If, like me, you find the internal fan in your Apache Labs Anan G2 (or either of the G2 Ultra models) several dB louder than the OM’s you hear grumbling late at night on top band, then you might want to consider an upgrade. This quick and dirty guide will describe how I upgraded the fan in my Anan G2 to a quieter, more efficient model.
It should be noted here that it's not just a simple remove, swap and replace - there is a little bit of fiddling required here and there, but nothing anyone reading this wouldn't be easily capable of sorting.
I can confirm that the fans in the Anan G2 (my model) and the G2 Ultra 8″ models are 5V, but I’m not specifically sure about the G2 Ultra 7″ – one would assume the same size fan is used, but you’d best check prior to ordering to be on the safe side). When you’re searching for your replacement please ensure you select the 5V version of whichever model you have opted for. I went for the Noctua NF-A12x25 5V 120mm Premium Fan shown in the image, and ordered next day delivery from Amazon here in the UK.
This fan doesn’t come with the correct connector for the G2 board, but it does come with a few cables and connectors that can be used. I simply cut the cable from the original fan about half way, which meant that after a little soldering I could then reuse that original connector to attach the new fan to the main G2 board.
The screws holding the fan to the case are T8 Torx (I have this set from amazon UK) and they are also held in place using some form of thread-lock compound, so care should be taken when removing them. Here’s the fan as it is in-situ on the top part of the G2 case – you can see the white connector block that attaches to the G2 board. It is possible to pry the pins out of this connector and insert the pins from the new fan into it, but I wanted to reuse this connector as-is, so simply cut the cable half way and soldered the +ve and -ve from the new cable to it.
Note: I did include a 10A10 Schottky diode inline with the +ve to reduce the voltage without limiting the current, and thus reducing the fan speed. This is the Noctua fan in-situ and you can see I have the Schottky diode shrink-wrapped in the +ve supply. The original G2 fan draws air from outside and pulls it into the transceiver so when mounting the Noctua Fan be sure to have replicated the air flow direction – which should be from the outside and into the G2. There is an arrow on the outside of the fan casing that indicates air flow direction.
As there is a significant increase in the volume of air flow into the case, I thought it best to also order some filters to sit on the outside of the G2 – these are the ones I ordered, again from Amazon UK. After completing this little mod the sound of the fan is significantly reduced, quite a noticeable reduction for me.
Well there you go, a very simple and quick mod that will significantly quieten the fan in your G2.