Unleash the Power of Your Router!

Step 6 Aquire Heatsink

In this step, we will be adding the optional but recommended heatsink/ fan on the CPU. The best fan for this project in my opinion is a small but powerful heatsink mounted fan that you can get off a bunch of old NVIDIA cards. I was lucky that a local computer shop had a box of the NVIDIA RIVA TNT 2 cards going for $2 a pop! I bought 15 in total and the guy gave me a discount @ $20 total for the lot. I plan on modding many more of these routers in the future if anyone would like to buy a finished one, just let me know J

Flip the card over, and pinch the pins to release them.

Pull the heatsink off the chip; unplug it, and CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!

That abomination of a goop needs to be thoroughly cleaned off so the tiny particle silvers in the superior Arctic Silver Ceramic Adhesive can fit into the microscopic grooves on the underside of the heatsink.

Clean with a lint-free cloth and rubbing alcohol over and over until no more residue rubs off and discolors the cloth.

Then clean it again.
Maybe once more.

That’s good.

Ok, stop.

Now we’re going to remove the pins and the fan. Save the screws cus were just gonna use em again.

This is a perfect opportunity to clean the topside of the heatsink. Take your old toothbrush, spray it with a bunch of alcohol and clean clean clean!

Now let’s break off the unnecessary metal brackets extending from the sides.
Grab your vice grips, clamp them on to the bracket nice and tight, and bend it back and forth till it snaps off.

Now take your wire clippers and trim the edges as much as you can.

If this is satisfactory for you, then you can skip the next part. I however love watching the sparks fly off metal objects I’m working on, so I rarely pass up the opportunity to grind out sharp edges whenever I can :P

Grab your Dremel, attach your favorite spark-inducing grinding bit and enjoy the fireworks!

Once the edges are baby bottom smooth, it’s time to go ahead and work on that fan.
Now by default, the fan blows air AT the heatsink.
For this mod, we want the fan to blow heat up and out of the unit and away from the CPU.

It should be mentioned that it is a good idea to remove the sticker from this side, because heat, spin, and gravity will all be working against it when you flip the fan over.
I have only had it happen once, but the sticker came off and got jammed between the fan and heatsink, blocking the rotation. The router was not damaged, but the fan had to be replaced.

For added coolness, just flip the fan over and press it to the topside.
A dab of superglue might work if the adhesive doesn’t.

For this fan in particular, you’re going to need to drill larger openings on the other side of this fan for the screws to fit in.
I recommend using a cone shaped routing bit, but others can be used so long as you’re very cautious.
The cone shape helps keep you from drilling the holes TOO BIG all the way through, thus preventing you from accidentally making holes that the screws just falls through.

Also another perfect opportunity to clean something. Grab that old toothbrush and clean clean clean those fan blades if they need it, chances are they probably do!

Once you have drilled your holes large enough for the screws to drop in, but not all the way through, go ahead and mount it back to the heatsink.

To remove the white plug on the cord without cutting it, just slide your paperclip under the lip, grab the corresponding wire and give it a little pull.