# What fan is this?/Where can I buy a new one?



## Chuck B.

After hearing a periodic whirring/buzzing noise from my tower, I opened it up and discovered it was coming from a little fan underneath the circuit board that connects to my monitor. 

After talking to a computer repair center that recommended I replace the whole board (?!?!?!?), I decided to try to replace the fan by myself. I was happy to discover that the fan isn't soldiered. It's held in place by two separate spring-loaded plastic pins. I removed the fan and wrote down all the information.

The problem:
I can't find ANY site that sells the damn thing. The manufacturer doesn't even have it on *their* site.

This is all of the information written on the fan:

SUNON
MagLev Fan
124010VM
11 MS B 1031
K49023

I can't even tell which of those numbers is the part number. I've tried all of them at various computer parts sites, but none are recognized.

Please advice. Any information or lead would be appreciated.

Chuck


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## V0lt

Hi chuck,

I had a sunon MagLev blower in my acer laptop, and it was awful. It failed catastrophically, making a terrible grinding noise constantly, and it cost me 70 dollars to replace it because it's only sold with the heatsink units. 

So this fan is sitting on top of the integrated video card in your motherboard? Also, how does it get its power? Is it a simple 3 or 2 wire connector?


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## Chuck B.

It's a 2 pin connector, and I _think_ it's sitting on the video card. S/N: 51CM1E5838

After spending *HOURS* searching, I think I may've found a replacement:



Code:


http://www.outletpc.com/c1784.html

Outletpc is the ONLY place that doesn't have it on back order. If they write back and say: "We're sorry, but the part you ordered is on back order. We'll send it after your computer has melted into slag.", I think I'll go insane. (Am I alone in thinking it should NOT be this difficult to find a vital replacement part for a computer?)

Fox, just in case this replacement part doesn't work out, do you know anywhere else I could look? Also, the noise from the fan varies from being a loud buzz to being almost non-existant. Do you think it's safe to continue using my computer until the part arrives? Will the computer automatically shut off if the interior gets too hot, or if the fan starts transfering heat to the board? (I had to take the fan off of the board. The thermal paste is still present, but I "broke the seal".)

Thanks for your advice.


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## V0lt

As far as automatic shutoff goes, your guess is as good as mine. It's possible to melt chips by taking the heatsink/fan off, so I would at least clip it back on and leave the fan's power leads disconnected. That should help keep it from frying.


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## John_NY

I also had a buzzing Sunon MagLev 124010VH 11.MS.B1357.FX.GN DC12V 1.3W H6436C ZP CLX heat-sink/fan from my DFI LanParty NF590 Motherboard.
On another forum, there was a recommendation to remove the fan, and immerse it in soapy water (dish soap and hot water). 

(1) I removed all tags from the fan. The fan is transparent, so I could see inside.
(2) I removed the fan from the heat sink (3 tiny screws), 
(3) soaked it in the container for a while (shaking the container was okay), 
(4) used a can of air to partially dry the fan, 
(5) then let it dry overnight, wrapped in a paper towel. 

(6) I also lightly lubricated the fan with Singer sewing machine oil, but this was not strictly necessary (I've cleaned a lot of Rollerblade bearings, and there is always a lubrication step, so I felt compelled to lubricate the fan bearings). After adding oil, I tapped the fan upside-down against my hand until I could see the oil pool at the top of the fan near the fan bearings. Since machine oil is not conductive, I was not worried about short circuits. I wrapped the fan in another paper towel, and shook out the excess oil by tapping the towel-wrapped fan against my hand until most of the oil was gone. 

I reattached the fan to the heat sink and started the computer. After being cleaned, the fan did not immediately start due to some internal friction and the temperature controls -- I started the fan moving by pushing the blades until they started (there is also a temperature-control element that adjusts the fan speed with temperature, and at low temperature the current is not enough to start the fan, but is enough to keep it moving, once started). As the computer got warmer, the fan sped up, as expected.

I am now writing from a quiet computer -- no more grinding noises -- with a working fan.

-John


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## WereBo

Although washing a fan in soapy water is a bit extreme, it will certainly remove the hard-to-dislodge dust and crud that can build up. I would add an extra step to John's list above though - 3.5 After washing in soapy water, rinse well in clean water to remove all soapy residues, ideally de-ionised water (Distilled water, sold in car-spares shops for topping up batteries)

(I discovered just how much soap can build up, when I used to wash 2nd-hand vinyl albums - The stylus scraped the soap out of the groove and was clogged within minutes :grin


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