[SOLVED] GPU fan keeps falling off

[AtomicBong]

So, I own an R9 290x Tri-X OC, and one of the fans keep falling off. There doesn't seem to be anything in particular holding it in place, so I assume the 'slot' has just loosened up. Could I glue it back on? If so, it'd be helpful if I knew where to apply some glue, as I'm not entirely sure which is the spinning mechanism. I assume it's the 'needle' in the centre.

P.S. Yeah, I've noticed I need to do some cleaning 😛.

https://imgur.com/a/krjS1oi

View: https://imgur.com/a/krjS1oi

https://imgur.com/a/U3I39tI

View: https://imgur.com/a/U3I39tI

 

[maxamillionfeettall]

The shaft ,or needle as you say, is supposed to be part of the fan blade. You would somehow need to adhere the metal shaft to the the center of the fan, while having perfect balance so the fan doesn't wobble. You can certainly try, remove the shaft from the bearing and put some real strong metal to plastic glue in the little divot in the center of the fan and placing the shaft in there. The perimeter of the fan blade is a magnet, could lube that up as well.


Personally, I'd find a similar fan and splice it to the cable or find an exact replacement as at this point all the fans bearings are prolly dried up .

 

[Karadjgne]

The 280-290x are well known for fan failures of some sort. There's no gluing it back on. Those fans use a sleeve bearing design, it's basically a needle shaft inside a long bronze donut, the tip of which sits in a cup. The windings make the fan spin on that shaft. If either the bearing gets worn out or the shaft shrinks, the fan head falls off. Nothing can fix it.

You can go on ebay or gpu website and order a set of new fans, if 1 died then the other 2 are not far behind.



The part that failed on you is where the blue shaft meets the purple surround. With tolerances being what they are, you are talking nano-meters or thousands on a mm, any variance in angle from 90° will make the fan wobble and be not only useless but wear out the bearing in no time.

Just replace the fans.

 

[AtomicBong]

Thanks guys. I guess it's best to get the fans replaced.

 

[Karadjgne]

Yep. They are pretty cheap for a full set, under $20 last time I looked for some.

On the bright side, that's 3 less things to clean, but with what's under that fan, the heatsink will be a mess. I'd be giving serious thought to a full teardown and hard cleaning.

 

[Ralston18]

And I will add the suggestion that you do indeed (per the provided images) consider regular cleaning SOP's.

Fans require balance. Dirt, dust, etc. will throw the fan off balance and lead to failure.

EOL (End of Life) can be engineered in in any number of ways...