Hardware Wanted

Another one of the 80mm fans in my Origin 300 went up this week. They're standard size, but use an unusual connector, and last time this happened, splicing it onto another fan didn't work. If anyone has O300 parts machines laying around, or has extra fans, I'll buy as many as you can offer.

Some other related items I'd be interested in:

Origin 300 mounting rails (unlikely, I know, but I'm going to keep asking)

SGI PCI Gigabit Ethernet Card

1GB RAM cards for IP35 machines

Any Fuel R16000 CPU module

V12 graphics for Fuel

I replaced the fans in my O300 so it can be done: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16718040
I still have the original fans, but I'm in Europe.

Gigabit ethernet: but a cheap 3c996bT or equivalent Compaq/HP card and hack it, instructions found here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12702

ianj wrote: Another one of the 80mm fans in my Origin 300 went up this week. They're standard size, but use an unusual connector, and last time this happened, splicing it onto another fan didn't work.

Haven't tried an O300 yet, but SGI used non-standard connection pin-outs for the fans used in the very similar Fuel and O350. BTW - because of environmental monitoring, correct fan speed will be as important as size - too slow and your O300 might refuse to power up.

The SGI versions of the three and four pin fans connectors in the O350 described in this article <four-pin first, then three-pin at the bottom>: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16719768&p=7301078&#p7301078

There's also a photo of the wiring from an SGI 3-pin fan connector spliced into the wires of a non-SGI 3-pin fan <that shows the wire color mismatch> at the bottom of the Fuel (IP35) Hardware Aggregator: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9046

Since we don't have direct info for the O300, if either works for you please post a follow-up in the Hardware Forum so the next O300 owner needing to replace fans can benefit from your experience.

jan-jaap wrote: I replaced the fans in my O300 so it can be done: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16718040
I still have the original fans, but I'm in Europe.

Did those Scythe fans have the proper connector? I saw your post earlier, but the "BUY NOW" button on the site you linked to doesn't do anything, and I can't find that model for sale anywhere else.

jan-jaap wrote: Gigabit ethernet: but a cheap 3c996bT or equivalent Compaq/HP card and hack it, instructions found here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12702

I'll take a look into playing with that, but it looks a bit beyond what I have the time/patience for. Won't rule it out until I try it, though.

recondas wrote: There's also a photo of the wiring from an SGI 3-pin fan connector spliced into the wires of a non-SGI 3-pin fan <that shows the wire color mismatch> at the bottom of the Fuel (IP35) Hardware Aggregator: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9046

Cool, I'll try wiring one of the off-brand 80mms I have like in the picture. I've only lost one fan, so the system is still running with the warning light on and I should be able to use l1cmd to check the RPMs. That being said, I'd still be interested in buying some bona fide O300 fans, even if it means shipping from Europe... I've ordered heavier merchandise from that part of the world before.

The model I used is not for sale anymore. They sell something similar, but with slower RPM (closer to the lower limit, but still good), and unfortunately also a lower MBTF.

IIRC, the connector was the right size but the pinout wasn't. I'd have to check my original fans, see if they still have connectors A dentist hook can be used to pry the pins from the connector, you can reinsert them any way you like.

Ask and you shall receive...I just checked out my O300 and it's got a completely standard ATX 3-pin fan pinout. The connector isn't the regular IDC, but the pins are in the same order (1->BLK/GND, 2->RED/12V, 3->YEL/TACH). I even verified this with my o-scope to make sure a tach signal was coming down the yellow wire. By the way, here's the digikey page for the fan in the O300, it should help you find a direct replacement.

pierocks wrote: Ask and you shall receive...I just checked out my O300 and it's got a completely standard ATX 3-pin fan pinout. The connector isn't the regular IDC, but the pins are in the same order (1->BLK/GND, 2->RED/12V, 3->YEL/TACH). I even verified this with my o-scope to make sure a tach signal was coming down the yellow wire. By the way, here's the digikey page for the fan in the O300, it should help you find a direct replacement.

So the wire colors match up on the O300?

Also, I did stumble upon that digikey page when searching for replacement fans last time this happened, but never found anything beyond it.

Searching for either the -B79 or -B39 part numbers isn't very fruitful. I can find -B39 parts for US$30-40 - usually "refurbished" or condition unspecified. Fans don't seem rare enough to roll the dice on used pulls...

I think we'd be better off finding a functional replacement part currently in production. Good news from pierocks that the wiring and signaling are bog standard ATX compatible -- if we can deal with the connector, either by sourcing those or splicing failed parts, there should be no shortage of usable fans.

I did a little research and it looks like this would do the trick quite nicely. Even though the drawing shows four pins, it's actually a 3 pin part. I guess Molex couldn't be bothered to use the right drawing It's an IDT part (insulation displacement) so all you'd have to do is take an 80mm fan with a standard connector, lop it off and then insert the wires into the new connector in the correct order and crimp it. You don't have to fiddle around with crimping the wires individually and inserting them into the connector shell. I'm not sure if it requires special tools because I haven't been able to find the crimping procedure, but from the looks of the drawings I would imagine none are needed.