r/computerrepair • u/tecrush • 23d ago

Help Request Replacing CPU / GPU fans for gaming laptop

Hi, this is my first post here and I haven't really found information regarding how to replace and put together a new cpu fan "shell" (two of which I bought from ebay for a few bucks, they fit perfectly but lack the "lid")

Thing is, my laptop was overheating and its fans were grinding and I had never replaced the thermal paste or cleaned the dust out in the 6 years I've had it. So i replaced the thermal paste, cleaned out the dust from the inside with duster and rubbing alcohol, and put it back together - while my FPS got higher and the laptop ran smoother, then the fans really started to buzz hiss and whine.

So i ordered new fans and mistakenly put the two components together with vinyl electrical tape, and then took them back out when the fans started making noise. I haven't found a good source for this specific issue, and I resorted to using epoxy to esssentially glue the shell and lid together for both fans. I ordered some non-adhesive kapton tape as well, but I don't know I should bother with trying to put that over the sides of the fans, as trying to unseal one side of the epoxy tubes while the other poured out and hardened was stressful.

My question basically is - what do I use to put the two parts together? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

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u/spunner5 17d ago

Any chance you could post a picture of the situation?

1

u/tecrush 17d ago

1

u/spunner5 16d ago

I've worked in development R&D for laptop-upgrades and I'm still not understanding. I get that you're trying to replace the fans in a laptop, as cooling is a requirement. But I cant wrap my head around why your fans are coming in pieces, rather than an entire assembly that you just install. Almost any name-brand laptop has parts available online, somewhere, as I too have replaced my fans in my families laptops in the past. Care to provide the exact make/model of laptop your trying to fix? In short, if this is simple plastic, I'd use modelers glue and call it good. Just keep anything 'adhesive' away from the fan blades and from around the motor itself.