# 921 fan replacement procedure



## keitheva (Aug 23, 2002)

Today I replaced the fans in the 921 in an effort to reduce the noise. There is a noticeable reduction in noise with the new SilenX fans, but the hard drive is still audible.

The procedure was a little more complicated than I had expected, but not too hard:

*** Make sure the 921 is unplugged when you do all this!!! ***

Main cover removal
1. Remove 6 screws from the back, then pull cover rearwards until it slides back about 2 inches, then lift up

Front cover removal
1. Gently pry panel forwards while opening clips on either side (no screws)

Rear fan (80mm):
1. disconnect fan power connector from circuit board (red/black wires)
2. remove fan housing from 921 chassis (3 screws)
3. remove fan from housing (4 screws)
4. feed wires from new fan through guide hole in housing
5. plug new fan connector into circuit board (the old fan connector had 2 pins, the new one had three, make sure you use the correct 2 pins)
6. plug 921 in (careful!), and make sure the fan runs ok (should start in about 10 secs), ***unplug 921***
7. mount new fan to housing (the SilenX fan comes with vibration-proof mounts (4 yellow rubber things in the pictures), getting the fan fully seated on these was fiddly)
8. reattach fan housing to 921 chassis
9. I used a temp sensitive fan, so I positioned the thermistor near the hard drive (white wire in pictures)

Front fan (60mm)
The problem here is that the fan is attached to the front-panel switch circuit board assembly, this makes access to the fan a bit tricky, but doable if you're careful
1. disconnect fan power connector from circuit board (red/blue wires)
2. remove entire fan/circuit board white plastic housing from front panel (undo 1 screw, then depress clips (4) and gently pry assembly towards rear of 921 (I also found some silicon glue around the top clip, which I removed))
3. carefully remove the circuit board from the assembly by depressing the clips (5) and lifting out circuit board (don't stress the board or pull on any of the components)
4. remove fan from housing (4 screws)
5. plug new fan connector into circuit board (the old fan connector had 2 pins, the new one had three, make sure you use the correct 2 pins)
6. plug 921 in (careful!), and make sure the fan runs ok (should start in about 10 secs), ***unplug 921***
7. mount new fan to housing
8. carefully reinsert circuit board to housing
9. reattach whole assembly to front panel (I had trouble here, the SilenX 60mm fan is deeper than the stock one, so it wouldn't clear the chip cooling fins - I had to cut off a small part of the SilenX fan shroud to fit - see pictures)

Reassemble 921
1. plug 921 in (careful!), and make sure both fans still run ok (should start in about 10 secs), ***unplug 921***
2. Reattach 921 front cover
3. Replace main cover

Enjoy your new quiet(er) 921!

Cheers,
-Keith


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

And void your warrenty with Dish.


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## eclipsetrb (Jan 19, 2005)

Hey keith wondering what model silenx fans you used (8dba 12dba etc...) and if the fans are still the loudest thing you hear or is it the hard drive now. Also wondering if you got any side shots of where the hard drive mounts to the case im thinking of getting some of the little silicone o rings that go between the screws and drive to help dampen the hard drive vibrations from the case. Any other info you wana share is great. Thanks


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## keitheva (Aug 23, 2002)

Mike D-CO5 said:


> And void your warrenty with Dish.


Not if your 921 is > 1 year old.


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## keitheva (Aug 23, 2002)

eclipsetrb said:


> Hey keith wondering what model silenx fans you used (8dba 12dba etc...) and if the fans are still the loudest thing you hear or is it the hard drive now. Also wondering if you got any side shots of where the hard drive mounts to the case im thinking of getting some of the little silicone o rings that go between the screws and drive to help dampen the hard drive vibrations from the case. Any other info you wana share is great. Thanks


I used these fans:

SilenX 80mm 14dBA Thermistor Case Fan
SilenX 60mm 12dBA Case Fan

The hard drive is now definitely the loudest element. I can hear the head moving which used to be drowned out by the noise of the fans.

I don't have any side shots of the drive mounting I'm afraid, but from the overhead shots it looks feasible. Here's a closeup of the drive.

Cheers,
-Keith


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Keith, I did read somewhere (Yahho groups ?) - you can use any 250 GB disk as replacement; you'll need to find quiet ( WD ?) model and copy all partitions by Ghost.


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## ClaudeR (Dec 7, 2003)

10-1/2 more months, and that sucker is getting ripped open. Silence is golden.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

I notice that your HDD says "DiamondMax 16" - which is a 'standard' drive, and of a different Maxtor family than the QuickView series.

I just Google'd it, and searched the Maxtor site and I can't find any good pics of a QuckView. I have a blurry one of an early adopter's drive, and it sure seems to NOT say "DiamondMax", but a shorter word ("QuickView"?).

There are significant differences between DiamondMax and QuickView. I wonder if this can be the root of some 921 problems? I'll start a thread.


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