Introdução
Use this guide to replace a noisy or worn-out fan.
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Place your thumbs in the depressions cut into the bottom cover.
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Rotate the bottom cover counter-clockwise until the white dot painted on the bottom cover is aligned with the ring inscribed on the outer case.
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Tilt the mini enough to allow the bottom cover to fall away from the outer case.
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Remove the bottom cover and set it aside.
I have a late 2012 Mac mini, but it must be an earlier version than this late 2012 Mac mini in this description, because removing the hard drive is much more complicated than described here. Please see this YouTube video if you have trouble removing your hard drive with these directions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvmuQIZP... There is a longer process you've got to go through. It can be done, it just takes much longer. (3-4 hours for me)
This applied to me as well. The iFixit article was good and lots of helpful information in the comments but my mini was different and required more dismantling. The video sandyfacebook posted was very helpful in taking me the rest of the way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvmuQIZP...
My HDD replacement procedure took 2 jours of research, one night sleeping on it and 30 minutes to perform…
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Remove the two 11.3 mm T6 Torx screws securing the fan to the logic board near the antenna plate.
Remove a third screw at the opposite end of the fan near the DRAM
Not necessary to remove that screw at that point to get the fan out. It is only a post at that point.
Remove it in step 14.
The fan has in fact, 3 screws that need to be removed before you can lift it out.
That screw is a post at that point. I removed it at step 14.
The 3rd screw needed a T5, for me.
All of mine have 3-T6 screws.
I can't, for the life of me, get the left screw out of the cowling. Had to pull both out together. Now having a very hard time getting the cowling back in to replace the fan.
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Lift the ear of the fan nearest the RAM up off the standoff secured to the outer case.
Same for me, couldn't get it to move without feeling it was going to break so I just removed the screw.
Ditto re: standoff screw
Better to remove the 3rd bolt here, making it easier to remove the fan. It needs to be removed anyway in step 14.
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Lift the fan out of the mini for enough clearance to access its connector.
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Grab all the wires at once and gently pull to disconnect the fan from the logic board. Alternatively, slide a spudger underneath the wires and pry up to disengage the connector.
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Remove the fan.
You actually don't need to disconnect the fan. You can just let it hang on the side while working. I accidentally killed my connector trying to pry it loose. It's being held together now by some tape, after spending hours trying to reconnect it and figuring out pin outs.
Did it just as Nick suggested, hang the assembly to the side.
Agreed. It is much better to leave the fan connected. The only thing you actually need to disconnect is the hard drive.
ablack3 -
Absolutely. just dangle it.
110% agreed: you don’t have to remove the fan. Those wires are delicate, as is the connector. Just move it off to the side. Do the same for the antenna plate. The fewer connectors you touch, the fewer things you break!
Be careful to LIFT UP on the fan connector cable. Using a spudger tool helps here. I mistakenly thought that the connector would slide off the logic board and tried to remove the connector this way. I ended up lifting the connector off of the logic board, thus ruining my logic board and requiring a $350 logic board replacement at the genius bar. The second time I did a HD/SSD replacement, everything worked fine.
Yeah, I did the same thing by following someone elses "shortcut". Now I am going to shell out 289 for quad core i5 board, and a new fan BTW. . . . . . Oh well never a dull moment :) and it gets an upgrade as well!
That's probably the must tricky part of the replacement. I did the same thing, i just pull on my cables and the connector stays on the board. Tried many times to switch cables into but any order i try is not the good one.
The avoid this, now, when i want to pull out my fan, i just use a plate screwdriver and lift up the connector. That's work perfectly.
I screwed it too... Not reading carefully enough, I accidentally removed the whole socket from the board. This happened with the IR connector too. When re-assembling the parts, the socket wouldn't stick to the board, now I know why. I don't want to buy a new logic board, because I can't afford one, so I'm trying to find someone to solder it. Seems hard to find someone able to repair logic boards these days. Hope I'll be successful, otherwise this is an expensive upgrade to my mac...
Don't remove it with your fingers, use a tool for that. And underneath the wires!
Followed all the instructions, everything went well, but now my mini fan won't turn off. It starts as soon as I boot up. I've tried every fan control software out there, and nothing works; the fan just constantly runs. I was very careful when I disconnected/reconnected the fan cable, and it looks fine. What else can I do?
The problem is most likely a disconnected or damaged temperature sensor, I had this problem when reassembling a 2007 Mac mini. It can't read the temperature, so assumes the worst and sets the fan to maximum.
For heavens sake please DON'T remove the fan. It's really really hard to reconnect it properly. And besides that you don't have to remove the Logic Board for just changing the HDD.
Does anyone know how to solve the full RPM fan issue? My computer guy couldn't solve with fan control software
I removed the fan and everything worked fine, but it’s good to know that it’s a “push-down“ connector, took me some time to relize that, all I needed to do was to press down the connector over the pins, see the picture for more details.
The direction you “ gently pull” to remove the connector is all important. You have to pull upwards, vertically away from the board. If you pull more downwards parallel to the board, you may end up wrecking the connector by pulling the wires out of it as I did. Fortunately the socket was okay so it was just a case of buying a $10 replacement fan (complete with new connector).
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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This took a lot of force on my Mac mini. A lot.
nh3 - Responder
I agree. It took a crap ton of force from my thumbs to twist the bottom off.
sleeve -
I accidentally broke the little things that hold the cover to the case. Is there a cheap replacement to the cover? Those clips are held onto it very weakly.
Jacob Halton - Responder
Don't just use your thumbs... Use your whole palm to twist it, with maybe a thumb in one of the recesses, applying slight downward pressure.
markbart - Responder
I think it depends, I have seen some that are very difficult to open and some super easy. But I see them everyday. I wish there was a tool that fit in the holes.
Justin Weathersbee - Responder
When seating the bottom RAM chip you may have to apply a little extra side force to get it to seat properly. I put in the new RAM and just got a beeping sound upon starting. I then put the old RAM back in and got the same result.
Here is the solution I found on the Apple discussion board.
"Take a small flat head screwdriver and after you put the memory in slot 0, put the screwdriver between the top of the mac mini and the memory then turn the screwdriver a little to exert pressure on the memory into the slot. Do it on both sides of the memory."
This worked for me.
littlemas2 - Responder
I remember this when I was changing my memory ... I realized (after opening) that more you push, more force it take to open the cover. As you push down you force the cover "to rub" the casing and possibly other things inside. If you "lightly" hold the cover it comes right off ... Remember: less is more! :-)
Have fun!
Radek - Responder
We found it hard to use the thumbs but if you put the casing on a carpet and one person is holding the case while the other is using his palm of one hand to turn the cover it comes off quite smoothly and without much downward pressure.
Alexander - Responder
Use your whole palm to twist it, with maybe a thumb in one of the recesses, applying slight downward pressure. Thewatchseries
mariya dems - Responder