Atomiswave silent fan replacement

madman

Blame madman, You Know You Want To.,
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Posts
7,518
I posted about this in the Metal Slug thread over in the Game Play section; I picked up another AW mobo here recently and upon powering it up remembered how loud the stock fan is and wanted to do something about it. The stock fan is a Nidec D04X-12TH which is 7000 RPM, I couldn't find any noise or CFM ratings for it however. The replacement I found on Amazon was a Scythe Mini KAZE 40mm case fan which is rated at 3500 RPM, 14 dBA and 4.11 CFM. Link here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LB0M8S?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

The stock fan uses a smaller 3-pin connector, but I don't believe the pulse line actually does anything as the fan is always full blast. So I snipped the wires on both fans halfway through and used the stock connector soldered to the replacement fan, I left the yellow wire unconnected and insulated it w/some electrical tape just in case.

The Atomiswave has been running for about an hour now and the air coming out is just as cool as when I first powered it on, so I don't think the lower RPMs are a factor. The noise? Pretty much dead silent, I had to put my hand in front of the fan when I first powered it up to make sure it was actually working.

It's pretty straight forward so I didn't take any pics, but I'm happy to answer any questions.
 
Last edited:

kaicer

Crazed MVS Addict
Joined
Jul 24, 2010
Posts
140
that's nice to know. The noise of the fan never bothers me when playing because of the game sounds. Just like my 360 with the 12v fan mod is loud as hell but when playing I don't pay attention to it.
 

Westcb

Give an Azn, A Break Here!,
Joined
May 17, 2012
Posts
1,190
I changed one a few years back and I actually couldn't get the fan to come on at all until I attached the timing wire to the mobo frame. After that it worked great.
 

madman

Blame madman, You Know You Want To.,
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Posts
7,518
I changed one a few years back and I actually couldn't get the fan to come on at all until I attached the timing wire to the mobo frame. After that it worked great.

Interesting, it must've been some logic in the fan. This one is just a two wire fan so it has no intelligence around the pulse line.
 

RabbitTroop

Mayor of Southtown, ,
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2000
Posts
13,852
I've been meaning to do a similar mod to my Atomiswave for a while. It's a really loud board. I'd just snip the wire and go straight to MOLEX three pin connectors, or etc. Might as well make it clean and easy connection. That's how I wire most of my arcade stuff, though. Saves me so much hassle down the road, though I doubt once replaced you'd ever have to worry about that fan again.
 

madman

Blame madman, You Know You Want To.,
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Posts
7,518
I've been meaning to do a similar mod to my Atomiswave for a while. It's a really loud board. I'd just snip the wire and go straight to MOLEX three pin connectors, or etc. Might as well make it clean and easy connection. That's how I wire most of my arcade stuff, though. Saves me so much hassle down the road, though I doubt once replaced you'd ever have to worry about that fan again.

I'm not sure a 3 pin molex or etc. would fit under the casing, but thank you for the input.
 

Yodd

Iori's Flame
20 Year Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2002
Posts
8,214
When I had my Atomiswave it reminded me of the first time I powered on a CPS2 board. Like "holy shit, who turned on the leaf blower".
 

RabbitTroop

Mayor of Southtown, ,
20 Year Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2000
Posts
13,852
I'm not sure a 3 pin molex or etc. would fit under the casing, but thank you for the input.

Good point, I have no idea if there is enough room in there for the connector. You're probably right, anyway. Not like you'll be pulling that fan anytime in the future, so why not make it a one-and-done.
 

Shakepants

Crossed Swords Squire
Joined
Feb 7, 2015
Posts
194
Good info here. BTW those Nidec fans are just horribly loud. Also found in CPS2 I believe.
 

madman

Blame madman, You Know You Want To.,
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Posts
7,518
Important update, I went to play the Atomiswave tonight for the first time since the mod and there was no sound. When I did my burn in test it was just running in the background while I played music so I never noticed it. Certainly I didn't fry any sound components by installing a fan. The only difference was the yellow pulse wire on the fan wasn't hooked up because the mobo doesn't use it to control the fan speed. However, after a little digging, it does use the pulse line, just not to control fan speed. Maybe it's a means of having ops send it in for repair in the event the fan dies. Who knows.

The fix is easy, just jumper the yellow wire to ground and your sound is back. When installing the fan, just solder the yellow wire to the black and you're set. Or solder the two pins together under the connector on the mobo for a neater install.
 
Last edited:

Westcb

Give an Azn, A Break Here!,
Joined
May 17, 2012
Posts
1,190
Important update, I went to play the Atomiswave tonight for the first time since the mod and there was no sound. When I did my burn in test it was just running in the background while I played music so I never noticed it. Certainly I didn't fry any sound components by installing a fan. The only difference was the yellow pulse wire on the fan wasn't hooked up because the mobo doesn't use it to control the fan speed. However, after a little digging, it does use the pulse line, just not to control fan speed. Maybe it's a means of having ops send it in for repair in the event the fan dies. Who knows.

The fix is easy, just jumper the yellow wire to ground and your sound is back. When installing the fan, just solder the yellow wire to the black and you're set. Or solder the two pins together under the connector on the mobo for a neater install.


Haha, I'm old and dont remember things correctly but that's what I was getting at in my post when I said I had to ground it to the board for the fan to work. Mine lost sound too but grandpas memory here has been failing lately.
 

gusmoney

Unsure if You Asked, For a custom Rank, But Hell,
10 Year Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2014
Posts
1,851
Bump to an elderly but good and informative thread. Followed OP's direction (including ordering the same fan with the amazon link provided) and installed it tonight in about twenty minutes.

The sound difference is certainly worth it. I currently have the AW hooked up to a supergun and with the old fan blowing away it sounded like a twister was touching down. Now I hear nada.
 

madman

Blame madman, You Know You Want To.,
Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Posts
7,518
Glad it worked out for you, I can imagine in an arcade setting the fan noise isn't an issue but in a supergun setup it's unbearable.
 
Top