A small update, but wow this thing runs hot. By design, the Time Capsule doesn't run its fan unless it detects an emergency over-temp situation, which is some stupidly high figure well beyond the critical failure point. For the moment I've removed the control wire from the fan to allow the fan to spin, albeit at maximum speed so it's not exactly quiet, but it's super cool.

I did it in a non-destructive manner as well, if the control wire ever needs to be reconnected, it can just be slotted back into the connector block (but in all honesty, I'd rather just replace the fan as this one isn't in great shape and I have a spare).

I can't actually use this Time Capsule for anything due to the nature of its mods and the amount of heat (or noise, now) that it generates. Maybe if I ran it without an internal hard disk, with a 2.5" Hard Disk or a Solid State Drive, it would be perfect. It's been an excellent experiment though none the less, and what this has taught me is that the Time Capsule is an absolutely horribly designed piece of equipment. The drive mounts are awful. The amount of destruction needed to open it is shocking. The heat generated by the unit, the failure to dissipate that heat and the fact that the fan doesn't run at all in normal operation is jaw-droppingly bad and the failure rate associated proves this.

I wouldn't have purchased one brand new, that's for sure. However the AirPort Extreme is fine, as is the AirPort Express - neither of them have to drive a 12v rail and neither of them have hard disk drives inside.

However, the Time Capsule enclosure would make for a very interesting little housing for a spare MacBook Logic Board. Just sayin'.