ADDING A FAN TO THE SX-64

     There is enough room inside the SX to install a 2" fan. It only involves removing the top cover. No holes need be drilled in the case, and power is readily available from the 12 volt source feeding the internal monitor. The idea is to aid the normal convection of warm air upwards to the outside through the top cover. The fan will be mounted near (but -not- fastened to) the top cover, in the space between the speaker and the cartridge port. Since the top cover has many small ventilation holes, you want the fan positioned at least an inch away from it, and aimed to blow air upwards. If it were up against the panel, only a small amount of air could flow through a few small holes directly in front of the fan. I don't know of anyone who wants to drill holes in their SX.
     If you've never had your SX apart: remove four phillips screws (two on each side rear) that hold the two long, slender louvered side panels. The panels then slide out to the rear of the case. That exposes the mounting screws for the top and bottom covers. Remove the six screws (three on each side) holding the top cover and two more larger ones at the rear right and left sides near the top... and lift the cover up and off the computer.      There are several ways you can mount the fan. I considered glue, making mounting brackets, etc. Nah. Too much work. I soldered the ends of two pieces of heavy solid buss wire to the metal shield that surrounds the monitor. With the ends of these wires sticking upwards, I slid the fan over the wires, poking them through the fans mounting holes, and bent them over at the top. The wires are stiff enough to hold the fan in place, and the fan can be easily removed again if necessary. Don't mount the fan too low in that opening, by the way. Watch out for the black wire that goes to the disk drive head! If the fan snags it, it will stop the fan and/or chew up the wire. Don't tie the wire down... it is the cable for the drive head, and it -must- be free to move back and forth with the head assembly.      Power for the fan can be taken from a connector at the left edge of the computer. Locate a two pin connector (white plastic plug and socket about 1 inch long) labeled J1. The two wires are color coded brown and black... brown is the +12 source and black is ground. This is the power source for the monitor. The red (+) fan wire goes to the brown plug wire, and the black (-) fan wire goes to the black plug wire. You can trim off the insulation a bit on the wires of one of the connectors to attach your fan wires, or just poke the bared ends of the fan wires into the connector (as long as it makes a good connection, that's fine). If you trim the insulation from the plug wires to make the connections, be sure to insulate them with tape so they will not short together or to any other components. Route any excess wire towards the rear of the computer and tuck it in the space behind the monitor electronics package.

Ray Carlsen