Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damages to any equipment caused by following information on this page. Proceed at your own risk!      There are two practical solutions to silencing Sony VPH-10xx projectors. One solution is to disable the fans altogether. While this option makes for near silent operation, some people have raised concerns over the possibility that running without fans may shorten the lifespan of their projectors. In addition, the increased heat can make for more convergence drift. Yet some people feel that running without fans is a small risk for the benefit of near-silent operation. They intend to run their projectors until they malfunction anyway, and potentially a few hundred hours off of several thousand hours of life is no big deal. In addition, the VPH-10xx projectors, with their smaller picture tubes and extensive heatsinks run cooler than larger CRT projectors. Yet, another solution is to simply install quieter 80mm fans.      80mm case fans are quite common in computer systems. Hence, they can be obtained easily and inexpensively from online computer part vendors. One of the quietest 80mm fans currently available is the Papst 8412NGL. The Papst fan has 19.4 CFM of airflow and has a noise rating of 12 dB(A). It is sold for $15 to $20. Another excellent 80mm fan is the NMB 3110KL-04W-B19. The NMB fan has 18 CFM of airflow and has a noise rating of 15 dB(A). It is can be found for as little as $5.      On paper, the Papst fans appear to be the way to go as far as optimal replacement fans are concerned. However, there has been talk about possible defects with that particular fan. People have described some of the Papst 8412NGL fans as making a ticking or humming noise while they are running. Despite that observation, my first choice was to go with the Papst fans. Unfortunately, I experienced this same problem. Hence, the Papst fan was dropped from this fan shoot-out. People have had luck with that particular model, but to me, concerns of defects are unacceptable, especially for the premium price that they are sold for.      As a result of the Papst fan being dropped from the shoot-out, the only comparison left to make is the performance between the NMB fan and the standard-issue Matsushita fans. To test the performance, each set of fans were installed in a Sony VPH-1030Q. In each trial the projector was started up, without a warm-up, and about 2 hours of DVD source was played. Temperature measurements were taken every five minutes. The temperature sensor was attached to the portion of the metal chassis just above the green picture tube. Because much of the chassis is made of metal, the sensor, with its attachment near the picture tube, should have served as a good indicator of chassis temperature. Results:      To me, these results imply that the NMB fans are excellent replacements for the standard issue Matsushita fans. While the NMB fans have noticeably less airflow than the Matsushita fans, after 2 hours of operation the NMB fans yield a chassis that is only 0.6°C hotter than a chassis running with Matsushita fans. Running the projector with the fans disabled for 2 hours yields a chassis that's just over 2°C hotter than one running with the Matsushita fans. The NMB fans, at 15 dB(A), are very quiet. The following URL is to a wave file that I recorded that demonstrates the difference in noise between the Matsushita and NMB fans. The first half of the wave is of the 28 dB(A) Matsushita fans in operation. The second half is of the 15 dB(A) NMB fans in operation. [ Matsushita vs. NMB Fan Noise Wave ] [Home]  [Video]  [Audio]  [Pictures]  [Screenshots]  [Media]  [Links] This website was created by Mike Young and was last updated on July 9th, 2003. Email questions and comments to Mike at: rocketpropelledgrenade@yahoo.com