Noisy fan on ampeg micro vr

[krfoss]

A common complaint about the micro vr has been it's noisy fan. While fine on stage, it's a little annoying for home practice.

Does anyone know if this can can be replaced with a quieter part, or do I just have to learn to live with it?

Most Amps have fans, but don't seem to be as noisy as this model. This can't be an fixable problem.

Thanks everyone!

 

[byacey]

A common complaint about the micro vr has been it's noisy fan. While fine on stage, it's a little annoying for home practice.

Does anyone know if this can can be replaced with a quieter part, or do I just have to learn to live with it?

Most Amps have fans, but don't seem to be as noisy as this model. This can't be an fixable problem.

Thanks everyone!

I'm not familiar with that particular fan, but I can tell you that there are many different brands and models of fans that may share the same physical size and power requirements, differences being air volume, speed, blade design, etc. that determine the noise level.

The computer industry sometimes is a good place to look, as in the past, there were many complaints about having what amounts to a small jet turbine howling away in a desktop computer workstation. Manufacturers reacted and developed lower noise fans.

 

[JimmyM]

I'm not familiar with that particular fan, but I can tell you that there are many different brands and models of fans that may share the same physical size and power requirements, differences being air volume, speed, blade design, etc. that determine the noise level.

The computer industry sometimes is a good place to look, as in the past, there were many complaints about having what amounts to a small jet turbine howling away in a desktop computer workstation. Manufacturers reacted and developed lower noise fans.

The loud fan has never stopped me on a gig either, but yeah, it's a bit intense at home. Just find some with the same specs and size and get the most expensive one. Mouser.com should have a good selection.

 

[Espen Solberg]

Same problem here. I opened my amp tonight to have a look at the fan. It measures 60mm x 60mm. The label indicates that it was made in China by manufacturer “M”. Model number is YM2406PTB1. It also says DC 24V and 0.18A. It is a “DC BRUSHLESS FAN”. It is mounted in the cab label facing in, I don’t know if this information points to whether it blows out or sucks in. I read in another thread that the former function would allow a temperature sensing replacement. It feels like it’s blowing out when the amp is in normal use.

 

[agedhorse]

If there's any fan speed control circuitry built into the amp, you really need to use the original fan, or a fan with identical specs ;including static pressure. The fan control depends on these parameters which form a fan load curve that the control circuit typically works with.

Speed control using fan mounted sensors are not accurate or responsive enough in general, there's nowhere enough temperature differential in the moving air itself. That's why no amp that I know of uses them.

Wrong fan choice can damage an amp.

 

[Somanytoys]

May just be better and safer to get a small (fanless) practice amp for home (?).

 

[Espen Solberg]

Thanks, that’s useful information. In my case, it really sounds like the fan is on to its absolute full capacity from the second I turn the amp on, with a cold amp. It gets too loud for the use I got it the amp for (home practice amp, I use an SVT rig with the band).

If there's any fan speed control circuitry built into the amp, you really need to use the original fan, or a fan with identical specs ;including static pressure. The fan control depends on these parameters which form a fan load curve that the control circuit typically works with.

Speed control using fan mounted sensors are not accurate or responsive enough in general, there's nowhere enough temperature differential in the moving air itself. That's why no amp that I know of uses them.

Wrong fan choice can damage an amp.

 

[agedhorse]

Perhaps the control circuit has failed. Can you go back to your dealer and compare with another unit?

 

[King Carrot]

howdy folks, anyone figure out the quietest replacement fan on this amp yet? been looking all day... it's a bummer that it's 24v... so many more options at 12v.

 

[DuhZooLah]

Old thread but I came here for the same issue. I've just replaced the OEM fan with an Orion OD6025-24HHB (from Invalid Link Removed). Not identical specs but same ballpark (24V, .15A) and much quieter. I couldn't find the CFM rating of the OEM fan anywhere so I chose the fan that struck the best balance between airflow and noise level.

Immediate results were much improved but still not quiet enough for my taste. I noticed that when I pushed on the fan grill slightly, the noise lessened. This helped me realize that part of the problem is the direct/mechanical connection between the fan and the amp chassis. Inside the amp, at each screw hole, I inserted 5mm rubber o-rings between the fan and the chassis. Outside the amp, I added a washer (M5, I think) and another o-ring at each screw hole, between the chassis and the fan grille. This has made a marvelous improvement. From outside-in, the layering goes:

Screw head
Fan Grille
Washer
O-ring
Chassis
O-ring
Fan Body

It seems the o-rings offer just enough decoupling for the fan to work quietly. It's not whisper-quiet, but still a marvelous improvement; I'm finally happy with it.

The swap is somewhat involved because you need to remove the entire amp PCB in order to access the fan. But I do think a careful novice could probably do this. You'll need to cut a couple zip ties (and replace them when ready to reassemble) and possibly splice your new fan wires onto the existing ones (in order to reuse the fan's power connector, as my replacement fan only had bare wires).

Hope this inspires others to break it and then make it better.

EDIT: This is my first post. Hello world!

 

[krfoss]

Old thread but I came here for the same issue. I've just replaced the OEM fan with an Orion OD6025-24HHB (from Invalid Link Removed). Not identical specs but same ballpark (24V, .15A) and much quieter. I couldn't find the CFM rating of the OEM fan anywhere so I chose the fan that struck the best balance between airflow and noise level.

Immediate results were much improved but still not quiet enough for my taste. I noticed that when I pushed on the fan grill slightly, the noise lessened. This helped me realize that part of the problem is the direct/mechanical connection between the fan and the amp chassis. Inside the amp, at each screw hole, I inserted 5mm rubber o-rings between the fan and the chassis. Outside the amp, I added a washer (M5, I think) and another o-ring at each screw hole, between the chassis and the fan grille. This has made a marvelous improvement. From outside-in, the layering goes:

Screw head
Fan Grille
Washer
O-ring
Chassis
O-ring
Fan Body

It seems the o-rings offer just enough decoupling for the fan to work quietly. It's not whisper-quiet, but still a marvelous improvement; I'm finally happy with it.

The swap is somewhat involved because you need to remove the entire amp PCB in order to access the fan. But but I do think a careful novice could probably do this. You'll need to cut a couple zip ties (and replace them when ready to reassemble) and possibly splice your new fan wires onto the existing ones (in order to reuse the fan's power connector, as my replacement fan only had bare wires).

Hope this inspires others to break it and then make it better.

This is great. Any links to the O-rings you used?

 

[DuhZooLah]

This is great. Any links to the O-rings you used?

https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-799450-Metric-Ring-Value/dp/B0033YDE58/

Wish I could have used thicker ones between fan and chassis but there's not a lot of clearance between the fan and the heatsinks behind it.

 

[Sparky Mark]

Old thread but I came here for the same issue. I've just replaced the OEM fan with an Orion OD6025-24HHB (from Invalid Link Removed). Not identical specs but same ballpark (24V, .15A) and much quieter. I couldn't find the CFM rating of the OEM fan anywhere so I chose the fan that struck the best balance between airflow and noise level.

Immediate results were much improved but still not quiet enough for my taste. I noticed that when I pushed on the fan grill slightly, the noise lessened. This helped me realize that part of the problem is the direct/mechanical connection between the fan and the amp chassis. Inside the amp, at each screw hole, I inserted 5mm rubber o-rings between the fan and the chassis. Outside the amp, I added a washer (M5, I think) and another o-ring at each screw hole, between the chassis and the fan grille. This has made a marvelous improvement. From outside-in, the layering goes:

Screw head
Fan Grille
Washer
O-ring
Chassis
O-ring
Fan Body

It seems the o-rings offer just enough decoupling for the fan to work quietly. It's not whisper-quiet, but still a marvelous improvement; I'm finally happy with it.

The swap is somewhat involved because you need to remove the entire amp PCB in order to access the fan. But I do think a careful novice could probably do this. You'll need to cut a couple zip ties (and replace them when ready to reassemble) and possibly splice your new fan wires onto the existing ones (in order to reuse the fan's power connector, as my replacement fan only had bare wires).

Hope this inspires others to break it and then make it better.

EDIT: This is my first post. Hello world!

I had the same idea but gave up when I saw how restricted the space between the fan and heatsinks is.

 

[krfoss]

Man, side note, but if only there was a way to mod the amp to add the ultra low switch.... Someone get on that!

 

[NJbassdad]

Old thread but I came here for the same issue. I've just replaced the OEM fan with an Orion OD6025-24HHB (from Invalid Link Removed). Not identical specs but same ballpark (24V, .15A) and much quieter. I couldn't find the CFM rating of the OEM fan anywhere so I chose the fan that struck the best balance between airflow and noise level.

Immediate results were much improved but still not quiet enough for my taste. I noticed that when I pushed on the fan grill slightly, the noise lessened. This helped me realize that part of the problem is the direct/mechanical connection between the fan and the amp chassis. Inside the amp, at each screw hole, I inserted 5mm rubber o-rings between the fan and the chassis. Outside the amp, I added a washer (M5, I think) and another o-ring at each screw hole, between the chassis and the fan grille. This has made a marvelous improvement. From outside-in, the layering goes:

Screw head
Fan Grille
Washer
O-ring
Chassis
O-ring
Fan Body

It seems the o-rings offer just enough decoupling for the fan to work quietly. It's not whisper-quiet, but still a marvelous improvement; I'm finally happy with it.

The swap is somewhat involved because you need to remove the entire amp PCB in order to access the fan. But I do think a careful novice could probably do this. You'll need to cut a couple zip ties (and replace them when ready to reassemble) and possibly splice your new fan wires onto the existing ones (in order to reuse the fan's power connector, as my replacement fan only had bare wires).

Hope this inspires others to break it and then make it better.

EDIT: This is my first post. Hello world!

Do you think your o-ring and washer trick would make it quieter with the stock fan? I realize it's difficult to answer a hypothetical like that but just your gut feeling I guess.

 

[DuhZooLah]

Do you think your o-ring and washer trick would make it quieter with the stock fan?

Yeah, I would expect an improvement, to some degree. The fan replacement lowered and changed the quality of the hum (fewer brain-scrambling harmonics) but then the mechanical ‘isolation’ just lowered the noise level, over all.
Give it a shot and good luck!

 

[Avocett]

I just got one of these amps with the matching cab in an awesome cream white covering. Love the look and sound, don't love the fan noise at home.

I plan to replace the fan, but for those who don't want to do a full fan swap, there are fan silencer mounts used for desktop computers. Essentially a rubbery silicon rivet that you use instead of a screw. I have them on my desktop and they work wonders. Seeing how annoying it is to get to the fan, this might be doable without removing the whole PCB. I'd still add some o-rings between the grill and the metal enclosure.

 

[theDAWstudio]

I had this same issue and decided to install a DC fan control board in between the power supply and the existing fan. The board is about $12 bucks so it's a pretty cheap fix. We shot a video of us doing the mod and posted it on youtube.

 

[agedhorse]

This is a good example of knowing just enough to be dangerous.

There is a good reason why fans often are intended to run all the time. In the case of this amp, there are multiple points in the amp that are being cooled, the heat sinks are only one of them. By the time that the temperature sensor gets hot enough for the fan to turn on under a high load condition, other areas within the power supply may already be damaged... a classic case of a mod not recognizing what's really happening.

This mod MIGHT void your warranty??? It most certainly would void it with every manufacturer I know. Why, because the designer and manufacturer intended for the air to be moving around critical areas at all times, and the lag between the sensor and the key temperatures (which may NOT and probably are not be the heatsinks) is going to be orders of magnitude too long.

Sparks to the heatsink... well that is consistent with the other sloppy work shown in the video. Any real tech understands that in some designs, internal components (including heatsinks) may not be at ground potential. The fact that the video seems to present this as funny is pretty sad and actually shows the danger of working on something that's not understood.

Unless you are ok with increasing the risk of amp failure, don't do it.

 

[Rabidhamster]

I find all fans annoying. Noctua makes a wide range of "whisper" fans with easy to match specs. You can get them for PCs to MPCs, hopefully they'll have a suitable replacement for you.