- Dec 6, 2009
- 36
- 2
- 18,535
Hello, I'm trying to oil the fans on my Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 Vapor-X, which I've had for about 2 months. One of the 2 fans is emitting a clicking sound which I know is not good. But upon inspection, I found that I couldn't gain access to the fan bearings. I thought all I had to do was peel back the round sticker in the center and put a bit of oil there and close it back up. But when I peeled back the sticker I found this:
My first thought was to do a ton of internet searches. After a while, I stumbled upon a post that seemed to indicate there could be a plastic "plug" over the top of the spindle bearing. So I attempted to pry it out but all I got was a broken knife tip and lots of tiny gouges.
I did more internet searches without coming up with any guidance so I prepared to do some minor surgery on the fan. I created a shroud out of a piece of paper and some electrical tape:
Grabbed a dremmel with a thin round grinding stone:
And then with a small magnifying glass carefully ground down through the "plug":
What I found was more plastic and what appeared to be a metal bearing. But the entire assembly spins together (plastic fan shroud/blades and the revealed metal inside) so I don't think this is actually the fan's bearing.
I don't know what to do now. I need to get these things oiled so they'll last but I don't know how. I can't remove them from the heatsink shroud because there are electrical wires on both sides of the fans that anchor them to the inside of the shroud. I can see it requiring dissembling the entire heatsink and fan assembly just to get to the stupid fans and this card is still under warranty.
Well I hope it still is. Bleh. Stupid cheap fans. Anyone have any suggestions?
My first thought was to do a ton of internet searches. After a while, I stumbled upon a post that seemed to indicate there could be a plastic "plug" over the top of the spindle bearing. So I attempted to pry it out but all I got was a broken knife tip and lots of tiny gouges.
I did more internet searches without coming up with any guidance so I prepared to do some minor surgery on the fan. I created a shroud out of a piece of paper and some electrical tape:
Grabbed a dremmel with a thin round grinding stone:
And then with a small magnifying glass carefully ground down through the "plug":
What I found was more plastic and what appeared to be a metal bearing. But the entire assembly spins together (plastic fan shroud/blades and the revealed metal inside) so I don't think this is actually the fan's bearing.
I don't know what to do now. I need to get these things oiled so they'll last but I don't know how. I can't remove them from the heatsink shroud because there are electrical wires on both sides of the fans that anchor them to the inside of the shroud. I can see it requiring dissembling the entire heatsink and fan assembly just to get to the stupid fans and this card is still under warranty.
Well I hope it still is. Bleh. Stupid cheap fans. Anyone have any suggestions?
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