Bruninho wrote on 2021-03-07, 22:20:
Had to bury and wave a goodbye to an Acer Extensa 710T from early/mid 90's, the first notebook we've had in our family. It was simply completely dead and destroyed by the passing of time (30+ years).
That computer marked my first interaction with Microsoft Windows 95.
Nothing salvageable? I guess at the time, the only non-proprietary thing would have been the hard disk.
I finally addressed my cooling issue in my MMX. For the longest time, I ran it with the case open, as the 15000 RPM drive ran HOT and so did the rest of the system (the one time I dared to close it up, after 45 minutes, the drive clicked and powered back up - INSTANT hard power off. The cooling fan I had provided underneath it failed. But because my two year old is curious and has little fingers (the high speed CPU fan will tear the fleshy bits of skin off if he touches it) and also likes putting metal cars everywhere, I decided that I need to go ahead with this. Space is very scarce and this is the only place for the fan.
So, I marked off a template on where to fit this 120mm fan, measured it out and translated it onto the case cover, then drilled the mounting holes:

Then I cut out a pizza in 4 cuts through the centre with a grinder, then carefully nicked the outer edges. I then used large pliers to fatigue the metal, breaking off the slices. I used an end mill bit on a dremel to fine tune the circle, then a stone to attempt to make it as round as possible:


Then I hit it with a small drum sander to deburr it:

From both sides. I manually filed off what was left.

I then shot some white paint from the inside along the lip to coat it and prevent rust. I used the same paint on the fan mesh.
While I was in there, I reversed the flow of the CPU cooler so it pulls air up, so it matches the direction of the fan that's cooling the hard disk, centimeters away from it. This 120mm fan is positioned to pull air out, which works with the local fan direction. The only issue is that the PSU ALSO pulls air out. I will address that when I put in a good quality ATX power supply to replace this original unit.

Came out OK. I have to touch up some minor spots where the end mill scratched up the case slightly. Mostly for corrosion protection.
I didn't realize it had LEDS in it until I put it all together:

I'm not sure how I feel about them, but they're there. Can't really see them with the lights on though:

I'm just happy I can bring it up to my retro corner and plug it into my KVM and start using it in my new setup 😁
Youtube channel- The Kombinator
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