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SP120 RGB Disassembly & Lubrication


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Hi Everyone,

 

I have a Corsair 570x case with 6 of the SP120 RGB fans. Recently, there has been some very loud rattling coming from the fans, too loud to ignore. I've tried to find a video or guide regarding how to disassemble the fans to lubricate them, but I haven't had any luck finding anything.

 

Has anyone been able to successfully do this?

 

I am aware that I'd be voiding my warranty by taking the fans apart, I just want to know how to disassemble them and lubricate them to resolve the noise issues.

 

Thanks!

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Hi Everyone,

 

I have a Corsair 570x case with 6 of the SP120 RGB fans. Recently, there has been some very loud rattling coming from the fans, too loud to ignore. I've tried to find a video or guide regarding how to disassemble the fans to lubricate them, but I haven't had any luck finding anything.

 

Has anyone been able to successfully do this?

 

I am aware that I'd be voiding my warranty by taking the fans apart, I just want to know how to disassemble them and lubricate them to resolve the noise issues.

 

Thanks!

 

Open up a support ticket and/or RMA them. I like to tinker a lot and would not touch a fan like that, while it is still under warranty. Fans are not designed to be serviced. For old sleeve bearings fans, when I was I poor college student, I use to peel the sticker and put a drop of oil in axle, though the fans were out of warranty and cheap. That might have worked for an old cheap sleeve bearing fan, though the SP-120s are fluid bearings, I have a good feeling that they might be sealed and might not be serviceable. So all you might be doing is voiding your warranty w/o any results.

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some very loud rattling coming from the fans

 

I think at that point you are past the point of no return.. if it's ran dry long enough to begin rattling then the bearing is dead mate.. excess play now lives there..

 

as suggested above.. contact support,, proof of purchase helps massively as does any proof of said problem.. video/pictures/link to this thread.. every little helps bud..

 

Good luck :)

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  • 11 months later...
Necroing an old thread. I just took my SP120 apart by pulling the fan portion away from the frame. Make sure to support the middle of the frame behind the fan hub or you risk it cracking. It requires A LOT of force to sperate the 2. Once I got them separated, there is a section in the middle of the fan with the bearing that can be lubricated.
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  • 2 years later...
Necroing an old thread. I just took my SP120 apart by pulling the fan portion away from the frame. Make sure to support the middle of the frame behind the fan hub or you risk it cracking. It requires A LOT of force to sperate the 2. Once I got them separated, there is a section in the middle of the fan with the bearing that can be lubricated.

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the only useful post in this thread. It's amazing how we are sometimes so eager to speak authoritatively on things we don't understand (referring of course to the responses before yours saying, "it's dead," "RMA it," etc.). Maybe it's dead and maybe it isn't, but there's not enough info in the OP to know without gathering more info/getting a video, etc. to find out. It would be better if rather than speaking authoritatively on hardware we don't fully understand and hamstringing others out of fear and ignorance, we just said nothing. Or if we *must* say something, say "I don't know," or "I don't understand this fan well enough to say," etc.

 

 

 

On to the fan and the question... I realize OP has long since moved on, but this may help others in the future as the SP120's are very much still in production and use.

 

There is nothing complex going on with this fan. It is hybrid type of rifle bearing, very similar to the Hysint bearing used by Young Lin Tech. Other than that, it's just a small circuit board on the fan hub frame with some LEDs on it. No spooky magic here. If you have one that's making a whining or buzzing noise (some might describe this as a "rattle") and you'd like to try fixing it by adding some lubricant, have no fear. It's simple to do and usually very effective. If your SP120 is new and is making noises, it's probably not a bad unit... odds are it just didn't get enough lubricant during manufacturing, and this procedure will fix that. Don't just throw it away, there's probably nothing wrong with it other than a lack of lubrication.

 

TL;DR - How To Fix It

 

1. Remove the fan blade from the fan housing as TheSchlaf suggested. The best way I've found is to grip the front fan spindle with one hand, and grip the back of the frame with the other hand. Then just pull them apart. Start with a low amount of force and increase it slowly until they come apart. The key to avoid breaking anything is to grip the middle of the frame behind the fan hub as TheSchlaf said, and avoid sudden, jerking force. Also, don't try to pry it from the edges with the tip of a screwdriver or anything like that; uneven pressure on the fan hub/fan with likely result in disaster.

 

2. Once you've got it apart, you should see the shaft with a Hysint-style bearing attached to and a little plastic ring on top of it. See the attached image for reference on what you'll see.

 

3. Apply a small amount of dielectric lubricant (a small bottle is much less expensive than a new fan and will last you years) to the end of the shaft, no more than one drop should do the trick. I specify dielectric lube because it's non-corrosive and non-conductive. You want to avoid getting it all over the place and making a mess, but if you get some on the coils or wherever, it's not a big deal. Just wipe up the excess; you don't want a bunch of this stuff in there and leaking out of the fan, etc.

 

4. Press the fan back onto the fan hub, making sure the shaft is centered.

 

Boom, you're done. Plug your fan back in and enjoy the quiet. Congrats, you've just avoided having to go through an RMA procedure (remember, your time is worth something too), saved a small amount of carbon emissions and other waste to get a new fan, and kept a perfectly good fan out of the landfill. All it took was a few minutes. Sadly, it would have been easier if you didn't have people telling you it was impossible/a bad idea. :roll:

hysint-bearing.thumb.png.5e144237a2f4215797a0f574352c6dee.png

Edited by medavis
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SP120's are very much still in production

 

 

 

Advice was given in 2018 when those fans was current.. they have since been replaced twice, SP Pro (still 3 pin voltage controlled but gained 4 more LEDs) and now SP Elite (YAY PWM! at last).

 

1, the advice was given while the OP was still within warranty as he mentioned.. what is so bad about advising someone to claim on their valid warranty?

 

2, the post from 2019 was a valid post and still is.. but is in no way a reflection on the rest of the thread and its advice.

 

3, had it been an out of warranty situation.. advice would have been different. and no one said throw it away.... look before you leap? ':roll:'

Edited by Zotty
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Thank you Zotty. I have an out of warranty LL120 (currently not in a case) now missing the PWM cable curtesy of a curious 6yo. If indeed the PCB can be accessed via the method above, there may be life in it yet.

 

lol. poor poor pwm cable! good luck on your quest buddy :)

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