Sleeving a Fan with Expandable Sleeving

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.

Posted in: Sleeving