of mine has a mkII version (with vents) that is very quiet. I think his is using a larger 80mm fan, unlike my mkI which uses a 60mm fan. Smaller fan spins faster to move more air, thus more noise.

Depends a great deal on how/where people use their units too and what other gear they have in their rack. The Axe fan, stock, isn't as loud as a lot of power amp fans, so anyone who uses a power amp probably isn't going to have issue with the Axe fan.

With so many confounding variables I don't think you can get any consensus of overall Axe users. People that don't have issues with the fan likely aren't even reading this thread, while those who do find it annoying probably clicked on this thread, so its a skewed sample.

As for myself, who often uses my Axe playing late night at home, at lower volumes, in a quiet room, finds its pretty noticeable. Its not that bad, and I've owned computers that made more noise, but quieter is better if and when possible, especially if a solution is easy to do and cheap.
 
Some people such as myself are very bugged by consistent noise, or repetitive noises. I sleep with ear plugs because any sound will keep me awake. It personally drives me up a wall.
 
When I had the AFX II gen.1 the fan noise was a little on the rude side and wound up replacing it w/ modifications for less noise, more quiet. It was dead silent so much that you'd wonder if the fan was even running. Since I got the XL there is a bit of fan noise but very, very tolerable and in retrospect I'll settle for some noise any day. If the fan dies... well... more importantly I'll need to know that too.
 
So I tried this yesterday and it does help.

But I have the original fan and its quite a loud fucker even after the mod. I just ordered the fractal design R2 60mm fan.
 
Just did the mod, used 4 bands, and it's much much better. It holds it on there really well, and cant see it failing. thanks for the tip, well worth the 2 bux.
 
Very cool.

I've always had the feeling that there is variance between Axe-Fx units in terms of how much mechanical fan noise. Just from looking at the picture I'd guess that the way the bands are pushing the bolts inward towards each other has something to do with it.
 
dpeterson said:
Just did the mod, used 4 bands, and it's much much better. It holds it on there really well, and cant see it failing. thanks for the tip, well worth the 2 bux.
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Glad it worked out for you, and that you noticed an improvement. I look forward to hearing some other forum members experiences and maybe some other new and unique variations, such as if those "livestrong" style wrist bands might work well etc.

Only "downside" I've noticed anymore is that with my Axe in my rack, its so quiet I can't really tell if the fan is working or not. I really have to put my ear up to the back of the rack to hear it, so while that is a good thing for the most part, it does give me a tinge of worry. At least when it used to sound like a hair dryer I always knew that the fan was spinning LOL.

On the bright side, from what I understand, the Axe does have a thermal shutoff should a fan fail, so ideally that would mean that even if the fan did fail (even a stock unmodded fan) the unit won't simply cook itself.
 
Robboman said:
Very cool.

I've always had the feeling that there is variance between Axe-Fx units in terms of how much mechanical fan noise. Just from looking at the picture I'd guess that the way the bands are pushing the bolts inward towards each other has something to do with it.
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Could be possible, but the bolts really don't deflect in the slightest. They are very solid, and the bands don't put much tension at all on the bolts. Could perhaps be something to do with how tight the nuts hold the factory fan down though. Maybe if some are tighter it transmits more vibration to the lid ?

It is weird how variable it seems, but we are also taking user feedback of noise levels into account, so 5 people might say 5 identical Axe units differ in apparent noise level. Or, maybe if we did take 5 factory Axe units and measured each with a sound level meter, we'd find they really do vary a bit.
 
I ended up using the 'isolation' technique as well / my method was a cut to shape ring/band made of high tech foam~ Works very well and I didn't have to purchase a new fan :)
 
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