You can follow my blog post here for steps on how to remove it.

This includes the 4 that hold the fan and grill to the inside of the case, the other 5 you can see, and 1 under the “Guarantee void if removed” sticker.This is the continuation of another post, Computer Randomly Shuts Off Power Supply Issues on a Dell Optiplex GX520 (Small Form Factor), which has grown into it’s own article.  I had a Dell GX520 that kept powering off at random times.  I tested the memory, HD, and couldn’t find anything wrong with it and then noticed that the power supply’s fan was struggling to spin.  I ended up ordering a new power supply.  Now another GX520 start shutting off on us and the indicator light on the front panel was in fact flashing orange–indicating a power issue (see Dell’s website here to decode your flashing power button light).

Dell Optiplex GX520 with a flashing Amber Power Light Indicating a Power Supply Issue

 

Step 3: Remove the 1 screw on the bottom of the case.

Step 4: Clip the zip tie that connects the wire bundle to the case cover.

Step 5: Remove the power supply cover by sliding it straight up (up being the fan side).

Step 6: Cut the wires leading to the fan.

Leave yourself room to connect the remaining wires to the new fan.

Step 7: Connect the new fan.

Because of space constraints I suggest soldering the connections to the new fan and using shrink tubing to insulate the connections.

The yellow wire on the fan is not going to be used.  It is an RPM output from the fan which is not needed in our application.  Cut it off:

Strip the wires and tin them to make it easier to solder them together:

I had a dirty solder gun, therefore the black residue on the solder.

Slip on the shrink tube before soldering the connections.  Make sure it is far enough away from where you are soldering because the heat from the soldering will shrink it.

Slip the shrink tub on before soldering the wires.

Watch that there isn’t something fragile in the path of the hot air (especially your hand) because these heat guns are dangerous.

Shrinking the shrink tube with my heat gun

Step 8: Screw the fan and fan grill onto the case cover.

The screws that came with the fan I bought will not work because the holes are too big on the side I need to mount.  NOTE: the fan needs to blow IN, which means the label on the fan will be on the inside.  I was forced to go through my junk screw drawer and find a longer screw:

The ones I found that were too long so I had to cut them off:

There originally were 4 screws but I’m going to only put 2 back in.  Good enough for me though.

Step 9: Reassemble the power supply.

Make sure the wires leading to the new fan do not get in the way of the fan blades and make sure to tuck the one edge of the cover under the case as you reassemble it:

BTW: If you need the steps to reassemble the power supply into the CPU, you can read my tutorial here and follow the steps in reverse.

Updates:

5/31/12 Update: So far now I’ve had 4 power supply fans go bad.  3 of them I’ve simply replaced the fan. I just called Dell to see if by chance they had a recall on those power supplies but unfortunately, no luck.

8/20/12 Update: I had another one go bad today.  I ordered 5 of these
replacement fans from amazon.com.

8/22/12 Update: I replaced the fan in another power supply but in this case the power supply was bad.  It was making a high pitch sound and when I hooked up the new fan to it, it wouldn’t even spin up.  Luckily I had an extra.

9/18/13 Update: We had another fan go out, bringing the total to 7 power supply failures, 6 of which were only the fan.

Masscool FD07015S1M34 – Case fan – 70 mm