@Philip, It's not the fan noise she hears, it's because I turn up the volume to hear the RX, she can't hear her soaps :)
I do have a separation kit but my shack is in the (small) spare bedroom so I'd still hear it. Other radios I've had (and linear amps, PSU's etc.) the fan only comes on when they got warm, so not straight away, this radio could do with a thermal sensor like the other kit. I did think of putting a resistor inline to slow it down, but I don't want to damage the radio, I know 'heat is the enemy' for any electronic components whatever the device, it just seems a bit overkill tbh.
The noise is fan motor noise not airflow noise. Maybe it's getting old and needs replacing perhaps. It is a Japanese made model and bought second hand, made by Vertex Standard. No idea how old it is, serial no. is 71790151 if that helps. Doesn't say 'D' on it anywhere either though, just 'FT-857' on the front and underneath, I haven't checked the box. The previous owner used it as a holiday (vacation) radio and it only came out the box for two weeks of the year, maybe they didn't notice or didn't mind, but it's been looked after and even had the filter change done by the suppliers, got all the receipts with it as well.
I was hoping it was a common problem and an easy fix, I know you can get quieter PC fans, arctic cooler for graphics cards and CPU's for instance, but seeing as I only have short overs usually and lowish power (never had it up full) it does get a little annoying. It is a tiny fan so maybe it's being thrashed that wears it out quicker, I've had similar sized fans on hard disk caddy's in computers but never had the noise problem with those, that's why I asked.
