[SOLVED] Help! Custom IPC for a road sign, cant ID or find a replacement cooler

[ThatMovieGuy]

Anyone have an idea as to what type/category this would even be under? Its a all in one heatsink, and fan for a mini PC for a road sign. The fan has failed and I really need a cooling solution. WOuld prefer the same type, but I cant ID this. Any help would be appreciated.

https://ibb.co/vvJ3hdw

Thanks!

 

[velocityg4]

Can't ID it. But I'd say it looks like the same cheap fan used in budget GPU. I'd suggest taking a measurement (in mm) and getting a GPU fan of the same size. The biggest worry is the pinout. You'll want to get a voltage reading from your unit and figure out the pinout. So you can splice the wires of the new fan. Plus get a fan of the right voltage. If it uses an odd voltage. The fan itself should have a couple small screws holding it on. Hidden beneath the blades.

Worst comes to worse. You could probably just remove the shroud. If it's plastic. Jury rigging a 120mm fan over top to blow on the heatsink. Don't know if there's rules about tinkering with road signs like that.

I'd also expect a universal GPU heatsink would work and a lot better. As long as the mount holes were within the range the heatsink accepts. Plus the same voltage and pinout issue you'd have to resolve.

It might be an embedded Intel CPU. You could find that out by pulling the heatsink and cleaning the CPU with a cloth dampened with rubbing alcohol. Very carefully if it doesn't have a heatspreader. As there are tiny exposed electronics you could destroy. On those without a heatspreader. I use a QTip and alcohol very gently. Anyways, if it is Intel. Well really any CPU manufacturer. Life will be much easier knowing exactly what is in there. As you can then look for specific heatsinks.

Doesn't the manufacturer have the heatsink with fan or do they require replacing the whole board? You could pull the board and look for a model number or part number of the board. Then find out what heatsink to get by searching for the board number and heatsink on eBay or Google.

Who knows, if you pull the heatsink. It might have a part number stamped somewhere. You would just have to replace the thermal paste if you remove it. If it also has thermal pads. Those should be replaced.

 

[ThatMovieGuy]

Its solid metal. Pretty sure the fan is like 30mm at most. I tried getting it off the motherboard but it doesnt budge for some reason even with the screws removed. It came imported from china (cant even get the Intel processor that came with it stateside) and I have scoured the net for a replacement. It def looks like a graphics blower design, but I have seen NOTHING even close to that design and super thin profile. I guess ill try and look for a super slim 30mm fan, but the pickings on that front are pretty thin as well.

 

[velocityg4]

Did you also remove the fan? There's likely a hidden screw somewhere holding it on. Unless they used a thermal adhesive instead of thermal paste for some reason.