Tomshine Moving Head Replacement Fan

kenact

kenact

Active Member
I recently picked up 3 Tomshine 30w Moving Heads. They work fine, but don't include things like an adjustable iris, and they use a color wheel, so they aren't the most flexible.

The only real problem I have are the fans for the light. They are "High Speed 12v 60mm 6015 60X15mm DC 2Pin Brushless Cooling Fan Exhaust IDE Fans". In a 30'x40' theater, with 20' ceilings, the entire audience can hear the three fans running. I'd like to find a suitable QUIET replacement, but I'm not sure where to look. I've started searching, but search engines these days are less than efficient. I visited GDSTime, the manufacturer of an identical replacement fan, but it's identically loud.

I've also visited sites like Noctua and Thermaltake, but I don't think Noctua makes anything that small and Thermaltake doesn't make any 2 pin fans.

Does anyone have a good resource for fans?

Thanks
 
It's a lot harder to make small fans quiet--especially for a given amount of airflow. Also, the third pin on PC fans is just speed feedback, and they'll run just fine without that one being connected.

With a more reputable manufacturer, I would be very hesitant to mess with their thermal design, but in this case the "engineering" probably just consisted of sticking a fan on it and seeing if anything melted, so... maybe look for a way to modify the fixture to use a larger fan? If possible, that could yield similar airflow with less noise.
 
Noctua is the gold standard, but it looks like they only make a 25mm thick 60mm fan. If that would fit it would be a good, but expensive option.

For something like this I would look at places like digikey, mouser, etc. You'll at least get something that is a decent brand name, and can sort by noise, cfm, etc. Here is a digikey link that will hopefully take you to their 60x15mm fans. https://www.digikey.com/en/products...17?s=N4IgTCBcDaIGwAYAeBGArAWwwAgGYEMA7EAXQF8g
 
techieman33 said:
Noctua is the gold standard, but it looks like they only make a 25mm thick 60mm fan. If that would fit it would be a good, but expensive option.

For something like this I would look at places like digikey, mouser, etc. You'll at least get something that is a decent brand name, and can sort by noise, cfm, etc. Here is a digikey link that will hopefully take you to their 60x15mm fans. https://www.digikey.com/en/products...17?s=N4IgTCBcDaIGwAYAeBGArAWwwAgGYEMA7EAXQF8g
Click to expand...
Your link works. :)
 
A lot of movers I work in have Sunon MagLev fans, if you can find those, I highly recommend. You gotta make sure the new fan isn't gonna suck down more current than the old one and toast the driver tho.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'd already been through Mouser & Digikey. Both included my existing fan and any others that match those specs, are just as loud, including a MagLev.

What I might try is Malabaristo's suggestion. I think I can fit a deeper fan (15mm currently), as long as I don't have a clearance problem with the yolk.
 
kenact said:
What I might try is Malabaristo's suggestion. I think I can fit a deeper fan (15mm currently), as long as I don't have a clearance problem with the yolk.
Click to expand...

I mostly meant bigger diameter rather than depth, but if deeper lets you use a better product (Noctua), then it might be enough of a difference.
 
Malabaristo said:
I mostly meant bigger diameter rather than depth, but if deeper lets you use a better product (Noctua), then it might be enough of a difference.
Click to expand...
I've done some checking and, all things being equal, greater depth will give me the same cooling ability at a lower dB. The compartment wouldn't easily allow for a fan greater than 60x60.
 
It may be worth doing some thermal testing as well to see if you actually need that much cooling. It is possible that the cooling system was not actually performance engineered and they just installed what ever fan was the cheapest at the wholesale market that day and the fan may be more powerful than required.
 
I do know that without a working fan, the light will stay on for about half an hour. Of course I found that out by accident, hanging the light without realizing the fan wasn't working. 😁
 
Dover said:
It may be worth doing some thermal testing as well to see if you actually need that much cooling. It is possible that the cooling system was not actually performance engineered and they just installed what ever fan was the cheapest at the wholesale market that day and the fan may be more powerful than required.
Click to expand...

A fixture may tolerate the extra heat. Odds are that the extra heat will end up shortening the life of the fixture though.
 
kenact said:
Are you suggesting I euthanize my new fixtures? :)
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If the show fits...

I'm primarily an audio person so fan noise is a really big deal these days, and on musicals where I might have a 30 open mics on actors, scores of fans just make my ears cringe. I appreciate your attempts to quiet your fixtures.

Tomshine and other brands reinforce my notion that there seem to be infinite opportunitiess to screw up fixture designs.
 
TimMc said:
If the show fits...

I'm primarily an audio person so fan noise is a really big deal these days, and on musicals where I might have a 30 open mics on actors, scores of fans just make my ears cringe.
Click to expand...
If it's any consolation, I'm first a singer/guitarist for over 50 years, which makes me acutely aware of the audio aspect of theater. Which is why I want these to be quieter.
 
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