Take
the Router Apart
It's
a bit hard to pop open the router for the first time but it's
doable. Follow these instructions
to open the router housing.
Tap
Into the Power
Locate
the power connector on the back of the unit and turn the PCB
upside down. At the bottom side you will see two soldered
pins [Fig. 1]. We'll need to tap into them like in the photo.
Fig. 1 Power plug pins
The
wires that are attached to the 12V fan will likely be too
short to reach the power on the bottom side of the PCB. You
will need to extend them. Cut two pieces of wire. Give yourself
enough length to reach the other side of the router. You can
always cut off excess. Strip the ends and solder them into
the power connector pins.
At
this point you may want to loop the wire around the PCB and
dab some silicon glue or sealant to attach the wire to the
PCB [Fig. 1]. This last step is not necessary if you're very
careful while handling the board and the wire. The purpose
the silicon dab is to prevent the wire from breaking off while
you're working on the fan. If you use silicon give yourself
enough time so it is fully cured before you continue working.
A
note on the wire gauge. Your fan is probably equiped with
very thin wires so you may wonder why bother extending it
with anything thicker than that. There is no real good reason
for thicker wire. If there is a short circuit not prevented
by the fuse in the power supply the thinnest wire in your
router will burn. This is likely to be the fan itself. If
your wire extensions are thinner than the fan's coil there's
a chance they'll burn first. If they are touching the PCB
there could be further damage to the router. At least with
thicker wire your'e increasing chances that the fan will melt
instead of the router. That's all. But what will really happen
in case of a short circuit is anyone's guess.
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