need some help and an opinion...

[Exempt]

I need help again, as some of you might know, I owna mach I and a mach II unit, the mach II is by far built a lot better than the mach I. Heres my problem, my mach I unit, the fans in it are slowing down to an almost stop, and the unit starts to heat up FAST, usually shutting itself off with Error3. Sometimes it makes a click sound , then a tick, then the fans kick right back up, but rarely, my temps are getting hotter on the unit, and its about a year old now. I was thinking of just replacing the fans inside there. but I think its a power type problem with the unit. is there any temp relays i can disable so it runs at ful strength all the time?

and my other question is, what is hands down the strongest, best PSU you can possibly buy? I need something with a lotta startup amps so it can give the mach I unit a kick when it starts. thanks guy :)

[Marci]

MkI doesn't use the PC PSU to start. It uses straight 110v / 240v from a wall outlet.

Now, onto your problem... read or download the MkI manual from nVentiv's site and then set the temp-set points for fans up and fans down. Set them as follows:

St2: -50
P2: 5

This will make the fans run at full speed til the unit gets down to -50. Which it won't. If it ever does, the fans will slow down, but once the temp gets up to -45 they'll speed back up again.

Fans should now run at full speed at all times. (Think I said all that right)

Now, to find out if the unit is running properly... a MkI should be able to reach -35 on the evap during chilldown...

You can test this by setting as follows:

St1: -15 (-15 and above system will be held in reset)
P1: 20 (ST1 - P1 = -35, so system will boot at -35)

Now depending on the load applied by the CPU (run F@H or similar) your evap head should sit somewhere between -25 and -35 after running full load for 2 hours or so...

If it does then your prommi is fine...

Err3 denotes either mains failure (from your wall outlet) OR condenser heat overload... ie: Your condenser is too hot due to fans running too low.

Try the above and let us know your findings!

Should it all go horribly wrong in the controller programming, the factory presets are as follows:

St1: -20
P1: 13
St2: -33
P2: 13

Now, if you STILL have Err3 problems, then:

1 - Your Load is too high for a MkI to handle - try the same PC System on the MkII and see if it copes... if it does then...
2 - Your MkI has a problem that needs diagnosing by Gary Lloyd, Herefishy, Bowman, JC or one of the other gurus on a refrigeration mechanics level!

Bear in mind a clocked up A64 can push past the envelope that a stock MkI is able to cool with fans at idle speed... and you don't mention what CPU etc you are using...

[Exempt]

wow awesome response! :)

The CPU and clock is running at the same speed that is has been for about 6 months now, so its not that any other variables have been changed. The unit currently upon boot (which last night would not even boot up at all till about 10 attempts pressing the power button on my computer ) The unit still waits till the factory preset of -33, then it boots up, a few minutes after the unit has been on, the fans sloooooow down to where i can visually see (through the plxiglass window on the side of it), the fan blades moving slooooowly. .... front and back. so in return the unit starts to heat up like a mofo....leading to the er3 and hence the unit shuts down the computer. If the fans didnt slow down, the unit would not get hot. I opened her up and took a look inside, made sure that the wires were connected securely, and cleaned out the dust inside it. but everything looked good under a visual inspection. Sometimes, but very rarely, I can see a shift in brightness in my cathodes, they get brighter all of a sudden, and i hear the unit make a click noise, and the fans kick right back up into full speed. I was thinking , "hey maybe my PSU isnt giving it enough juice", but the fact that I have a 550 watt antec PSU , and plus the fact that it has been running the EXACT same way, with no changing variables for the last few months, make me realize something is wrong with my first "baby".... my second baby the mach II, runs like a champ, so it cant be the power to the room.....

Some of my hasty solutions were to replace the fans inside them, and just run the fans off my PSU instead of hooking them up inside the mach I unit. But I figured, its best to have it work the first way before I go changing things around. BTW its kinda hard to understand the NVENTIV manual on how to change the settings lol

[Exempt]

ohh btw, computer is:

intel P4 3.0@4.0ghz~ 1gb corsair xms4400, chaintech 9cjs Zenith mobo, 9800xt 256mb, 2x WD raptors 74gb RAID 0 . audigy card.

but it runs same damn temps and still has the fans problems (er3) with the CPU at stock speed.

[Marci]

Yep, you could run the fans off the PC PSU... now, a word on the Antec 550w... at what temp is the PSU? As soon as the PSU is above approx 30deg C you'll find it's output drops to around 420w... as it gets up to 50deg C it'll drop to about 380w... all PSUs do...

Not that that'll be anything to do with the problem tho... I digress...

Sounds like you need to keep those fans at full tilt at all times to me bro... do as I said with the fan set points St2 and P2 and see how the unit runs with the fans going full all the time...

If it works fine then that rules out anything other than a controller / electronics problem.

Also, take a vacuum cleaner to the front of he condenser as if it's clogged wih dust it'll get hot quick. Also if you have a cathode mounted anywhere near the condenser then the cathode may ambiently heat the thermister attached to the condenser causing the error for non-prommi related reasons.

The click you're hearing will be the prommi reaching the p2 defined limit (St2 + P2) and knocking the fans back up to full tilt by switching the relay....

So first thing to do is definitely set St2 and P2 as above just to see if it cures it. If fans then continue to slow to a stop at any point then there is an electronics problem in there, as there shouldn't be anything telling them to slow down once those parameters are set... leaving electrics / electronics as the only cause... (I think!)

[herefishy]

Could the *click* be the compressor overload?

That was my first thought....

[Marci]

The entire cooling system would shut down in that scenario, rather than keeping going and just the fans slowing down... (I think). Could do with JC droppin by and confirming the above...

[Exempt]

OK today I started her up and she works perfectly fine. so far... and now my cathodes in my comptuer are nice and bright once again, this is the most annoying problem. :( .....


btw to clarify some of the other questions posted, if the unit gets to hot, it automatically shuts down, even exits windows properly :). The problem, was (most likely still is) that the fans would slow down to an almost halt, making the condensor get hot (no air flow), thats when it would shut down the computer, when all it needed was the fans to run again. Irregardless, I am going to replace the sunon fans, which push about 84cfm at 35db ... I found some ones by ys tech, 120mmx38mm (same size as the existing sunon), that push an amazing 130cfm at 45db. The thing is, I cant even hear the sunons atm, so another 10db wont hurt my ears to much... and thats a very nice increase in CFM.

[PyroTeknik]

8db is double the noise i believe so 10 would be like 2.25 times the current noise

[Gary Lloyd]

...and just run the fans off my PSU instead of hooking them up inside the mach I unit.

Did that solve the problem?

[Gary Lloyd]

By process of elimination, if both fans slow down together, it must be something that the fans have in common. The fans have the controller in common and the power supply in common.

If you hook the fans directly to the power supply and they slow down, then the problem must be in the power supply.

If they do not slow down, then the problem must be in the controller.

[Gleep]

Originally posted by PyroTeknik
8db is double the noise i believe so 10 would be like 2.25 times the current noise
The decibel scale is logarithmic. So an increase of 3db is twice as loud, 10db is ten times as loud. 45db is a little quietier than a normal conversation, but a fan rated at 45db is normally rated with no airflow resistance, they get louder when there is resistance (like pulling air thru a condensor). I think you could notice the difference, but that doesn't mean it would be annoying, everyones tolerance for noise is different.

[Exempt]

well its been on and off for two days now, the mach I unit, I dont get a chance to sit there and really use, since I tend to favor my mach II unit computer much more, but I let my younger cousin play desert combat on it for about 8 hours and it never got hot when I peeped over my shoulder. Whatever it was, seems to have corrected itself, which kinda is the bad part, cause it will probaly go down when Im not around to see it, or when i really need to use that computer. Yes both fans in the unit would get slow at the same time, but I never hooked them up to the computers PSU directly, because the fans inside the mach I unit have a tiny capacitor soldered to the end of them, so it would be a pain to take them off and hook them up then re solder them back on. But I have taken out the variable that I had thought the sunon fans in there might be dead or broken, this cannot be ...due to the fact that they are now running fine again. Its something to do with power distribution, cause lilke I said, all the cathodes in my entire computer were very dull, and not as bright, and now there all back to normal. I still have yet to find out what the problem was... :(