DIY pc cooler repair

Well, since it happened, you need to operate on him! First, the propeller itself is removed, in this cooler it looks more like a turbine, the blades are at least 2-2.5 times larger than in conventional computer coolers.

Then carefully separate the stator from the plastic base. In fact, it is very difficult and very often the base breaks.

Further, we can see the motor tachometer itself, which actually starts the engine. On the reverse side of the board, a sensor is assembled on SMD components, which is a generator of square-wave pulses, and they feed the stator windings of the motor.

First, we carefully look at the board, if there are breaks, then we solder the jumper and try to start the engine.

In my case, nothing happened and it was decided to upgrade the motor. All SMD components and jumpers are soldered from the board in advance.

For the mod, a working cooler from an ATX computer power supply was taken. It was not quite working (the blades were broken), but the main board with the driver worked. Remove the screw, then take out the board.

On the board, you can see the driver - which powers the entire motor. We solder the stator from the board. We look at the connection of the stator windings - usually there are 3 outputs, two ends of the windings go to one of the outputs, and one wire to the other two outputs.

Output with two ends - connects to the plus of the power supply, plus is also fed to the first leg of the driver. The second and third pins of the driver go to free contacts (there is no phasing and polarity).

Finally, the last leg of the driver is power minus.

Next, we take the crown and try our upgraded engine. Hooray - it works! Thus, we repaired the electric motor well with our own hands. AKA KASYAN

I found a couple of old fans in my glands and decided to disassemble them to see how they work. In addition, such fans have never been completely disassembled before. All the time, I was limited to the usual peeling off the sticker, removing the plug and adding a couple of drops of oil to the bearing. Both of these fans are from two different PSUs, one 120 mm, the other 80 mm. But they are also attached to the case of the system unit exactly the same, for injecting cold air into it or for pumping out hot air. So, using these examples, you can carry out preventive maintenance on your fans.

I thought to review both fans, after all, a small fan is about 15 years old, but later it turned out that their design is almost the same. Differences are noticeable only in the size and shape of the housing, impeller and motor board. Therefore, I will describe the disassembly process on a large fan (120mm).

First, peel off the sticker under which the rubber stopper is hiding.

With a screwdriver or something sharp, pick it out and take out the cork.

Under the cork, you can see the metal impeller axle, on which a split, white, plastic lock washer is worn. If it is difficult to see due to old grease, then wipe it with a cotton swab.

Insert a narrow screwdriver into the cut of the retaining ring and turn it 90 degrees so that the ring expands. Then we pry the ring with a screwdriver and remove it from the impeller axis. During this process, the puck can easily shoot and roll off somewhere, usually to the most difficult to reach place, under a table, sofa, baseboard, etc.

After removing the retaining ring, remove the rubber ring from the axle.

Now, without much effort, you can separate the impeller from the frame, while it will be slightly held by the magnets that are mounted in the impeller housing.

Remove another rubber ring from the base of the impeller shaft.

On this we can say that the disassembly is complete. We clean everything from dust and old grease.

Actually, the frame itself with the engine.

We also thoroughly clean the brass engine sleeve from dirt and old grease. If you wish, you can remove the board with the motor windings, although this is not necessary for cleaning and lubrication. In my case, it easily removed from both fans, but under the board I found traces of glue. So you may not be able to take it off so easily.

Putting everything together in reverse order. Rubber rings at the bottom and top.

It is convenient to upset the retaining ring with tweezers from both sides at once.

If your fan is very worn out (makes noise, knocks, rattles during operation), then it is better to immediately replace such a fan with a new one. Otherwise, grease the impeller axle with a heavy grease (grease, etc.) before installing it on the engine. My fan is relatively new, so I assembled it, and only then lubricated it with engine oil, because it is liquid and will always fill all the cracks.

We supply oil with a needle to the rings and the impeller axle, the syringe is indispensable in this regard. In this case, the impeller can be rotated periodically by hand, then it will be easier for the oil to penetrate inside. A lot of oil should not be poured (3-5 drops are enough), since everything superfluous will always find a hole and subsequently will collect dust and become overgrown with moss or fly off the blades throughout the system unit. Here, of course, it all depends on the size of the fan, the big one needs more lubrication, but the small one needs less.

We plug the cork. If this area for the sticker is accidentally flooded with oil, then you need to wipe it with a solvent or white spirit, since this sticker will no longer stick to the oil. The sticker itself can be replaced with tape if the old one has become unusable.

In principle, everything is with prevention. We connect, check, then, depending on the test results, we install it into a computer case or a power supply unit. Or we throw it away and go to the store for a new fan, if, during disassembly, we finally knocked out our old fan. Fan designs are different, both on sleeve bearings, both in my case, and on rolling bearings (ball bearing), but I think the general principle of disassembly is similar.

Recently I got hold of such a 120mm Gembird fan. He drew my attention with the BALL inscription on a protective sticker, which translates as a ball, a ball, a ball. After disassembly, it turned out that this fan was assembled on a ball bearing. But disassembling it is practically no different from disassembling a cheap fan, which I disassembled a little higher in this thread.

Even the bearing itself in this fan is perfectly understandable with a pin. You just need to carefully remove the retaining ring with a needle, then you can remove the side protective bearing wall (boot). After that, you can safely engage in prophylaxis of the separator and the bearing as a whole, clean, wash, change the lubricant. In this case, the bearing is almost perfect, there is a lot of grease, besides, it is light. If your bearing is dry and dirty, and besides, there is wear and tear (the clips dangle as if the balls have become smaller), then it is better to replace such a bearing with a new one. Although it is easier and perhaps cheaper to buy a new fan.

Write a message to the author

I think that every computer owner has encountered (or will face) a poorly functioning cooler, which either starts making unnecessary sounds, gradually weakening its work, or simply stops and stops cooling the system. Most often, this fan did not “break down” to the end, most likely its mechanical part was simply clogged with dust, and the oil dried out and was absorbed by the same dust, which makes its work significantly more difficult. Most modern computer coolers cannot be opened; if you try to disassemble it, it will be broken.It cannot be disassembled, but you can lubricate it, and this can significantly extend its life.

First, we need to remove it and clean it from outside dust (I think this is understandable).

WITH bottom side fan (air exhaust side), in the center there is holewhich provides shaft access... This hole is usually closed. rubber or plastic plug, and glued on top sticker... Sometimes, there is no plug, and the hole is sealed only with a sticker, and even less often it happens that there is no hole itself, this is sometimes found on coolers for processors and video cards.

The sticker must be removed, and the plug must be removed (if any) by poking it with a sharp object (knife, awl). If you come across a cooler that simply does not have this hole, then you will have to drill it with a screwdriver. The hole diameter should be no more than 6 mm. Plucking the hole with a sharp object (instead of a drill) is highly discouraged, since the inner edges of the new hole can wrap inward and can lock the shaft, and besides, this will increase the likelihood of “sawdust” getting inside the cooler.

After gaining access to the cooler shaft, it is necessary to apply a few drops of machine oil there. This can be done with a syringe or any thin object (match, needle, awl). Reinstall the cover and apply the sticker.

If you have a cooler with a RUBBER plug, or without a plug at all (only a sticker), then you can not remove them, but lubricate the cooler shaft with a syringe, pierce the sticker and rubber plug with a needle and inject oil.

After such a "repair", the cooler will still work from one month to a couple of years - it all depends on its quality, oil quality, and the degree of pollution.

Don't forget to leave comments and reviews, your opinion is important to us!

The page contains a list of articles published on the site on do-it-yourself computer maintenance and repair. To go to the page with the publication, just click on the photo or "More".

The reasons for the unstable operation of the computer are a malfunction, power supply unit, RAM, HDD, "Start" button, microcracks in the tracks of the motherboard. What to do if the computer freezes at system startup or does not turn on. How to find out the BIOS type and alarm beeps. How to open the system unit for visual inspection. More details.

Types of computer mice. How to disassemble wired and wireless. Ways to repair a frayed wire - twisting, soldering. Do-it-yourself wheel and mouse button repair. More details.

Program for measuring the temperature of the processor. How to open a computer system unit and find a noisy cooler. Types and color marking of connectors for connecting a cooler in a computer. How to replace a cooler connector with soldering without it. Replacing the cooler of the processor, video card, in the power supply. Modification of a standard cooler for installation in a video card. More details.

Photo illustration of disassembling and applying lubricant to the bearing of a computer cooler. Making graphite grease with your own hands. What to make a split plastic washer from and where to find a rubber ring for replacement. More details.

Instructions for applying heat-conducting paste to the processor and to the surface of the cooling cooler. More details.

How to remove a heat sink from a computer processor, fastened to clips, using latches or screws. The procedure for installing a heatsink on a computer processor. More details.

How to improve the cooling system of a computer processor with your own hands so that air intake is carried out outside the case of the system unit. More details.

Power supply fans intermittently break down or run slower than before, affecting overall PC performance. At the same time, repairing a fan costs money, and going to a specialist takes time. There is a way out of this situation. The fan can be repaired by yourself without using a screwdriver.

To fix a PC fan you will need:

• a tube with oil for sewing machines;
• stationery knife.

Step 1. Understand the essence of the breakdown

In the above fan photo you can see the standard fan bearing bushing. As it rotates, its shaft slides thanks to a very thin layer of grease. It, in turn, is held by a rubber grommet, which is located under the sticker. A number of fans do not have such a sleeve at all, and the sticker is glued just over the layer of grease. Fan problems begin when the lubricant layer dries out partially or completely.

The traditional repair method involves disassembling the power supply and removing the fan itself. After that, the sticker is removed, the bushing is removed, a new layer of grease is applied and then everything is put in place in reverse order.

The difficulty lies in the fact that all the insides of the power supply are interconnected by wires and the work, despite the simplicity of the description, will be time consuming.

Step 2. Checking if the life hack will work

There is an easier way to apply fan lubricant, but this will not work with all power supplies.
Take a look at the back of yours and if you have four holes in the very center of the fan mounting area, as shown in the photo, then you will succeed. If not, you will have to go the hard way.

You will need to use a tube and sewing machine oil to apply the lubricant. You do not need to use engine oil. This layer will be too thick for the PSU fan.

To apply the oil, you need a tube with a needle itself or a thin pastry syringe. You will have to cut the tip of the tube at a steep angle so that it resembles the tip of a regular needle.

Insert the needle into the center hole of the fan mounting area, piercing the sticker and rubber grommet. If the latter is not there, then quickly pull the needle back out, as the oil will quickly spread over the surface. If there is, then squeeze out some oil and also take out the needle. Turn on the power immediately afterwards so that the fan spreads the lubricant evenly over the surface and starts working again as before.

Every owner of a modern computer sooner or later faces the problem of poor performance of the PC cooling system. By a cooling system, I mean a processor cooler and fans in the system unit of a computer or laptop.

• Insufficient cooling of the processor - the computer overheats, which in many cases leads to the shutdown of the PC under load.
• The cooler and fans constantly rotate at maximum speed, most often this happens on laptops, and if the laptop is also worn, then the whole process is accompanied by a decent hum.
• The cooler and fan knock, rub or cling to the blades when starting the computer. Most often, friction passes after a gentle tapping or tilt change (for example, with a slight tilt of the system unit).

• Badly worn out cooler or fan;
• CPU heatsink and cooler clogged with dust and other debris;
• Dried oil in the cooler and fans;
• The oil was absorbed into the dust that was not cleaned in time, therefore, as in the previous paragraph, the cooler and the fan run dry.

At the first manifestations of a malfunction of the cooling system, an immediate inspection of the PC is required, since the constantly maintained high temperature has a detrimental effect not only on the processor itself, but also on the surrounding computer components such as: a video card, RAM, and, first of all, the motherboard.

We figured out the manifestations and reasons, let's start repairing ...

The first and main reason for the incorrect operation of the cooler and fan, such as friction of the blades, rustling and light hum, is dry lubricant or its absorption into the dust that has not been cleaned in time. Without lubrication, the parts of the fan quickly wear out and malfunction, but if the cause is eliminated in a timely manner and at the beginning of manifestation, then the operation of the cooler can be extended for a long time.Of course, if the method does not help in case of severe wear of the parts, then the cooler or fan will have to be replaced.

WITH bottom side fan, in the center there is holewhich provides shaft access... This hole is usually closed. rubber or plastic plug, and glued on top sticker... Sometimes, there is no plug, and the hole is sealed only with a sticker, and even less often it happens that there is no hole itself, this is sometimes found on coolers for processors and video cards.

The sticker must be removed, and the plug must be removed (if any) by poking it with a sharp object (knife, awl). If you come across a cooler that simply does not have this hole, then you will have to drill it with a screwdriver. The hole diameter should be no more than 6 mm. Plucking the hole with a sharp object (instead of a drill) is highly discouraged, since the inner edges of the new hole can wrap inward and can lock the shaft, and besides, this will increase the likelihood of “sawdust” getting inside the cooler.

After gaining access to the cooler shaft, it is necessary to apply a few drops of machine oil there. This can be done with a syringe or any thin object (match, needle, awl). Reinstall the cover and apply the sticker.

If you have a cooler with a RUBBER plug, or without a plug at all (only a sticker), then you can not remove them, but lubricate the cooler shaft with a syringe, pierce the sticker and rubber plug with a needle and inject oil.

In some models of fans and coolers, you will have to remove a small retaining ring on the fan shaft, and then drip oil or put a little grease.

In some cases, instead of oil, you can use other thicker automobile and machine greases, the main thing is that the grease is of high-temperature use. The minimum amount of lubricant should be used - this is not a car starter after all.

After such a "repair", the cooler will still work from one month to a couple of years - it all depends on its quality, oil quality, and the degree of pollution.

Firstly, dusting the PC will sharply raise the temperature of all parts (video card, processor, hard drive, power supply unit), the likelihood of their overheating and subsequent combustion increases.
Secondly, mechanical dust, as strange as it sounds, is very dangerous for the human body, especially for children.
Thirdly, a cleaned computer makes much less noise in 95% of cases than a dusty one.
Fourth, the ingress of dust into the computer parts greatly increases the rate of their wear.
Fifth, excessive dusting of the power supply unit can lead to magnetization of dust, subsequent overheating of parts of the power supply unit, hence their melting, short circuit of the board, burnout of parts of the motherboard, "uninterruptible power supply", surge protector and much more.
At sixth, magnetized dust contributes to the release of voltage to the computer case, which can cause electric shock if it comes into contact with the system unit. I think this is already enough to make a decision!

Let's get started, perhaps! Disconnect all the wires from the system unit, remove it from under the table (from the table) or where you have it hidden, put the front part towards you (the part where the disk drive opens) and ... go for a screwdriver. Already got it? Great, the first thing you need to do is remove the left side cover (the left one when you are facing the front of the system unit). It is usually secured with two screws from the back of the system unit. Most likely, after unscrewing the bolts, some effort will be needed - move the cover back, move it down, or somewhere else. It's just that projections are made on the covers, which fall into the grooves of the system unit, and the cover must be pulled out of these grooves. Do not just drag it over yourself, listening to the crunch of the mounts.

After you have removed the lid, you will see approximately such a "wonderful" picture before your eyes. Except for differences in parts and dust.

Pay special attention to small black, gray, blue and other cylinders, barrels, squares, rectangles and connectors with protruding iron pins - all this in no case should be bent, broken, moved, swayed, etc. If you do this, then cleaning your PC will result in you replacing the motherboard or something else expensive.

In addition to being accurate, the correct selection of tools for cleaning PC from dust... For example, use a vacuum cleaner, it should have a short flexible handle (for access to all corners of the system unit) with two nozzles - a narrow hard (plastic) and a narrow soft (brush). It doesn't hurt to have a couple of different unnecessary toothbrushes - one hard, the other soft. Stock up on dry napkins, cotton pads, in some cases you will need something like nail polish remover (when removing heavily dried pieces of thermal paste). You might be surprised, but with the help of these simple tools, you can easily clean your PC from dust almost perfectly.

And some people clean the computer from dust as shown in the video, a great way!