AV-760M: What internal fan should I purchase?

[odd ballz 0]

Hi, it's the noob again. I have a circuit board printed with "AV-760M", and the front label says "4CH MPEG-4 DVR" so I presume I have an AVTECH 760. I have the Model #3 (No usb or writer version). I notice when I remove the fan guard on the rear panel, that there is no fan. Am not sure if I need one. I will be using it with an internal hard drive 24x7.

 

Any recommendations as to 1) do I need a fan 2) what recommendation/size (the size is quite small), and 3) where is the fan power connector... is it the 3 pin on the p/s board labeled "nc/12v/gnd"?

 

Hope you can help,

Odd Ballz

[Kiwi 0]

It is sensible to add a fan. Whether one is absolutely needed or not is unsure, but in my experience if there is a overheating problem you will get hard drive fail errors and it reboots, with no permanent damage done. You may also want to select an HD that does not overly exceed the minimum performance requirements as it may require more cooling.

 

My 782 had a fan installed but due to the restrictive fan grill it didn't do anything useful, hence the HD errors. I changed it for one twice as thick and cut out the grill. Also added a small fan under the HD tray. Cut a round hole in the tray and glued it in place. Works great now.

 

Can't help with the power connection but someone here with a 760/761 burnt out their power board by installing a 1/4 amp fan, so would suggest great care. Those little fans are about 1/8 amp.

[scorpion 0]

Adding a small fan would not hurt. Yes, you do want to be careful with fan sizing.

 

The 4 channel DVRs work hard, and they are liking driving a car on a highway in first gear.

 

If you do not want to add a fan, then add some heatsinks.

[junglejim42 0]

Hi, it's the noob again. I have a circuit board printed with "AV-760M", and the front label says "4CH MPEG-4 DVR" so I presume I have an AVTECH 760. I have the Model #3 (No usb or writer version). I notice when I remove the fan guard on the rear panel, that there is no fan. Am not sure if I need one. I will be using it with an internal hard drive 24x7.

 

Any recommendations as to 1) do I need a fan 2) what recommendation/size (the size is quite small), and 3) where is the fan power connector... is it the 3 pin on the p/s board labeled "nc/12v/gnd"?

 

Hope you can help,

Odd Ballz

My supplier said no to a fan, as they were designed to be used in air conditioned areas. As I use one in a shed, it got "ouch thats HOT" so on the advice of my supplier I got a fan off ebay from the computer section, it needs to be 40mm x 40mm x 10mm, go for the lowest ampege model you can find, mine were 0.12A the connection is a standard 3 pin fan connector and is easy to find inside the box.

[odd ballz 0]

Hi, it's the noob again. I have a circuit board printed with "AV-760M", and the front label says "4CH MPEG-4 DVR" so I presume I have an AVTECH 760. I have the Model #3 (No usb or writer version). I notice when I remove the fan guard on the rear panel, that there is no fan. Am not sure if I need one. I will be using it with an internal hard drive 24x7.

 

Any recommendations as to 1) do I need a fan 2) what recommendation/size (the size is quite small), and 3) where is the fan power connector... is it the 3 pin on the p/s board labeled "nc/12v/gnd"?

 

Hope you can help,

Odd Ballz

My supplier said no to a fan, as they were designed to be used in air conditioned areas. As I use one in a shed, it got "ouch thats HOT" so on the advice of my supplier I got a fan off ebay from the computer section, it needs to be 40mm x 40mm x 10mm, go for the lowest ampege model you can find, mine were 0.12A the connection is a standard 3 pin fan connector and is easy to find inside the box.

 

Thanks JungleJim! I see the value added for a fan; and certainly understand why we should be keeping our units in a controlled environment. I will probably try hooking up another HDD to the unit, even though it was built for 1 HDD. Per the firmware, it seems I can reach up to 4 devices (2 Masters, 2 Slaves). So this fan will certainly help if I am successful. Thanks again.

[junglejim42 0]

 

Thanks JungleJim! I see the value added for a fan; and certainly understand why we should be keeping our units in a controlled environment. I will probably try hooking up another HDD to the unit, even though it was built for 1 HDD. Per the firmware, it seems I can reach up to 4 devices (2 Masters, 2 Slaves). So this fan will certainly help if I am successful. Thanks again.

I too noticed on boot, the system checks for hard disks and reports about 2 master and 2 slave drives. inside the box though, i could only find one IDE connection, the 2nd IDE connection shown in photos for other models is not there.. Also where to mount a second drive. there isnt a lot of space inside the box. Do let me know how you get on if you put in a second drive

[odd ballz 0]

 

Thanks JungleJim! I see the value added for a fan; and certainly understand why we should be keeping our units in a controlled environment. I will probably try hooking up another HDD to the unit, even though it was built for 1 HDD. Per the firmware, it seems I can reach up to 4 devices (2 Masters, 2 Slaves). So this fan will certainly help if I am successful. Thanks again.

I too noticed on boot, the system checks for hard disks and reports about 2 master and 2 slave drives. inside the box though, i could only find one IDE connection, the 2nd IDE connection shown in photos for other models is not there.. Also where to mount a second drive. there isnt a lot of space inside the box. Do let me know how you get on if you put in a second drive

 

I will let you know. With a standard motherboard (that is, if this uses such a thing... or modification of a MB) and a 2 connector IDE cable (presuming it acts as a PC with Linux), it may actually detect 2 cable selects... I don't know, but hey it's worth a shot and it shouldn't do any damage to the unit because power is supplied externally... well, for my test. I intend on using an external power supply from an IDE-USB power supply adapter kit. Will post results if anything positive comes out of this test.

 

Update: It works! I think the chinese did a great job on this unit. It's modular, which I presume you may be able to get upgrades and turn your low cost DVR into a high end system with lots of power, and capability. I tested my unit as described above using an external power supply. I powered up the "slave" which had a setting of cable select (CS)... the "Master" also had a CS setting but was connected to connector 1. The unit turned on as usual, and when I logged on it captured both HDDs giving me 327 GB... Drive 1 = 160GB; Drive 2=200GB. Impressive! If I had a SATA-IDE converter, I'd try that next. I'll have to see if a friend will let me borrow one. Now, will the modular PS provide enough juice to feed a 2nd HDD? I don't know. I would have to get a power splitter to get 2 4-pin molex leads. I'll have to study the circuit board before taking that plunge. Another test I'll do is attach a DVD burner (IDE), but unless I can find where in the menu, it'll let me burn a disc... I don't think I'll have much success. It may see the burner, so there is a start. I'll use an external power adaptor, but plug the IDE connector 2 with CS on the burner. If only I could extract the firmware from the unit. I'll see what tools exist, and maybe we can find a way. With the firmware, we may be able to customize it. Hope this helps everyone. I did take screen shots. The menu identifies a Master-1 and a Slave-1. Without any more IDE connections on the MB, I can not stress test it to Master-2 and Slave-2. Maybe scorpion can look at one of his newer units and see if the MB has 2 IDE connectors?