Sleeving a Fan with Expandable Sleeving

[t_ski]

Introduction

You probably have seen expandable sleeving used on power supplies and fans for a while. Now that you are trying to customize your rig or tidy the inside up you are thinking about trying it out. But how do you do it?

Today I will show you how to sleeve a CPU fan with expandable sleeving. The same principles can be applied to any kind of wiring in your PC.

Materials Needed

To do this project you will need a fan of your choice (or other object to sleeve).


You will also need a length of expandable sleeving appropriate for the task in the right diameter, some heatshrink tubing in a slightly larger diameter, and some electrical tape. I’ll be using 1/4" sleeving and some 5/16” tubing for this task. You can also find the sleeving in lots of different colors, so you can find one to match your color scheme.

Tools Needed

The tools required for this are

• a lighter
• a pair of scissors
• a small jeweler’s type screwdriver (if that is not available, you can use a straightened paper-clip).

Identify the Wiring

This is the most important step, so don’t skip it. If you are going to remove the wires from the connector you need to know what order to put them back in. At this point you can draw a pic on paper, or print out one of the pictures below. Usually, the connector will have a “1” or an arrow on it to denote pin one, and this one will be black (ground). The second wire in the middle will be the red power wire, and the third wire (if available) will be either yellow or white for the RPM monitor.

Prepare the Fan

Now that you know where the pins will go once you remove them, you can finally take them out of the connector. To do this, you need to insert your screwdriver or paper clip into the holes on the side of the connector and push down the small tab locking it in place.


After all the pins have been removed you are left with this:


To prepare the pins for the sleeving you should wrap them in electrical tape. This will keep them together and keep them from snagging on the sleeving. For really tight sleeving you may want to stagger the pins so that they are not all in one big bunch under the tape.

Prepare the Sleeving

Now you will need to get the sleeving ready. First, decide how long the sleeving will need to be. You want the sleeving to be about 1.5” to 2” shorter than the actual length of the wires. The shorter length allows the heatshrink tubing that we will apply later to cover the ends of the sleeving correctly and still allow flexibility.


Using your scissors cut the sleeving to the desired length.


Here is the sleeving after it has been cut. Notice the fibers that make up the sleeving.


The ends of the sleeving where you just cut it will fray very easily, so you will need to lightly burn the ends to melt the fibers together with your lighter. Do not get carried away, but make sure there is enough melted to hold the fibers in place.


After you have completed prepping the ends of the sleeving you should notice the difference. On the left is the finished sleeving and the right is unfinished.

Inserting the Wires

Now the wires can be inserted into the sleeving.


If there is a spot where there is too much resistance, you can bunch up the sleeving and inch it along until it is in the right place.


When you are done it should look like this:


Don’t remove the electrical tape just yet, as we will now need to put the heatshrink tubing on to hold the sleeving in place. With your scissors cut two pieces of tubing, each about 1.5” in length.


Push these on over the sleeving, with the first piece going closest to the fan.


Now we need to shrink the tubing to fit properly. This can be done with your lighter, but be careful not to burn the heatshrink (especially if using the cheaper glossy kind).

Finishing Up

At this point you are ready to insert the pins back into the connector, but before you do, inspect them carefully. You may need to pry the tab upwards so that it will engage in the connector once in place.


Using the drawing or photo you utilized in the first step, insert the wires back into the connector. When done correctly it will line up with the power source.


It doesn’t hurt to double check your work by powering up the fan with a separate power source before plugging it in to your motherboard.


When everything is OK, you can re-install the fan onto your heatsink. Your case is now neater and more organized. Continue to do the rest of your fans to match and it will be ready to show off at your next LAN party.


Special thanks to Darksaber for his photographic assistance.

[t_ski]

Can someone with a great macro camera help me out with a pic?

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=12889

I need one of the connector on the fan showing the markings (it will be the 4th pic above). TIA

[Darksaber]

Originally Posted by t_ski

Can someone with a great macro camera help me out with a pic?

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=12889

I need one of the connector on the fan showing the markings (it will be the 4th pic above). TIA

yea sure thing let me see what my cam can handle!

[t_ski]

Thanks, LMK...

[Sasqui]

Nice guide... I did this with many cables in my case (bright UV orange) - I wish I had seen your tip about melting the end of the sleeve itself before doing mine!!!

One thing I learned is that I wont do that project again unless I got a ton of time on my hands. Next PSU I buy will be pre-sleeved! And if I can get pre-sleeved fan, I'll go for that too

It really makes a difference in the look of a windowed case.

[t_ski]

Thanks. One time before I sleeved a PSU. It wasn't hard, but it did take a lot of time. IIRC I think I did it while my motherboard was being RMA'ed. I had nothing but time then...

[bbriand]

Hairdryer works great for shrinking heatshrink tubing. Probably heat guns as well. I find open flames sometimes tend to burn holes if you're not REALLY careful.

Otherwise great article!

[t_ski]

This can be done with your lighter, but be careful not to burn the heatshrink (especially if using the cheaper glossy kind).

That's why I mentioned this. The really cheap gossy stuff always burns. The better flat stuff rarely burns, unless you hold the flame there longer than really needed. I have accress to a small heat gun which does work well, but many people don't have access to one. A hairdryer has never worked for me, but maybe I'm too impatient. That's why I go for the flame: instant gratification!