H100i Platinum one ML fan receiving unknown friction and grinding noise

For months now, I have been having this issue with my corsair H100I platinum radiator ML fan that came with the unit.

 

One of the fans makes a loud grinding noise when spinning and is much harder to spin than the other. If I spin it by hand, as shown in the video attached, one fan spins freely and smoothly while the other only spins for a second and quickly halts whilst also making the mentioned grinding noise, even at very slow speeds. It seems to be the motor as the blades are not coming into contact with anything.

 

Does anyone have a solution to this that doesn't require sending the entire unit back?

 

https://imgur.com/OKRKJf9

Not unless you have experience in repairing/replacing a proprietary bearing component. Contact support. You may be able to get them to send you the new one and then mail the old one back after you receive it. If not, any PWM fan can be a stand-in for the time being. The Platinum ML-RGB "high speed" are a unique version and not available at retail. It is worth your time to try get a replacement unless you are going to change both fans to something else.