I canna give you any more power!

[mikailborg]

For the past year, the fan in the power supply on my G4 has been making a grinding noise. This week it got loud enough to drive raininva to distraction, so she asked me to please fix it. (Frankly, I was sick of listening to it too.) Replacement Apple power supplies run $130 - $230 on the web, so that was right out. Besides, it was only the fan itself.

I pulled the power supply out, then the fan, and took it to CompUSA. They had a wide variety of fans, but although several were exactly the right size and shape, they had three-pin connectors instead of two-pin, and the amperage ratings were different, which worried me. The technical guy there strongly suggested I just get a new power supply. (Fans are $10, power supplies $40. Hmm.)

Apparently, my G4 can use a standard ATX power supply, but the motherboard connector pinouts are slightly different, and I'd have to splice some wires (and me without a soldering iron or, indeed, much soldering practice). Also, my power supply is 237 watt. I think I can use a 250 safely, but I don't know that.

On a better note, we played Plague and Pestilence and Dork Tower at Card Night last night, and both games went over well. Dork Tower even came with a free 8-page mini version of Dork FRAG, which means that by taking advantage of the Dragon*Con sale, I got two games for the price of half of one. Not bad!

Soooo tired.

Comments

[vond.livejournal.com]

The wattage on a PS is the maximum, there's no need to match them precisely. You can also probably do okay for splicing by twisting the wires together and binding it tightly with electrical tape (though soldering is better).

[phred1973.livejournal.com]

Right, what Vond said

[mikailborg.livejournal.com]

I suspected that about the wattage - thanks for easing my mind with confirmation. If I have to put the ATX in, I might just take phred1973 up on his offer.