Icom IC-7300 Fan Replacement - Install and Sound Comparison

Comparison between the two fans on the icom ic-7300
Link to fan: www.amazon.com...
Description: Noctua NF-A8 PWM chromax.Black.swap, Premium Quiet Fan, 4-Pin (80mm, Black)

[@sincerelyyours7538]

Noctua makes excellent fans. I have two of them in the 14 year old PC I'm writing this on and they're whisper quiet even now. I think, however, that much of their secret is in the soft rubber shock mounts they use. Less resonance through the case means less noise for the operator. Given the drop in CFM I think I will try the rubber mounts first in my 7300, then go to the Noctua fans if that proves less than satisfactory. Thanks for the review.

[@maurasmith-mitsky762]

This was a great video. When I saw that the wire connectors differed between fans, I wondered what you would do. Now I know. Shared this link with my club.

[@andrewchurchley6779]

Compliments on the clarity of your description and images. Very well-paced indeed. G4EAQ.

[@Bernard-John]

Hi,good video, well explained, my Icom ic 7300 cooling fan, the radio is round 18 months old, I don't notice the noise of the fan, maybe there was a bad batch of cooling fans, keep up the good work 👍, thanks from Rotterdam.

[@DK5ONV]

I got the beige colored noctua fans. That's cooling performance of it's finest. I need to put my ears on the lid of the TRX to notice to fans are running as they should. HI... nice video. 73's de Günter

[@johnratcliffe6438]

I use Noctua fans in my gaming PCs. Superb...

[@cnick6]

I did the same thing for my (ex) Kenwood D710GA. The experience was detailed on the QRZ forums. It was WAY too loud for APRS 24/7 operation and I used a small Noctua fan as a replacement. Man what a difference. Very similar to your experience. I wish these manufacturer's would spend a few pennies more and use a quality fan. ;o)

[@morejelloplease]

Hi Nick! yeah i'm not sure why they don't spend a little more time in the R&D department to select a fan that's sufficient in airflow and is quiet. If it was a commercial piece or gear being mounted in a rack at a repeater site then it wouldn't matter as much. I even sold off an astron 70 because of the noisy fan.

[@MrMikesMondoVideo]

LOL If you and the OP had a clue, you'd know how you're both embarrassing yourself with comments like this. Begin with learning the difference between dB and CFM.

[@GastoNet]

Thank you so much for the time and dedication doing this extremely clear and useful video. 73 de LU5AGQ

[@CampervanCookout]

Many in our club have adapted 9700 to have fan on low all the time rather than ramping up.

[@morejelloplease]

Is it finally an option via firmware upgrade?, I had a 9700 for a short time, I don't recall it doing that. Must be different fan control firmware for the 7300.

[@CampervanCookout]

@@morejelloplease it’s not as loud but I asked the guy from my club, apparently on 9700 it caused the freq to become unstable on 70cm and even worse on 23cm. Sorry seems not same thing, my mistake.

[@morejelloplease]

@@CampervanCookout that's why I sold my 9700, fancy radio that won't even receive out of band and drifts way too much, it's even noticeable on 2m ssb. A GPS reference oscillator is a must.

[@garyseward7058]

GOOD JOB WELL DONE ✔ FROM GARY 73 MY FRIEND

[@alan4cars]

Thank you!

[@smitty2721]

The 7300 fan noise has never bothered me. Maybe it is because I am hard of hearing at 76 yrs. But the Astron power supply fan did bother me, as it ran all the time. I changed it out for a quieter one and added a temperature controller to it.

[@morejelloplease]

Yeah my astron vs70m sounded like I was sitting in a computer server room it was so loud. The icom would cycle every time you key the rig. When you are talking in a rag chew group it gets annoying quick, like a fan clutch on a garage truck coming up the hill.

[@sammyairlines9307]

Nice video Jello. Do you think you could have gotten an acceptable reduction in noise with the original fan by putting vibration dampers on it? That was quite a change when you added them to the new fan.

[@morejelloplease]

I don't, i think it's the design of the blade, rpm, cfm, etc that contributed to the noise. i've been watching the temps and so far so good.

[@AirwavesAmateurRadio]

Great video. Need to do it to mine. 73 K5PO

[@donaldsmith3048]

If the sound of fan is the biggest problem I have, I am damn Lucky!

[@morejelloplease]

not bad for an "I Can Only Monitor" radio :)

[@f4isb689]

Cool 👍

[@Bignose175]

i love my fan. i will never change it

[@morejelloplease]

the OEM fan? interestingly enough, my 9700 and 7610 stock fans are much quieter.

[@slashzero4514]

@@morejelloplease I agree. The stock OEM fan on my 7300 is the same identical fan in my stock 7610. Part no. FD128025 HB-N. Although the stock 7610 fan is just a bit quieter than the 7300, still too noisy for me. The 7610 stock fan is probably fed with less voltage is just my guess why it's a tad quieter. Thank you More Jello and Noctua

[@morejelloplease]

@@slashzero4514 It has everything to do with the circuit that drives the fan. icom dropped the ball here since the 9700 and 7610 aren't this noisy during startup. either they can't adjust this via firmware update or they haven't received enough complaints. i like how certain model yaesus will give you the option to run the fan in normal mode or contest mode. fancy SDR radio and we can't even control the fan :)

[@user.A9]

Since Noctua is less CFM, how about just reduce the speed of the existing fan with a resistor instead?

[@morejelloplease]

You could build an external speed controller and leave the stock fan in if you like

[@user.A9]

@@morejelloplease controller with a thermistor.

[@Jeeptalkshow]

I didn't hear any mention of CFM, maybe I missed it. Certainly a fan with a higher CFM can be louder. Is this replacement fan moving the same amount of air?

[@morejelloplease]

yeah you missed it, along with my disclaimer of use at your own risk. no it moves about 1/3 less air, still fine for SSB, if you use RTTY you may want to keep an eye on the temp gauge.

[@Jeeptalkshow]

@Kim Davis How is this helpful? If something upsets you on the Internet, just think bad thoughts and move along. Geez!

[@rogerodell955]

Do you know what the pin spacing of the connector? It looks like a JST connector, but there are three sizes: 1.25mm, 2.0mm and 2.5mm.

[@morejelloplease]

I don't, I assume you're talking about the power connector on the icom.

[@davidleblanc8467]

What's the clicking sound when you transmit? That's nearly as irritating as the fan noise.

[@morejelloplease]

i'm just pulsing the transmit via foot switch, those are the actual relays in the radio, not the foot switch. my intent was to demonstrate that the fans sounds like a mac truck when you simply blip the transmit. when you stay keyed, they ramp up, then settle down, but eventually ramp back up again.

[@ricksmith480]

what gauge wire did you use for replacement? I'm thinking 22awg? 73's

[@morejelloplease]

i used the stock red/blk wire and soldered it to the fan.

[@Markinpuff]

Whats the connector type that goes to the radio, I would rather keep the stock fan intact.

[@morejelloplease]

not sure, standard 2 pin mini molex?

[@samiam9059]

A bigger better speaker makes it a better radio also.

[@morejelloplease]

and more butter makes it better too.

[@samiam9059]

@@morejelloplease sure...

[@morejelloplease]

@@samiam9059 exactly my thoughts

[@samiam9059]

@@morejelloplease The speaker is terrible compared to just about any other alternative for long term listening.

[@morejelloplease]

@@samiam9059 ahh gotcha, wasn't sure where you were going with that :) all these radios are getting smaller, and so are the matching speakers. i sold my icom external speaker, looks cool, sounds like crap lol. the 7610 has a decent speaker actually, in it's own enclosure.

[@johnq8792]

I only need 35% of my 7300 power to feed into my amplifier to get out 600 Watt and 35% does not make the internal fan loud.

[@morejelloplease]

either there was a firmware update (doubtful), you have a different fan , or you can't hear the fan noise as it's probably being drowned out by other noise in your shack. the power could be at 1 or 100, as soon as you key it, the fan ramps up which sounds like a trash truck coming down your street.

[@johnq8792]

@@morejelloplease ...I hardly hear my fan, it's not as loud as yours, I don't know why.

[@ronknight3417]

my fan is very quiet perhaps on uk radios they are not the same

[@morejelloplease]

they may have selected a different batch of fans. see if you can snap a photo or write the make/model of your fan and post it :)

[@ronknight3417]

@Michael Harrison well i dont know Michael but mine isnt, very quiet in fact perhaps just lucky, good radio though

[@vu3mes]

Even after hours and hours of use my 7300 fan is quiet even on transmit.

[@morejelloplease]

make a video, maybe you have a different fan.

[@vu3mes]

@@morejelloplease sure even after continuous use of 6 hours the bar remains with 4 stripes only.

[@johnbeaurain1567]

Modification DANGEREUSE pour le poste, bien sûr que ce nouveau ventilateur fait moins de bruit puisque son débit d'air est de 55m3/h contre 70.68m3/h sur la version originale. Un exemple à ne pas suivre, si les ingénieurs de ICOM ont prévus d'installer un ventilateur avec ce débit d'air c'est qu'il y a une raison, à vouloir jouer les apprentis sorcier on fini par tout casser. La bonne modification serait de trouver un ventilateur avec le même débit d'air tout en faisant moins de bruit...pas simple de vouloir être meilleur que le créateur HI !

[@morejelloplease]

All I could understand was "icom"

[@johnbeaurain1567]

@@morejelloplease English translate "DANGEROUS modification for the station, of course this new fan makes less noise since its air flow is 55m3 / h against 70.68m3 / h on the original version. An example not to follow, if the engineers at ICOM have planned to install a fan with this air flow, it is because there is a reason, to want to play the sorcerer's apprentice we ended up breaking everything. The good modification would be to find a fan with the same airflow while making less noise ... not easy to want to be better than the creator HI!"

[@morejelloplease]

@@johnbeaurain1567 yes the airflow is slightly less as indicated, and I also said perform at your own risk. If you are using this during a field day event in 100 degree weather using RTTY at full power then airflow may be an issue, it just depends on how you operate your equipment. For me I was using it for ssb rag chew and never had an issue, also if you are running reduced power to drive an amp it should be fine. If the radio gets warm, the fan will stay running after you unkey, and only for a few seconds but usually it stops as soon as I unkey, so I was comfortable with its operation. I sold this radio long time ago, if I'm not mistaken there's a temperature gage in the menu or maybe I'm confusing it with my 7610 , which by the way did not have a noisy fan and if it did I would still perform the same modification with a similar fan. Tinkering is a big part of this hobby. Just like cars, some people modify them some people don't - if it's not your cup of tea then don't drink it. :)

[@ronstar7027]

Why couldn't you just HOLD the damn key down and let us hear it RUN?????

[@morejelloplease]

did you watch the entire video? i let it get up to speed and unkeyed, i even let it come to a complete stop, try headphones.

[@MrMikesMondoVideo]

Congratulations, you now have less CFM. You know what would really make it quiet... no fan. Try that. LMAO

[@morejelloplease]

Want a cookie?

[@MrMikesMondoVideo]

@@morejelloplease I'm just here for the laughs.