How Do I Remove This Fan!!

[Jakeisbest]

Hey guys,

Running an X2 3800 on a ASUS A8N-SLI Motherboard.

My chip set fan broke a bearing or something, but, it is has become way to loud for me to stand. Currently I have the fun unplugged. With the fan unplugged my system runs fine and does not overheat (runs cool actually). However, I think it is probably a good idea to replace the fan.

So Question 1

Do I even need to replace the 40mm Northbridge fan?


Question 2

How the hell do I get the damn fan off!!

IMAGE OF THE FAN

Image of the whole board
There are two push pins connecting the fan to the mother board. I have pushed on the pins and pulled up on the fan. When I do this I get some play in the fan but it does not want to come off, and I don't want to pull to hard and stress the board.

Many other A8N boards came with fans that were screwed on at the corners but on my model the corners are covered and I can't unscrew it.

Do I have to take the whole Mother Board off to get this fan off?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[Skraeling]

Think its just from the thermal stuff making it stick rather vigorously, keep tryin and be careful and itll come off eventually... I think. Though im not sure if/how its secured through the mobo.

 

[Jakeisbest]

Originally posted by: Skraeling
Think its just from the thermal stuff making it stick rather vigorously, keep tryin and be careful and itll come off eventually... I think. Though im not sure if/how its secured through the mobo.

Thats what I was thinking but I wanted some one to confirm this. I am pushing down on the two pins and then pulling the fan up, it seems really stuck by it may just be very old / dry thermal tape or grease.

I know I am gonna upgrade to C2D someday. But I don't want to be upgrading because I wrecked my A8N-SLI Mobo trying to get a fan off, lol!

maybe I should ask a Mod to move this to cases and cooling forum?

 

[potato28]

I have the same motherboard as that and I've also removed and replaced the same fan.
You need to get access to the back of the board. On there you should see 2 black plastic anchors sticking out the back where the NB fan is on the opposite side.

Push the 2 black pins on the fan side and the 2 little anchors should pop up. Then you have to take a little needle nose pliers, or if you don't plan on using the fan heatsink again, snip the 2 anchors with side cutters. Gently pull the HS/F off the northbridge and you have the northbridge exposed. Then just replace the original HS/F with any chipset fan that you want.

And you should replace the chipset fan just to make the motherboard last a little longer, and so that when you upgrade you can make some money back from selling that motherboard or build yourself another computer for someone or for other purposes.

 

[nitromullet]

When you say "pushed in the pins", do you mean that you got the pins out, or are they still connected to the motherboard?

Judging from the looks of those pins, they appear to go all the way through the motherboard. These pins most likely have to come off before you can remove the fan. You can probably flip the motherboard over, push the pins down a bit from the top side, and then squeeze them from the underside. While squeezing, release pressure from the top and push on them from the underside. They should pop right out.

If these are the pins I think they are, they look sorta like this |----> The flat part is what you see on the top side of the motherboard, and the arrow is pointing out the bottom. You need to squeeze the point to make to look more like this |----- Once you do this, they should come right out.

Make sense?

edit: what potato28 said... the candycane is wise : )

 

[Jakeisbest]

Originally posted by: potatoe28
I have the same motherboard as that and I've also removed and replaced the same fan.
You need to get access to the back of the board. On there you should see 2 black plastic anchors sticking out the back where the NB fan is on the opposite side.

Push the 2 black pins on the fan side and the 2 little anchors should pop up. Then you have to take a little needle nose pliers, or if you don't plan on using the fan heatsink again, snip the 2 anchors with side cutters. Gently pull the HS/F off the northbridge and you have the northbridge exposed. Then just replace the original HS/F with any chip set fan that you want.

Is there a way to snip the pins with out getting access to the back of the board?

The mobo tray for my case (antec P160) covers that whole area. I would have to remove the whole motherboard get access to the back of the chip set area. That changes this from a trip to Fry's and 30 minutes to install into a 1/2 day event.

Thanks for the help.

Originally posted by: nitromullet
If these are the pins I think they are, they look sorta like this |----> The flat part is what you see on the top side of the motherboard, and the arrow is pointing out the bottom. You need to squeeze the point to make to look more like this |----- Once you do this, they should come right out.

LOL, I love your description. Unfortunately my the tray on my Antec P160 covers the entire back area so I have to unscrew the motherboard from the tray to get the fan off. I was really hoping to avoid that, but oh well.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Blazer7]

You can cut the pushpins if you have the correct cutter for the job but you should be extra carefull with this. IMHO you should get the board out and do it the proper way even if it?s gonna take ½ your day. Do you have a replacement HSF ? Some HSFs like Swiftech?s MCX159-CU require that you get the board out in order to fit them.