Mitch, Usually the case fans are powered from cables that also run the disk drives. There are two sizes of connectors used, the larger 3 pin units are for some hard drives, some CDroms and for the old 5 in floppies. The smaller connectors are also 3 pin ones and work almsot all modern drives. The fan usually comes with a cable having either 2 or 3 wires and a matching connector on the end which can be plugged into any free disk drive connector. The cables holding these disk drive power connectors come directlly from the power supply, not from the main "mother' board.
Usually case fans are mounted with screws through the case side that have either a nut or thread directly into the fan. Some snap in. You need the correct physical size and matching mounting holes and the correct number of wires. It will most likely take sighted help to figure out what to order from pictures. As makers and part numbers are so many and various, finding part numbers is the hard way to go. Once you get the right fan, replacing it shouldn't be a deal if you have any experience being inside computer cases at all. Basic rule for most computer stuff, if it fits easilly, it's probably correct, and if it doesn't fit, don't force it. tom Fowle On Mon, Jun 08, 2009 at 08:36:23AM -0700, Dave Mitchell wrote: > Greetings All: The fan that exhausts to the side in my desktop computer is > failing. > Are these just plug-in units? > I have not explored further but I would appreciate tips from anyone who has > replaced a fan. > Thanks, Mitch > "Slump? I ain't in no slump... I just ain't hittin'." Yogi Berra > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >
