Gateway "Extreme Back-order"

Can't help with a Newton, but 2 wire fans are available by mail order,
and a 3 wire fan will work fine, just don't use the odd color speed
sensor wire. Under warranty this should be Gateway's problem and not
yours, but if they drop the ball it's your decision if and how you
should step up for the client.

ljb wrote:

That's the phrase a Gateway person used to my client when explaining why
the warranty replacement PC power supply, already 3 weeks late, might
not be showing up for 10 more weeks: extreme back-order. This is our second
failure of this model, and the replacement being unavailable makes me think
this may be a wide-spread problem. Is anyone else seeing this:

The PC is a Gateway E4000 in the small desk-top case, and the power supply
is a Newton "NPS-160DB B". The power supply itself is probably OK but the
fan failed. Since the power supply fan in these PCs is the only way to get
heat outside the box, the PC soon overheats. I've had one power supply
replaced, have one on 'extreme back-order', and at least 3 more with noisy
fans that are probably going to go soon.

It's easy enough to just replace the power supply fan (warning: opening a
power supply is dangerous), but Gateway won't even discuss it, and I can't
find anyone who sells the right fan. (A regular 90mm 12VDC fan, but it has
a 2-pin connector, not the usual 3-pin.) Nor do I feel like buying parts
for what should be a warranty repair. I had one spare PC, so nobody is
screaming yet, but with another failure (or 2, or 20) it's going to get
ugly. Any advice?

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 02:48:59 GMT, ljb
wrote:

Thanks; the 3-wire fan connector won't physically fit on the power supply
board connector, unless maybe if I break off the tab that keeps you from
reverse-plugging it. Or, I could cut the wires and splice in the new fan to
the old connector. I would much rather buy fans with the correct connector
(2 pin, 1/10" pitch, polarized) but I can't find any. Do you have a source?

http://www.directron.com/index.html is a good place that carries just
about any kind of part for a computer.

A quick google suggests that you have the 2510 connector (2.51 mm = 0.1
in. This is commonly available on 80mm fans intended as power supply
replacements. If you need 90mm that will take more hunting.

ljb wrote:

Thanks; the 3-wire fan connector won't physically fit on the power supply
board connector, unless maybe if I break off the tab that keeps you from
reverse-plugging it. Or, I could cut the wires and splice in the new fan to
the old connector. I would much rather buy fans with the correct connector
(2 pin, 1/10" pitch, polarized) but I can't find any. Do you have a source?

wrote:

Can't help with a Newton, but 2 wire fans are available by mail order,
and a 3 wire fan will work fine, just don't use the odd color speed
sensor wire. Under warranty this should be Gateway's problem and not
yours, but if they drop the ball it's your decision if and how you
should step up for the client.

ljb wrote:


That's the phrase a Gateway person used to my client when explaining why
the warranty replacement PC power supply, already 3 weeks late, might
not be showing up for 10 more weeks: extreme back-order. This is our second
failure of this model, and the replacement being unavailable makes me think
this may be a wide-spread problem. Is anyone else seeing this:

The PC is a Gateway E4000 in the small desk-top case, and the power supply
is a Newton "NPS-160DB B". The power supply itself is probably OK but the
fan failed. Since the power supply fan in these PCs is the only way to get
heat outside the box, the PC soon overheats. I've had one power supply
replaced, have one on 'extreme back-order', and at least 3 more with noisy
fans that are probably going to go soon.

It's easy enough to just replace the power supply fan (warning: opening a
power supply is dangerous), but Gateway won't even discuss it, and I can't
find anyone who sells the right fan. (A regular 90mm 12VDC fan, but it has
a 2-pin connector, not the usual 3-pin.) Nor do I feel like buying parts
for what should be a warranty repair. I had one spare PC, so nobody is
screaming yet, but with another failure (or 2, or 20) it's going to get
ugly. Any advice?