ChIck3n

Ok, so we all know to use compressed air to blast the dust out of small hard to reach places. But, sometimes that does not do the trick. Fans are usually fine without cleaning, but here is a trick that may save you purchasing a new fan because the old one broke. This is especially helpful if you have some sort of long haired creature (dog, cat, yourself, etc.) near your PC. So, for those who don't know, here is an easy way to open up many fans for easy cleaning/modding.

Disclaimer: I have only done this with regular case fans (mine are lian li fans), so proceed with care if you choose to disassemble your expensive fans. See Marin's post below for more info.

Tools needed:
Tweezers
Stout pin (I used a thumb tack)


First step is to get a fan:



Now you need to peel the sticker off the front. Be sure to save the sticker to re-apply.



This is what it will look like without the sticker. You should see a little plastic washer inside the hole. It was hard to get a good pic, but that washer has a small cut through it. This is where it gets tricky. Stick the pin down inside the crack and try and pry it apart.



Get the tweezers and grab the washer. Be careful pulling it out, as it is spring loaded. You may want to put your hand over it, as the washer may fly out across your room never to be seen again (and you NEED the washer). If you loose it, you may be able to find one at a hardware store (or just pull one off of an old fan you don't use).



After the washer is out, you can pull out the bearing and spring.



The blades just pull off after this. Now spray out the inside with compressed air and unwrap anything that got wound around the fan. You can probably add/remove LEDs as well if you wish. Also, if your fan is rattling, I fixed that once by filing down a little burr that had developed on the fan hub.

To re attach, just do the above in reverse order. Remember to put the spring back in before putting the bearing on. If you wish, you may apply a bit of fan oil at this time. It is a little tough to get the washer back on, but I found it best to push the spring/bearing down with the pin while pushing the washer down with the tweezers (again, be careful, as it can fly off if you release it). Now put the sticker back on (to prevent dust from getting in the bearings as easily). If you lost the sticker, tape should work fine.

So there ya go! Enjoy your clean fan! If you see anything missing/wrong, let me know and I will add it.

__________________

Rajb1031

+1 Nice one! Now not only can you clean it, you can also spray it.

Marin

To point out, fans use different bearings, motors and ways to hold the blades on. For example, my San Ace and Nidec (Scythe GentleTyphoons) fans use metal clamps instead of washers to hold it together. They're harder to remove and easy to damage.

Also, depending on the fan, some will use springs. Sleeve Bearing fans are easy, just pop the washer off and pull the fan blades off. The bearing is built in and not going anywhere. Some Ball Bearing fans use springs to offset the pressure from the magnet or to make a gap between the bearings, so make sure to not lose the spring and to place it back on right.

Also some fans that use "nanotechnology bearings" have magnets on the back of the fan. You can not remove the magnet from the back or else you will completely destroy the fan. Some brands like Gelid have fans that can be pulled apart to clean but others, like Nanoxia, can't.

__________________
Rampage Torture Rack Build Log|Torture Rack|Antec 300|Antec 1200|Antec 1200 Night Photos|Antec 1200 Inside

50D (Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM | Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 | Nikkor 55mm f/1.2 | Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM | Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM | Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM | Crumpler 7MDH | B+W filters)

Images: Flickr

OCN Team Fortress 2 Group

Bleached

Hey anyone able to take apart a Scythe S-Flex. I got 2 bad ones and wanted to take them apart, but couldn't find any info for that type of bearing. Thanks in advance.

sLowEnd

Fluid dynamic bearing

It's similar to sleeve I believe

__________________

ChIck3n

Great! Thanks for the info.

@ bleached. What is wrong with your fans? Noise, or just plain not starting up? How old are they?

__________________

Ecchi-BANZAII!!!

+1 REP

This is neato!

__________________
　　　＿_ 　
　/'´　 　ヽ 　　　　Oh and as for the Man-Erin i was tempted to post that also lol. For some reason i want to call it "Marin"
●ｌｶﾉﾉﾙ ﾋﾟﾉ●　　　　　Marc Rudov FTW　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ತ_ತ
　从 ﾟ ヮﾟﾉｿ 　　 　　　　 Don't you love when someone
⊂ ［］ 二［］つ　　 　　 　　deletes your post without noticing you.　　　 　
　 /　 V \ 　　　　 　　　 You end up searching for that post in vain and anger...
　/____ \　 　 　　　　　　　I hate Autotunes
　 （/ （/　 　　　　　　　　　　　Smiley of the year:

Marin

It's not even close to being like a sleeve bearing.

Sleeve:




FDB:

__________________
Rampage Torture Rack Build Log|Torture Rack|Antec 300|Antec 1200|Antec 1200 Night Photos|Antec 1200 Inside

50D (Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM | Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 | Nikkor 55mm f/1.2 | Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM | Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM | Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS USM | Crumpler 7MDH | B+W filters)

Images: Flickr

OCN Team Fortress 2 Group

sLowEnd

Cool

I'm no expert on bearings. All I know is FDB is supposed to be some sort of modified sleeve bearing, at least according to this

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article690-page2.html

__________________

_Marvin_

Will this work for a Scythe Ultra Kaze 3000 ?

__________________
If it ain't broke... fix it until it is.