Power Mac G4 Quicksilver main case fan replacement

mac27

Tinkerer
Apr 30, 2024
124
142
43
Virginia, USA
www.mac27.net
Just documenting a quick little repair/maintenance item I took care of today. The main case fan in my Quicksilver was nice and quiet, but it had developed a really annoying rattle with age. I found a suitable replacement on Amazon that has the right dimensions (120mm x 120mm x 25mm).

The original fan only had two wires with a dual-pin connector, so I had to chop that off and solder it onto the new fan's cabling. The new fan had a three-wire harness but the third wire is just a signal cable that these old machines don't use.

The new one fit right in and works well. It is a bit louder than the old one (kinda sounds like an MDD now), so if anyone has recommendations for a different model that's quieter I'd be up for swapping it out again in the future. But other than that, it was a pretty painless job.

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New fan (left) and orignal fan (right) that had two-pin connector which has to be cut off and soldered onto the new harness.

IMG_1709.jpeg


Installed back into the QS case.
 

greenmachine

New Tinkerer
Nov 23, 2025
12
18
3
Just documenting a quick little repair/maintenance item I took care of today. The main case fan in my Quicksilver was nice and quiet, but it had developed a really annoying rattle with age. I found a suitable replacement on Amazon that has the right dimensions (120mm x 120mm x 25mm).

The original fan only had two wires with a dual-pin connector, so I had to chop that off and solder it onto the new fan's cabling. The new fan had a three-wire harness but the third wire is just a signal cable that these old machines don't use.

The new one fit right in and works well. It is a bit louder than the old one (kinda sounds like an MDD now), so if anyone has recommendations for a different model that's quieter I'd be up for swapping it out again in the future. But other than that, it was a pretty painless job.

View attachment 25932 View attachment 25933

New fan (left) and orignal fan (right) that had two-pin connector which has to be cut off and soldered onto the new harness.

View attachment 25934

Installed back into the QS case.

Aftermarket fans are really hit or miss with noise. Noctua is always a solid choice if you don't mind the odd color scheme, and they often include an adapter to lower the RPM. The OEM fan has a built in thermistor to vary the RPM and that helps a good bit with noise.

Here's two of the OEM fans new on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1415944119...OUb7IkUWjhvkH/5q3PLLlDRg==|tkp:Bk9SR_j8l_D1Zg
 
Last edited:

mac27

Tinkerer
Apr 30, 2024
124
142
43
Virginia, USA
www.mac27.net
Aftermarket fans are really hit or miss with noise. Noctua is always a solid choice if you don't mind the odd color scheme, and they often include an adapter to lower the RPM. The OEM fan has a built in thermistor to vary the RPM and that helps a good bit with noise.

Here's two of the OEM fans new on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/141594411955?_skw=WFC121B+fan&itmmeta=01KEQG5ZSMS04S90C6JCRHVW2G&itmprp=enc:AQAKAAAAwFkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cXwdNoCTOC8amIqafcUvUzFOEmXZCM7whiHn1qwTylvAfK/Y1T0Nqcds+ySISU3YcCHR/8qi8lng++VbKTx+I5buSSzLcJ/yHSaFOPS8s2SsXxMt01oVcGhVBc9KlNqUa8BRlV7ZNcFElVDFG6Focf76IgsAVRzZHDikb5zVwStkKJiQ+fM8iJ2Igpmr14EQz0JH7ATTxAO7HLDJygKvOUb7IkUWjhvkH/5q3PLLlDRg==|tkp:Bk9SR_j8l_D1Zg
Thanks, I'd assumed NOS OEM parts wouldn't be available, but nope. I picked up one of these lots and will try that out instead.
 
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