OC & Modding How to maintain you fans! and how to take them apart!

D

de.das.dude

Disciple
[note:- this was originally posted by me at techpowerup. but due to the success over there, i put it up here too]

Its common for fans to grow old and start making screeching or scratchy noises.
Their RPMs drop and so does their performance.
So how do you fix this?

Simple.

i have used an old case fan(3years old).
specifications are.
max rpm = 2800
voltage = 12V
Current = 0.25A
3 wire fan.

The patient:
Image002.jpg


First step is to remove the sticker that sits on top. In the picture below, you can see that i am peeling it off.
Image003.jpg


Notice the rubber or plastic cap that sits in the middle. your next task is to remove it.
You can see this more clearly in the previous pic.
Image004.jpg

In this next pic you can see the cap has been removed. The other descriptions are given in the pic.
Image013.jpg


The washer is a key component in dissecting the fan. It is white, but the grease makes it yellow :p

You need to take the washer out somehow.
The washer is generally a C shaped ring with a cut on one side. this cut is for easy fitting of the washer onto the axle. Even if some fans have this washer, there are other round washers below this C shaped one. be careful not to loose those. Loosing them will make you fan wobbly and/or unstable.

If you are doing maintenance, stop messing with the fan at this step.
Just add two drops of hair oil, or use petroleum jelly or grease.
Put the cap back and the sticker. thats done.
Try it now. If the screeching sound persists, continue...

you can see the cut in this pic(not very clear though):
Image014.jpg


So i got that washer off with the help of a tweezers.
when you are removing this make sure your fan is placed on something. if the fan blades drop, they can break.
Image016.jpg


Time for the frame lift-off!
Image017.jpg


You can see the coils in this pic with the frame turned upside down
Image019.jpg

dont mess with this. Please.
The blades portion of the fan:
Image018.jpg

For those who still have the screetching or scratchy noise after greasing, on dis-assembling the fan completely, clean the axle with ethanol(or spirit or alcohol). clean the hole with ethanol too. Which hole??
Image019745.jpg

Then put everything back again, in order, grease the fan, and put on the cap.

PWND!
Hope this helped ya fix em ol fans!
cheers
:hap2:

keep modding!:jason:

if you have any problem understanding/performing one of these steps, just put a post
 
I have done that for a couple of Fans. The only problem is that the repair is somewhat temporary. I guess there is some mechanical wear out that is the root cause of the problem. Or maybe we possibly can't oil it properly. There is a sleeve bearing inside. It has micro pores to absorb oil. But oil does not go inside it because of trapped air. The sleeve bearing manufacturer Dips it in Oil under Vacuum. This oil is slowly released during the lifetime of the product.

The fans work for about 6 months as compared to 3 years of a new fan. But I still do it because some fans found in Expensive equipments are difficult to Find.
 
i use castrol AP-3 grease from protector series. they seem to work fine.
1 thing i wanna add is that its better to oil/grease before the fan uses up all the grease.
then you wont have the problem stated in the above post.
 
ok suggest something for my scenario.

i have old amd proccy fan (3yrs old). on my downloding system. It use to do 4500+ rpm but now its just 3500 or 3800.

Anyway to bring back its original RPM value?

The setup is still same)same mobo/proccy n everything)
 
yup grease would last longer specially in this sort of application , even in bikes the high speed rotating parts , the axles of the 2 wheels are majorly greased they dont bother with oil as its too thin and wont last as long. since these are fans oil would probably be ok still but grease does sound like the better option.
 
never ever use coconut oil!!
use vaseline or an white petroleum jelly if you want!

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---
ronit said:
ok suggest something for my scenario.

i have old amd proccy fan (3yrs old). on my downloding system. It use to do 4500+ rpm but now its just 3500 or 3800.

Anyway to bring back its original RPM value?

The setup is still same)same mobo/proccy n everything)
Click to expand...
try this method.
i think if your fan is too old, it might be the coils have their properties or maybe the ring(at the center of the blades) has lost its ferro-magnetic qualities.
 
nice article. i was curious to know how to open up one of these fans but didn't try since all of them (the ones i have) work perfectly even now.
 
Thanks for nice tutorial.
Though I have not tried yet cos my fans are just one year old.
Before that I did not have any fan in my case.....:ashamed:
BTW,except Vaseline is there any cheaper alternative ?
Cos u will need this very small amount.....
 
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