Opus BT-C3100 V2.2 Fan is super loud

Hey guys.
i am aware of this might be a bit off topic, but lets see how it goes

i have a Opus BT-C3100 V2.2 and it has served me very well.
but lately the 2x2cm teeny tiny fan has started making this super high pitched noise. its not possible to be in the same room.
i opened it up to try to lube it but the back of the bearing is blocked by a metal plug, i tried to get it out but it wont budge.
I noticed when i removed the fan that the air exhaust is not very efficent, a small 1x1cm square hole.
So i guess my question is does it need that fan at all?
Is there a good replacement fan out there. searched ebay and found only super expensive speciality fans that cost more than the charger.
Maybe a mod is in order? tips is appreciated.

I got a spare fan from gearbest, little over $1 and had it for a just in case moment. I gave in a while back as my fan was noisy(like a jet taking off!!). New fan in which is literally a 2 min job..............all good and quiet.

Fans tend to come in somewhat standardized sizes and mounts. If you don't go the Gearbest route, might be worth checking out Farnell, Digi-Key or Mouser. I'd be surprised if they don't have anything matching.

You have a few options.
Leaving the fan out is not a good idea IMHO.
You can buy a direct replacement from gearbest for about 2.5 dollars plus shipping.
https://www.gearbest.com/diy-parts-and-tools/pp_122241.html
Pros are it's plug and play and no more noise at least for now. Down side is that new fan will last about as long as the first one did and you will have to replace it again.
You can upgrade the fan. The original fan is 25mmx25mm square and 7mm deep. This is not a common size at all. I checked Digikey, Mouser, Jameco and Newark and had no luck. The depth is the thing that makes the size hard to find 25x25x10 is much more common. The closest I found was this.
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/ebm-papst-inc/252N/381-2452-ND/441224
It's the correct 25mmx25mm square 8mm deep, the correct voltage 12V, draws about the same mA as the original and has good air flow. The only down side is that it's a little too thick so it stick out of the case about 1mm. Since it comes without the connector I also ordered a digikey part # 455-1165-ND and 455-3083-ND. I removed the very thin wires probably 28AWG or smaller that came with the fan and soldered the digikey 24AWG pre crimped leads directly to the fan.
Adda also makes a 12V DC 25mmx25mm fan and it was cheaper but I went with the papst mainly because it's German made and I knew it would last longer.

Sorry for the late reply, have been out of power here, some moron lit a old caravan on fire and burned a transformator and about 50 meters of various wires for power and landline telephone and ADSL.

And this was exactly what i was looking for. i ordered 2 from gearbest, thinking maybe i can gut one and make a fan duct to 40mm Noctua fan

oh just remembered: Would it be easily possible to mount a on/off switch for the backlight? i know about the hold display button thing, but it had been so much faster with a dedicated button, Just a minor anoyance, no biggie.

It must be 50/50. Mine was quiet from day one. Hopefully if I ever have to replace it, the next will be quiet as well.

So it's like a whistling sound, not a grinding sound?

Definitely keeping this all in mind. Thanks for the information everyone! Mine has been fairly loud since the day I bought it but it's not unbearable so far. We'll see how things go as time goes on.

I wonder if they just need a drop of oil? I had an old refrigerator in my garage making a loud whining sound. It was the motor on the fan inside the freezer. A quick spray of WD40 and it's been silent ever since.

markr6 said:

I wonder if they just need a drop of oil? I had an old refrigerator in my garage making a loud whining sound. It was the motor on the fan inside the freezer. A quick spray of WD40 and it's been silent ever since.

Click to expand...

I took it off and removed the two stickers but the hole that you usually put lube in is blocked off by a metal "slab". i tried to get it out but i could not budge it. I then tried to put some CRC 5-65 over the slab and let it sit overnight to see if it would seep in, but no luck.
It really sound like a mini jet engine. Its not just irritating, its painful to be in the same room.

When i get the new ones i can see if there is any way to lube the old one now that i don't need to be careful.

That's interesting. I'm guessing the manufacturer of the fan pumps them out by the thousands, so some duds are expected. Probably some tiny defect that was hopefully fixed.

The fans are small similar to the small fans used by some laptops and oil won't work but flooding the fan from the opposite side, the moving fan itself, there is usually a small hole and basically you want to flood it with WD-40 as oil seems to not work and then it should work.

Yes , problem with oil in small presumably dry lubricated electronics is resistance with the oil viscosity(cause more drag and possibly get noisier) . Sometimes a silicon or better still teflon spray can coat the inner part/s which gives a dry lube.

IMHO i think its pretty much 50/50 luck, one i had was noisy from the start but always worked. Replacement fan from GB was $1.50 at the time, silent compared(it is running/working) and a cheap as chips part.

Cyclops25 said:

Hey guys.
i am aware of this might be a bit off topic, but lets see how it goes

i have a Opus BT-C3100 V2.2 and it has served me very well.
but lately the 2x2cm teeny tiny fan has started making this super high pitched noise. its not possible to be in the same room.
i opened it up to try to lube it but the back of the bearing is blocked by a metal plug, i tried to get it out but it wont budge.
I noticed when i removed the fan that the air exhaust is not very efficent, a small 1x1cm square hole.
So i guess my question is does it need that fan at all?
Is there a good replacement fan out there. searched ebay and found only super expensive speciality fans that cost more than the charger.
Maybe a mod is in order? tips is appreciated.

Click to expand...

For a great alternative from a top tier[DELTA] Manufacturer:thumbsup:,,,Can be bought in USA from this fine gentleman.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Delta-25mm-...Fan-2510-25x25x10mm-for-CPU-GPU-/391791564323

See post # 264 and # 266 in the thread below:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-C3100-2-2-Comparison-New-and-Exchanged/page9

Delta is not really a top tier fan. The best fans are Panasonic (Japanese) and Papst (German).

Uh oh did I speak too soon? Just this morning I started getting a sharp chirping sound spaced exactly 1 second apart. Very loud. I moved the charger around, unplugged it, and now it's back to normal. Could be a sign it's going out.

well 3 out of my 4 opus bt-c3100 and bt-c3400 chargers 1 has a noisy fan. Also 1 of them had one bad slot so i put the noisy fan i the one that had a bad slot and can do 15 batteries at once now.