Make a SP120L quiet again?

[Avcoor]

Hi

When I bought my PC back in 2013 it came with several problems so the boutique included 2 Corsair SP120L as a way to say sorry when I sent it back for them to fix.

In the beginning they were pretty silent but now one of them is unbearably loud.

I thought that putting some sewing machine oil would help but I discovered that you can't remove the little plug that normally existis under the sticker on the exhaust side.

 

So, is there anyway to make it quieter again?

 

[Naeaes]

I guess it's worth noting that you're coming up on them being twice over their warranty period of two years. Mechanics don't last forever.

[The_Denks]

 

10 minutes ago, Avcoor said:

Hi

When I bought my PC back in 2013 it came with several problems so the boutique included 2 Corsair SP120L as a way to say sorry when I sent it back for them to fix.

In the beginning they were pretty silent but now one of them is unbearably loud.

I thought that putting some sewing machine oil would help but I discovered that you can't remove the little plug that normally existis under the sticker on the exhaust side.

 

So, is there anyway to make it quieter again?

 

A bearing has probably broken on the inside.

Just buy a new one, they like $15, theres no way to repair it

[Avcoor]

18 minutes ago, Naeaes said:

I guess it's worth noting that you're coming up on them being twice over their warranty period of two years. Mechanics don't last forever.

Yeah, I know. But I was worth looking. The weird thing is that the other is just as silent as back then.

17 minutes ago, UberGamerKing said:

 

A bearing has probably broken on the inside.

Just buy a new one, they like $15, theres no way to repair it

Not here in Brazil unfortunately. They only sell the 3-pin ones and for quite high-prices.

[Enderman]

They are bad fans, don't use them. Buy something better.

[Avcoor]

Yeah, just an update.

 

I woke up today and had nothing to do (I actually did, but you know...) so I decided to to test some new Raijintek fans I bought and with them the Corsair fan I mentioned above. I haven't put the new fans on the case yet because i'm waiting for some fan splitters and rubber anti-vibration screws to arrive.

 

The thing is... whenever I put the Corsair fan on DC mode it would ramp up and down normally and even though noisier than the Raijintek Boreas β it was quieter than I remembered, but when I put it on PWM mode it would ramp up to 100% and get NOISY AS HELL and no matter if I put a lower speed on the ASUS UEFI the fan didn't respond and kept at 2000 RPM. I tried the Raijintek fan again just to test if the problem was Corsair's fan or the fan header and it worked just fine.

 

One strange thing though. I read or heard somewhere that the SP120Ls and the AF120Ls had the same bearing types, fan blade design and hub of the SP120s and AF120s and just lacked the colored rings and anti vibration rubber. As the fan is basically lost I went to disassemble it out of curiosity. When I removed the sticker there was the little removable plug that the SP120 doesn't have. Does that mean that the SP120L has a simple sleeved bearing instead of the hydraulic bearing of their Non-L counterpart?

[airdeano]

they all (SP/AF) use the same bearing once you pull the fan hub from the frame, they use the same hydraulic bearing.

i tried swapping the SP120 fan to the AF120 LED. bearings are the same, but the hub/windings are different.

to lubricate, you'll need to pull the fan hub from the frame. it is a tight slip-fit.

[Avcoor]

5 minutes ago, airdeano said:

they all (SP/AF) use the same bearing once you pull the fan hub from the frame, they use the same hydraulic bearing.

i tried swapping the SP120 fan to the AF120 LED. bearings are the same, but the hub/windings are different.

to lubricate, you'll need to pull the fan hub from the frame. it is a tight slip-fit.

 

Even though under the sticker the plug looks like this instead of this is the same hydraulic bearing?

[airdeano]

as stated before, you pull the fan hub from the frames. the bearing seal and lock come out with the fan hub.

i have already had many fans apart to paint and prep.

[meenmeen1103]

The title sounds like a Trump speech excerpt. Jokers and jokes aside:

 

If you plan on lubing the bearing, use slightly thicker oil or maybe even grease. The (essentially) bushing gets worn out over time (obviously) which increases the minor gap between shaft and bearing, which causes the vibrations and noise. With a tighter tolerance, thinner oil lubricates better, but with a worn out bearing thicker lube has a harder time escaping through seals. This is a band-aid fix though, the actual issue is the bearing is worn out. Best way to fix is to buy new fans