Bluebird cooling fans

[Yoeddy1]

Hi all,

While playing around with my new BB1 and exploring inside of the cabinet, there are a ridiculous amount of fans compared to the simple case fan and MPU fan that my IGT machines have.  Even on the monitor there is a fan, which is a 19" Kristel LCD.  I'm sure the answer is to leave all of the fans connected since Williams R&D felt it necessary to design this cabinet for a casino environment.  I agree, but I'm curious if there is a fan or two that can be disconnected to reduce noise.  The only two that I have played around with are the case fan on the right side of the machine, and the MPU fan.  On my machine the board is completely open as it does not have a door that closes around it.  I don't know if that was removed to improve cooling, but since that is the case, it seems like the MPU fan is somewhat of a waste since the board is no longer enclosed in a metal case.  Disconnecting these fan does not throw up any errors.  Again, YMMV depending on the cooling inside of your house.  I have disconnected the case fans on my IGT S2000 and Game King for 5 years now, and they still run great. 

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Jason

[idesign]

Yeah, why don't you just disconnect all the fans and when the machine goes up in smoke you can figure out which fan was actually needed.

[Yoeddy1]

All are connected...just a curiosity, that's all.

Jason

[rickhunter]

Jason, I would not disconnect the fan on the mpu box.  That fan blows air at the fins of the heatsinks for the chipset and cpu.  If they overheat, you will have issues.   If you cannot live with the fan noise, you can disconnect the cabinet fans if you do not leave your machines for too long a time.  I usually play mine and leave the machine on for 2 hours max.  Also unplug all the lights as they are a source of heat.  If there is no air moving inside the cabinet, you need to eliminate as many heat sources as possible.  Also if you do not have the machine in a cold room, you should not disconnect the fans at all.

[Yoeddy1]

Interesting Rick.  I have the blue MPU with the Celeron 650 and heat sinks.  No fan.  The board is exposed and looks like somebody had removed the door.  Probably to improve cooling.  The fan on the right side of the MPU is blowing toward the small fluorescent light.  In other words, it's pulling air away from the MPU and blowing it outside.  Perhaps the fan was installed backwards?  Should I turn it around so that the air is blowing to the left toward the processor/heat sinks? 

The fan on the Kristel LCD is also running and I'm assuming this should remain as-is.  I've never heard of an LCD fan...this thing must run hot. 

Thanks,
Jason

[rickhunter]

The bally alphas also have fans on the LCD, it is right on top of the inverter and power supply.  When there's a logic door installed, the air is blown out so the hotter air inside the mpu box goes out and allegedly cooler air from within the cabinet goes in through the available venting holes.  This creates an airflow over the heatsinks and blows out. With no door, the design is not quite as elegant. I would leave it alone, as whatever hot air accumulate near the heatsink will get blown away with the air current.  Not an issue if you don't run your machine 24/7.

[Yoeddy1]

For what it's worth, changing the direction of the CPU fan to blow towards the CPU has cooled the heat sinks considerably. 

Thanks,
Jason

[rickhunter]

Good to know.  I always  stayed away from that since there's that fluorescent light next to it, but since it is off when the door is closed, I guess my theory doesn't make much sense.  Reversing the way the fan blows might be a good idea after all. 

[coolwavepic]

Yeah, why don't you just disconnect all the fans and when the machine goes up in smoke you can figure out which fan was actually needed.

LMAO sorry but this had me in tears..... hahahaha


I must chime in... For me the Bluebird doesn't have enough fans! Now if you want a cooler machine and the monitor fan is a problem for you, then buy a Ceronix. These monitors are designed to run very cool. Surprisingly cool.


But if you ever add a Transmissive reels and screen, you will be wanting MORE FANS! That setup is like an oven!

[KirkLasVegas]

Leave the fans connected....
It has a BOSE sound system....turn it up

[Yoeddy1]

Leave the fans connected....
It has a BOSE sound system....turn it up

Yeah right?  That sound system is amazing.  I have mine set to '1' within the settings menu and run it at the second volume notch in the game.  It still wails at that volume level, especially during a big win!

Jason