Hands-On
Silent fans
Range of fans for use in PC cooling
NMB Minebea’s Development Center is working cons-
tantly on improvements in fans.
It’s a familiar story.
Fans that grind and
squeak and yet are
supposed to provide
cooling for computers!
Gerhard Langner
To put an end to this scourge of
the workplace, the Minebea-Mat-
sushita joint venture has developed
a new range of fans whose noise
emission is limited to a tolerable
20 dBA.
A comparison would be with a
tranquil bedroom during the night,
and at 20 dBA, that’s even quieter. In
fact, this level of sound is inaudib-
le: it can only be measured. Only
when you put your ear against the
Dipl.-Ing.
Gerhard Langner,
graduate
engineer at NMB-
Minebea GmbH,
Langen
www.nmb-minebea.de
2 PRAXIS PROFILINE – Intelligent cooling – September 2007
The new NMB Minebea range of fans is
especially quiet, and is avail-
able in three different sizes.
source of the noise do you hear the
inevitable sounds generated by the
aerodynamics.
Trend towards
bigger fans
Once the fans are installed, it’s
impossible to hear them. However,
in tests, measurements are often
taken or sound emissions are regis-
tered immediately next to the source
of the noise. Technically speaking,
these are not comparable measure-
ments but perceptions, which can
differ considerably, depending
on the individual concerned and
their hearing capacity. Equally, the
frequency or pitch of the sound
plays a decisive role as to whether
the sound is perceived as pleasant
or unpleasant.
Technical data
Dimensions: 80 x 80 x 10,
92 x 92 x 10, 120 x 120 x 10 mm.
Voltage range: 7…13 VDC
Connection: three-pin plug with
tacho pulse
Air flow rate: 7…20 liters per
second
Power supply: 0.4 – 0.7 Watt
Acoustic pressure free delivery
below 12 dB
Therefore, it
makes sense to
evaluate fans only
when installed in the
appliance. Obstruc-
tions in the air stream,
structure-borne noise and a well
sound-proofed housing all have
both a positive and negative impact
on noise emissions. Whereas fans of
60 mm x 60 mm and smaller were
used in older computers, there’s
now a distinct trend to go for the
bigger fans of 80, 92 and 120 mm.
Larger fans necessitate significantly
smaller speeds for the same airflow
capacity and this results directly
in noise reduction. However, the
effect of the low speeds is to bring
the commutation noises of the
motor and the clicking noises of the
electronics to the fore with standard
fans.
NMB Minebea’s new range of
fans has this covered. The wiring
has been specially developed to
offset this effect, and it also proved
possible to improve the efficiency
of established two-phase motors.
Where rubber packing is also fitted
as sound-proofing at the installati-
on stage, the noise can be further
reduced by up to three decibels.
About us
NMB Minebea has its headquar-
ters in Tokyo. Annual sales exceed
€ 2 billion. It employs 44,000 staff
worldwide. NMB Minebea incor-
porates more than 80 subsidiary
companies and branch operations,
with production sites in China,
Thailand, Singapore, Germany, UK,
USA and Mexico.
The company produces 180 m
ball bearings and more than 10
m fans for the global market per
month. As well as these products,
NMB leads in the production of rod
end and spherical bearings, stepping
motors and computer keyboards.
In Europe, a comprehensive
program of support and service
is provided by subsidiary, PMDM
GmbH, where customized products
are developed up to production
stage. Other procedures, such as
aerodynamic simulation, ventilation
measurement, noise measurement
and endurance testing, are also car-
ried out here as a customer service
provision as well as for in-house
development.