[vdr] Re: Hardware falures

[Stefaan Coddé <stefaan.codde@pandora.be>]

>Christian Berger wrote:
> Well the external power supply is 45 Watts. Yes it's a 2.5" HD. but I
> don't think it'S a special "low-power" processor, it's just a standard
> G3 with a piece of metalic foil (not even that large) on top.

That explains alot. A 45W power supply needs no fan if they did pay some
attention in its design. G3's architecture is completely different then the
Intel/amd
CPU's which are competing the Mhz race. It's foolish to compare a G3 or
later
to a Intel cpu based on their speed in Mhz.
G3's become less warmer an a simple heat exchanger could do the job.... in
this
case the metal plate which is in fact a form of heat pipe.

> Well one thing I've been thinking of is using a chimney. That way the
> warm air could circulate up. This could also move the fan to a position
> far away from whereever I am.

A chimney will help if you use a heatsink/fan combination on the cpu but
it will not change much regarding the sound production. There will be a tone
shift and there's a risk that the chimney acts as a sort of speaker so do
some
tests with different chimney materials.

> One thing I definitely would _not_ recommend is oiling fans. It often
> makes things worse.

Indeed.

Sincerely,

Stefaan