resoldering a broken off fan wire

[ChaosLegionnaire]

im trying to repair some fans with broken off wires from the fan pcb. please refer to the attached pictures. however, the fan pcb seems to be glued to the stator and i cant access the solder side of the fan pcb. anyway to pry the pcb off the stator without damaging it or anything? thanks.

[eccerr0r]

Re: resoldering a broken off fan wire

The ones I've run across the stator magnets come off with the pcb unglued. If it is actually glued then I think you're SOL and best you can do is carefully cut plastic on the other side and solder very carefully...

[eagleeyez]

Re: resoldering a broken off fan wire

it is not glued but the axis is riveted and it is not easy to remove it without breaking something, your best options are to try to tin the wires and then use small soldering tip to slide it under or maybe heatgun, but the best option as eccerr0r said is to try to cut the plastic underneath with a dremel or a sharp tool, maybe cutting pliers can do the job too... otherwise just throw it and buy another one most of the time you spend more time that what this kind of repair are worth.

[momaka]

Re: resoldering a broken off fan wire

On many cheapo fans, PCB and stator are held together and glued onto a plastic "collar" that is used for holding the bearings (be it BBs or sleeve bearings.)

If you have a heat gun, give the stator a little bit of hot air (or a little more than "a little", but not so much as to melt the plastic - i.e. don't heat the thing much more than around 100C.) Then, using some cloth or wool glove (something that will allow you to grab the stator with enough finesse, yet not burn your hands), twist and pull away the stator from the plastic fan casing. It may or may not come out easily, depending on how much and what kind of glue they used.

Note: you can do several heat-cool cycles to weaken the glue too. That way, you may not need to heat the stator as much sometimes.

Also a useful hint: before trying to pull away the stator with the PCB assembly, make sure your wires on the other side are free and ready to go (i.e. not meshed between the usual plastic tabs that hold the wires in place when the fan is normally assembled.)

Otherwise, the alternative is as eccerr0r suggested: just drill/break/cut away plastic from the back of the fan and solder the wire that way. I've done this too, and this method works too. So you can do whichever one you're more comfortable with.

[stj]

Re: resoldering a broken off fan wire

cutting away some un-needed plastic is best, you can break shit real easy trying to get the board out.

as for cheap, most dont use glue.
they put the board and coil assemby over the plastic sleeve,
then drive the bearings in with a press so the plastic expands slightly and locks it all in place.
if you punch the bearings out the plastic does NOT shrink back down!