- Joined
- Jul 9, 2016
- Messages
- 87
- Reaction score
- 31
- Age
- 67
On one of my ST16's, I noticed what I thought was a bad exhaust fan. I had a worble -- especially when the ST16 was moved. I figured a bad bearing or the fan blade was warped casing this noise. I decided to open the ST16 and see how hard it is / or isn't to replace the fan. Here is what I found:
The fans are oriented so that one is pulling air in and the other pushing it out -- providing lots of ventilation. However, the one on the right (or left if opening the ST16 upside down) has a small metal bar placed diagonally between opposite mounting screws. The fan is positioned exactly in the path of the battery cable -- so that when closed, the battery cable lays across the fan and that bar. Guess what? You got it -- the clearance between that metal bar and the fan blades is no more and probably less than 1 mm. The battery wire had pressed into the bar just enough to push it ever so lightly against the center of the fan blades. There's enough tolerance in the fan blade / motor bearing to create that worble noise when running and especially when the ST16 is being moved. That was causing the noise.
The fix? I removed the bar and gave it a very slight crescent bend -- just enough to arch over the fan blades rather than flat. I also ensured that when closing the case, the battery wire routed to the left of the fan and board components beneath. Fan noise GONE.
I've seen the posts about fan's going bad with noise and I'll have to say that perhaps it's not the fan at all, but this issue with the battery wire against the protective bar.
Thought I'd post to let others know.
The fans are oriented so that one is pulling air in and the other pushing it out -- providing lots of ventilation. However, the one on the right (or left if opening the ST16 upside down) has a small metal bar placed diagonally between opposite mounting screws. The fan is positioned exactly in the path of the battery cable -- so that when closed, the battery cable lays across the fan and that bar. Guess what? You got it -- the clearance between that metal bar and the fan blades is no more and probably less than 1 mm. The battery wire had pressed into the bar just enough to push it ever so lightly against the center of the fan blades. There's enough tolerance in the fan blade / motor bearing to create that worble noise when running and especially when the ST16 is being moved. That was causing the noise.
The fix? I removed the bar and gave it a very slight crescent bend -- just enough to arch over the fan blades rather than flat. I also ensured that when closing the case, the battery wire routed to the left of the fan and board components beneath. Fan noise GONE.
I've seen the posts about fan's going bad with noise and I'll have to say that perhaps it's not the fan at all, but this issue with the battery wire against the protective bar.
Thought I'd post to let others know.
