How to fix your old coolers

GigaWatt · Dec 17, 2008, 05:08 PM

i don't know if anyone has ever written anything on the subject, but here is how i fix most of my coolers. this process can vary from cooler to cooler, depending on its structure, but the basic concept is still the same.

first, i have to apologize for the quality of the pix... i had to use my sisters cell phone camera to take the pictures, since i don't have a camera of my own. still, i think you will get the general idea of what you are supposed to do.

now, here is a picture of an old cooler, one i haven't been using for ages. the cooler is dusty and it has to be cleaned first. i will not get into the process of cleaning the cooler since i think most of you already know how to do that.

front of the cooler.

back of the cooler.

now, the next thing that you need to do is remove the tape from the back of the cooler so that you could remove the protection cap. only the bigger coolers have protection caps, the smaller ones don't (like the ones found on HDD coolers). anyway, the procedure is basically the same, the only difference is the protection cap that some coolers have and others don't, so i'm going to show the procedure with a cooler that has a protection cap.

the best place to start removing the tape that protects the protection cap is at the place the power wires are soldered, which is shown in the picture bellow.

now, remove the protection cap from the center of the cooler.

this is how the cooler looks with the protection cap removed.

as you can see, in the picture above, the rotor axis is in the center of the cooler. now, one of the reasons that coolers don't seem to function the way they did the day you bought them (i.e. they don't have the same RPM as the day you bought them) can be one of three things:

1. there is dust in the rotor axis, so the axis doesn't have the same amount of lubricnat (the dust sucked it all up) as the first time you used them, which leads to less rotation cycles, which leads to more heat build up in the components that the coolers were intended to cool down.

2. the lubricant in the rotor axis has vaporized, so there is more friction between the axis and the tube which is intended to hold the axis in place. the result is almost the same as the result in the first case, the cooler has less RPM, which leaves the parts (CPU, GPU, PSU...) warmer (hotter) that they usually are.

3. the tube that is intended to hold the axis of the rotor in place has widened, so the rotor kinda jiggles around it's own axis rather than rotating around the axis. when this happens, you can usually hear this kinda buzzing (annoying) sound coming out of the ring, which disappears after a while (in about a minute or so). the sound disappears because the cooler has reached it's working temperature, so the tube which holds the axis has shrinked and has tightened the axis of the rotor so that the rotor can't jiggle any more. anyway, the tube hasn't tightened enough around the axis, so there is still loss of RPM.

in all three cases, one of the most effective methods to fix the RPM loss (or the total blocking of the cooler) is to add lubricant between the tube and the rotor axis. there are some special kinds of lubricants, but motor oil will do just fine (any motor oil can be used, as long as it hasn't been used in a car). i'll explain what the motor oil does in all three cases.

1. it compensates for the lost lubricant sucked up by the dust.

2. it compensates for the vaporized lubricant.

3. it compensates for the extra space between the tube and the axis.

this is how you put in motor oil between the tube and the axis. take a syringe with a needle on top and suck in some motor oil in the syringe, it's shown in the picture below.

now, put in some of the motor oil inside the little hole where the axis is located. don't put in too much. depending on in what working condition the cooler is, you should add somewhere between 3 or 4 drops (if the cooler is working very slow and not working at all) and 1 to 2 drops (if the cooler is just a little bit slower than usual). this is shown in the picture below.

after putting in the motor oil, spin the propeller (fins) of the cooler a cuple of times so that the motor oil can bed dispersed evenly between the tube and the axis. after this is done, you should notice that it takes less effort to spin the propeller of the cooler and that the propeller makes more turns (cycles) than before it was lubricated. if this is the case, than you have done the lubrication properly. now, the next step is to put the cooler back together again. first, put back the protection cap (for coolers that don't have prrotection caps, you could just skip this part). make sure the protection cap is tightened in correctly, like in the picture below.

now, make sure the protection cap doesn't fall off the cooler, you could do this by adding some kind of sticky tape over the protection cap. the picture below show how it's done.

adding the sticky tape (make sure you don't touch it with your fingers, or it will not stick correctly).

now, press over the sticky tape evenly so it could make the proper adhesive with the cooler and the protection cap. it is best that you do this with your fingers.

the final product (the cooler with the sticky tape over it), should look something like this.

the process i have shown above may not always work, sometimes the coolers are just too shagged up with dust, the only thing left to do is throw them away. but in most cases the procedure will work.

however, this is only a temporary solution. if you don't dust and lubricate your coolers frequently, they will get back in the condition they were before (i.e. they will be useless again). i do this to some of my coolers (most of my HDD coolers) twice a year (once every six months), and they have kept my HDDs cool for about 3 years now, even though they are the cheapest ones on the market.

the same principle applies to CPU coolers too, basicly they all have the same structure.

so, enjoy, and happy fideling with your coolers... cheers

**temeteus82** · Dec 17, 2008, 05:24 PM

Nice!

I'll stick this thread!

And many thanks I think this will help a lot of people

Matth · Dec 17, 2008, 05:37 PM

Obviously, better to replace the fan, or the whole cooler, if you can, as once what is meant to be a maintainence-free fan has deteriorated to the point of needing additional lubrication, it is likely that you will have to keep re-lubricating at intervals, and it will inevitably become noisier or perform poorly even with repeated attention.

If sourcing a replacement is difficult, then it is a way to keep it going, and maybe you have some oil and tape to hand, but no spare fan that suits.

GigaWatt · Dec 17, 2008, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matth

Obviously, better to replace the fan, or the whole cooler, if you can, as once what is meant to be a maintainence-free fan has deteriorated to the point of needing additional lubrication, it is likely that you will have to keep re-lubricating at intervals, and it will inevitably become noisier or perform poorly even with repeated attention.

actually, i did write that, i know that you have to keep lubricating them every now and then...

Quote:

Originally Posted by GigaWatt

however, this is only a temporary solution. if you don't dust and lubricate your coolers frequently, they will get back in the condition they were before (i.e. they will be useless again). i do this to some of my coolers (most of my HDD coolers) twice a year (once every six months), and they have kept my HDDs cool for about 3 years now, even though they are the cheapest ones on the market.

Knight_Breed · Dec 18, 2008, 01:33 AM

Excellent post !!

xProg · Dec 18, 2008, 12:48 PM

This helped me. I know how to do this for a long time...I Fixed my PSU cooler

~~RE III - Frankie~~ · Jan 13, 2010, 10:01 AM

This thread is SH*t. Who uses syringes on pc components anyway. H addict!@

**MIG-31** · Jan 13, 2010, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RE III - Frankie

This thread is SH*t. Who uses syringes on pc components anyway. H addict!@

This is far from Sh*t as you put it..

Its so you don't spill any oils on the wired contacts or the cooper coils that surround the magnet ..Espeically if your trying to fix a CPU Heatsink.. .You would not want any stray oil dripping onto the CPU..

Thus would leed to a cross over of the current and fry the motor of the fan. ! or frying the cpu or motherboard.. A simple mistake like that is very expensive if you made that mistake.

~~RE III - Frankie~~ · Jan 13, 2010, 10:16 AM

IdCare I don't like needles and you and noone can convince me otherwise. Junkies like needles. And junkies abandon their families.

**MIG-31** · Jan 13, 2010, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RE III - Frankie

IdCare I don't like needles and you and noone can convince me otherwise. Junkies like needles. And junkies abandon their families.

Then if its something you don't like,Just ignore the thread ! and that has no relation to this thread at all.

Now can this get back on topic.

BETA911 · Jan 17, 2010, 10:29 AM

Can you do this with all baring fan's?

Tyrsonswood · Jan 17, 2010, 12:03 PM

There's probably some fans that you can't get to the bearings, but for the majority of fans it should work. Unless they are completely seized, then there's not much that can be done.

SeraphicSorcerer · Jan 17, 2010, 12:22 PM

Yeah his would work, however, I'd be squeemish I guess with tape it's okay but that's not a true seal...

Tyrsonswood · Jan 17, 2010, 12:25 PM

The original isn't much different than tape...... paper or plastic with glue applied.... just about the same thing.

xnox_no · Mar 30, 2010, 06:21 PM

Very Useful explanation GigaWatt,thx alot

steves6403 · Mar 31, 2010, 01:35 PM

Nice thread

On the 5th pic if you look in the centre of the fan theres a shaft ..If you remove the teflon collit or c clip you can remove the fan and see the fun inside.Usually theres a bearing and a brass bush that cause the problem with noise.If you have an old fan kicking around pull it apart and have a look its really easy.

as you stated oil does help ...grease works well as well

joko47 · Jul 30, 2010, 09:06 PM

very nice guide, haven't ever needed to use it but still nice. Probably hepls someone

Dec 17, 2008, 05:08 PM	#1
GigaWatt Now In Color :D Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Macedonia, Skopje Posts: 2,116 Rep Power: 79 System Specs	How to fix your old coolers i don't know if anyone has ever written anything on the subject, but here is how i fix most of my coolers. this process can vary from cooler to cooler, depending on its structure, but the basic concept is still the same. first, i have to apologize for the quality of the pix... i had to use my sisters cell phone camera to take the pictures, since i don't have a camera of my own. still, i think you will get the general idea of what you are supposed to do. now, here is a picture of an old cooler, one i haven't been using for ages. the cooler is dusty and it has to be cleaned first. i will not get into the process of cleaning the cooler since i think most of you already know how to do that. front of the cooler. back of the cooler. now, the next thing that you need to do is remove the tape from the back of the cooler so that you could remove the protection cap. only the bigger coolers have protection caps, the smaller ones don't (like the ones found on HDD coolers). anyway, the procedure is basically the same, the only difference is the protection cap that some coolers have and others don't, so i'm going to show the procedure with a cooler that has a protection cap. the best place to start removing the tape that protects the protection cap is at the place the power wires are soldered, which is shown in the picture bellow. now, remove the protection cap from the center of the cooler. this is how the cooler looks with the protection cap removed. as you can see, in the picture above, the rotor axis is in the center of the cooler. now, one of the reasons that coolers don't seem to function the way they did the day you bought them (i.e. they don't have the same RPM as the day you bought them) can be one of three things: 1. there is dust in the rotor axis, so the axis doesn't have the same amount of lubricnat (the dust sucked it all up) as the first time you used them, which leads to less rotation cycles, which leads to more heat build up in the components that the coolers were intended to cool down. 2. the lubricant in the rotor axis has vaporized, so there is more friction between the axis and the tube which is intended to hold the axis in place. the result is almost the same as the result in the first case, the cooler has less RPM, which leaves the parts (CPU, GPU, PSU...) warmer (hotter) that they usually are. 3. the tube that is intended to hold the axis of the rotor in place has widened, so the rotor kinda jiggles around it's own axis rather than rotating around the axis. when this happens, you can usually hear this kinda buzzing (annoying) sound coming out of the ring, which disappears after a while (in about a minute or so). the sound disappears because the cooler has reached it's working temperature, so the tube which holds the axis has shrinked and has tightened the axis of the rotor so that the rotor can't jiggle any more. anyway, the tube hasn't tightened enough around the axis, so there is still loss of RPM. in all three cases, one of the most effective methods to fix the RPM loss (or the total blocking of the cooler) is to add lubricant between the tube and the rotor axis. there are some special kinds of lubricants, but motor oil will do just fine (any motor oil can be used, as long as it hasn't been used in a car). i'll explain what the motor oil does in all three cases. 1. it compensates for the lost lubricant sucked up by the dust. 2. it compensates for the vaporized lubricant. 3. it compensates for the extra space between the tube and the axis. this is how you put in motor oil between the tube and the axis. take a syringe with a needle on top and suck in some motor oil in the syringe, it's shown in the picture below. now, put in some of the motor oil inside the little hole where the axis is located. don't put in too much. depending on in what working condition the cooler is, you should add somewhere between 3 or 4 drops (if the cooler is working very slow and not working at all) and 1 to 2 drops (if the cooler is just a little bit slower than usual). this is shown in the picture below. after putting in the motor oil, spin the propeller (fins) of the cooler a cuple of times so that the motor oil can bed dispersed evenly between the tube and the axis. after this is done, you should notice that it takes less effort to spin the propeller of the cooler and that the propeller makes more turns (cycles) than before it was lubricated. if this is the case, than you have done the lubrication properly. now, the next step is to put the cooler back together again. first, put back the protection cap (for coolers that don't have prrotection caps, you could just skip this part). make sure the protection cap is tightened in correctly, like in the picture below. now, make sure the protection cap doesn't fall off the cooler, you could do this by adding some kind of sticky tape over the protection cap. the picture below show how it's done. adding the sticky tape (make sure you don't touch it with your fingers, or it will not stick correctly). now, press over the sticky tape evenly so it could make the proper adhesive with the cooler and the protection cap. it is best that you do this with your fingers. the final product (the cooler with the sticky tape over it), should look something like this. the process i have shown above may not always work, sometimes the coolers are just too shagged up with dust, the only thing left to do is throw them away. but in most cases the procedure will work. however, this is only a temporary solution. if you don't dust and lubricate your coolers frequently, they will get back in the condition they were before (i.e. they will be useless again). i do this to some of my coolers (most of my HDD coolers) twice a year (once every six months), and they have kept my HDDs cool for about 3 years now, even though they are the cheapest ones on the market. the same principle applies to CPU coolers too, basicly they all have the same structure. so, enjoy, and happy fideling with your coolers... cheers __________________ It's not schisophrenia... it's just a voice in my head... Last edited by GigaWatt; Dec 18, 2008 at 02:21 PM.

Dec 17, 2008, 05:37 PM	#3
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,409 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	Re: How to fix your old coolers Obviously, better to replace the fan, or the whole cooler, if you can, as once what is meant to be a maintainence-free fan has deteriorated to the point of needing additional lubrication, it is likely that you will have to keep re-lubricating at intervals, and it will inevitably become noisier or perform poorly even with repeated attention. If sourcing a replacement is difficult, then it is a way to keep it going, and maybe you have some oil and tape to hand, but no spare fan that suits. __________________ Mary had a little lamb, Her father shot it dead Now Mary takes her lamb to school, Between two crusts of bread

Dec 18, 2008, 01:33 AM	#5
Knight_Breed DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Canader EH !! Posts: 281 Rep Power: 27 System Specs	Re: How to fix your old coolers Excellent post !! __________________

Dec 18, 2008, 12:48 PM	#6
xProg Beatmaker Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Moldova, Chisinau Posts: 298 Rep Power: 28 System Specs	Re: How to fix your old coolers This helped me. I know how to do this for a long time...I Fixed my PSU cooler

Jan 13, 2010, 10:01 AM	#7
~~RE III - Frankie~~ Banned Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,754 Rep Power: 0	Re: How to fix your old coolers This thread is SH*t. Who uses syringes on pc components anyway. H addict!@

Jan 13, 2010, 10:16 AM	#9
~~RE III - Frankie~~ Banned Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,754 Rep Power: 0	Re: How to fix your old coolers IdCare I don't like needles and you and noone can convince me otherwise. Junkies like needles. And junkies abandon their families.

Jan 17, 2010, 10:29 AM	#11
BETA911 HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Maaseik, Belgium Posts: 19 Rep Power: 13 System Specs	Re: How to fix your old coolers Can you do this with all baring fan's?

Jan 17, 2010, 12:22 PM	#13
SeraphicSorcerer HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 2,295 Rep Power: 154 System Specs	Re: How to fix your old coolers Yeah his would work, however, I'd be squeemish I guess with tape it's okay but that's not a true seal... __________________

Mar 30, 2010, 06:21 PM	#15
xnox_no HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	Re: How to fix your old coolers Very Useful explanation GigaWatt,thx alot

Mar 31, 2010, 01:35 PM	#16
steves6403 HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: lilydale australia Posts: 211 Rep Power: 19 System Specs	Re: How to fix your old coolers Nice thread On the 5th pic if you look in the centre of the fan theres a shaft ..If you remove the teflon collit or c clip you can remove the fan and see the fun inside.Usually theres a bearing and a brass bush that cause the problem with noise.If you have an old fan kicking around pull it apart and have a look its really easy. as you stated oil does help ...grease works well as well

Jul 30, 2010, 09:06 PM	#17
joko47 HardwareHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 15 Rep Power: 0	Re: How to fix your old coolers very nice guide, haven't ever needed to use it but still nice. Probably hepls someone