Fan Physically stuck on xfx radeon 6870 2gb

[wolfgang784]

As the name implies, the fan has become stuck on one of my 6870s causing idle temperatures of 94C (200F). Idle as in, less than a full minute after it has been turned on and it is just sitting at the desktop. There are two monitors, but both are plugged into the other card.

EDIT:: Forgot the add the normal temperatures. The good card is normally between 115F and 125F idle and the card that is broken is normally around 10F hotter since the slot its in has little airflow and is much more cramped. Even on a 100% load however the hottest I have ever seen them was 155F and 170F and that was on a very hot day with it under heavy load for 15+ hours. The average for it being under a good load is about 135F and 145F.

I usually run them in crossfire but when I noticed the temperatures (began crashing and getting driver failures) I tried running them out of crossfire, each card in alone, and each card in each slot to be sure the problem was with the card alone before I realized that the fan no longer spun.

The fan isn't just not spinning, it is physically stuck. Where as I can spin the good cards fan with my finger and have it keep spinning for a bit, the bad card takes force to slowly spin it around. I suspect there is cat hair or something wrapped around the base of the fan but am not sure how I could get it out. I attempted to clean it out with compressed air but of course that did not work. Next I took the fan out of the card (as far as I could with the wires attaching it) and tried to take it apart but the fan is one piece with no way of opening it up. I cannot get anything inside to cut the hair either due to the design of the fan.

So does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can do short of buying a new card? It is only nine months old and still under warranty but all I hear are horror stories about trying to RMA with XFX and I cannot even find out how to do it on their website. I can't seem to find a replacement fan that specifically states that it will work with this card / series but maybe someone on here knows?

Also would taking off the broken fan, the heatsink, or the cards case help at all with the heat or should I just keep using the good card for now as I have since it broke?

Here is the newegg link to the card in case anyone wants it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150563

 

[dalaran]

Since only the fan is a problem, you could contact XFX and try to ask them to send you another fan if you think you can change it yourself, I've done it once with MSI and it worked. Otherwise if you don't want to RMA the card, you might look into aftermarket cooling solutions for the card. I don't know much about that so I can't really say more than that.

 

[wolfgang784]

It actually never occurred to me that XFX might send me a fan replacement rather than me having to send them the card. I sent in a support ticket two days ago before I realized the problem was with the fan and updated it asking if they could send me a new fan or not. Kinda annoyed that the ticket hasn't been looked at in two days, terrible support.

As for fan replacements, I am not sure how all the pins work. From what I saw looking on newegg all of the fans are three or four pin, but my case only has two pin connectors and the fan on the video card has two wires so I would assume that is two pin as well.

I have to go do a bunch of research on that so I don't mess it up and waste my money on a fan that I can't connect, but thanks for the answer so far. Hopefully XFX can just send me a new one.

 

[cklaubur]

Aftermarket fans usually plug directly into the power supply instead of plugging into the card.

Casey

 

[wolfgang784]

Best answer selected by wolfgang784.

 

[Finlay09]

I had this same problem TWICE, the first time I had to RMA as the Fan just didn't work any more, I believe it was burned out from trying to spin. I RMA'd it with XFX and they sent me a replacement cooler, don't know why they couldn't just send a new fan, and the same thing just happened with this fan. Catching the problem early I knew what the problem was. During manufacturing, the manufacturer of the fan "FirstDo" puts a grease in the bearing of the fan, this grease breaks down and causes the fan to stick more or less.

Here's how I fixed it. You may want to take this opportunity to apply some really good thermal paste, you'll need a small phillips screwdriver, a knife and maybe a small flat blade. take the cooler off, take the 3 screws out of the fan, and unplug it from the card. the bearing is not designed to be serviced so you have to cut the plastic I cut around in the groove, then pried it up with a screwdriver and it popped right out exposing the bearing. here's the fun part, lightly apply your favourite oil/lubricant I used ReleaseAll, WD40 or Jig-A-Loo. you're fan should quickly become free spinning reapply the sticker on the back of the fan, and put everything back together, and depending on how soon you catch it, it should spin up nicely.

Good Luck, Cheers.