CPS2 A-Board fan change

Here you can hear the dramatic difference between a stock CPS2 fan and Papst 612fl:

Here´s the whole process of fan changing as I did it



CPS2 Alien vs Predator phoenix edition. May be a conversion. Haven´t checked. The real problem is the fan noise.




Here is the main villain. Noisy cps2 a-board fan.




Shipment from Aquatuning to the rescue!




So... off go the clips that hold the a board and b board together.




Here are the boards, now separated




So here´s the replacement fan: a Papst 612fl. Also needed is a special screwdriver head




And while I didnt have a screwdriver where to fit this head, anything that gives a bit of torque will do. Space is not an issue here




The cover lifted up after screwing off all 4 screws




The fan is old and dirty. It comes off by just lifting it off its "tracks"




So then... of course I cant just put the other fan in. The plugs aren´t the same.




So I just cut the cables, molexes won´t be needed, strip the cables a bit from their ends.




Then I like to add liberal amounts of shrinkwrap there, putting it at the ready before soldering the wires. Keeping it far enough so as not to shrink it yet.




Then I kind of wrap the wires together.




Like this...




And then for the part where my hands start shaking...




Soldering the wires together! Simple task for most people, big deal to my shaky hands.




The results, well... Not pretty, but they´re stuck together, damnit. That´s what counts!
They will probably conduct electricity too!




So I then slide the shrinkwrap on top of the soldered parts. I have only two hands so I´m not taking photo of the part where I put a burning match near the shrinkwrap




After burning two matches, the shrinkwrap has shrunk. It will stay put.




So it is time to slide the new fan in there!




It fits like a glove!




Better remember to put the plug back in too.




And then its just a matter of putting everything back together...




With cover, screws and the little clips connected, it is time to hunt!

sweet ! I've been needing to do this, my A board has a dead fan. I've read about this particular fan model and I'm glad you posted the video. how much did the fan cost you ?

The fan was 12 euros +shipping by ups the final cost was 20 euros for one fan.
Should have gotten many of them to save with shipping because now I think I will be doing this to a few more a-boards.
They should be widely available for less than 20 usd apiece. I really don´t know where I would search for it if I was living in north america but maybe try stores that sell pc parts?
I had to order it from Germany as Finnish sellers were out of stock.
http://www.aquatuning.fi/product_info.php/info/p4171_Papst-612-FL--60x60x15mm-.html

Shipping was slow considering it was courier shipping. Mostly it took a bit too long for my taste after me paying for them to even process my order and ship it. The gummy bears were tasty though.

The difference is noise level is really apparent. Personally I just disconnect my fans. I don't run them 24 hours a day to worry about overheating. But if I do decide to put in a new fan, this is a good solution.

I've done this before. I ordered a handful of fans off amazon. They were like 7 bucks a piece. By the way, this is the exact same fan size used in Naomi motherboards as well.

Awesome info all around. I'm about due for a new fan in the NAOMI, and I was looking into starting to buy CPS2 stuff.

I would replace the fans in my CPS2 and Naomi but once the PCB door is closed and the game starts up I can't hear it anyway. Nice walkthrough though

That was awesome. Thanks a bunch mate! I like the small doses of humour too!

lachlan said:

I would replace the fans in my CPS2 and Naomi but once the PCB door is closed and the game starts up I can't hear it anyway. Nice walkthrough though

Click to expand...

Oh well, I assure you... in my case it was plenty distracting, even with the door closed. So much so that I didn´t play the game very much at all before I got the fan change done.

Mendel said:

Oh well, I assure you... in my case it was plenty distracting, even with the door closed. So much so that I didn´t play the game very much at all before I got the fan change done.

Click to expand...

Ball bearing in that fan must've been seriously toast!

lachlan said:

Ball bearing in that fan must've been seriously toast!

Click to expand...

You see some BAAAAD a-board fans sometimes. Also for anyone using a supergun, they might care about the noise.

First one I replaced with a Papst wasn't that bad, but I wanted it quieter. Second one was a fan so bad it'd start up, run (NOISILY) for half a minute, then seize up.

Fayk said:

You see some BAAAAD a-board fans sometimes. Also for anyone using a supergun, they might care about the noise.

First one I replaced with a Papst wasn't that bad, but I wanted it quieter. Second one was a fan so bad it'd start up, run (NOISILY) for half a minute, then seize up.

Click to expand...

Shit seizing? Crazy. It'd be interesting to compare these fans with a thermaltake volcano 7 fan. Now that's some fucking noise.