The Fix to the EZ Peak Plus Fan Noise!

[Wolfslash16]

Hey guys, as some of you know, after a little while, the cooling fan on the EZ Peak Plus can "buzzing" or "grinding" sound at low speeds. Mine has been making funny sounds for at least 3 months now, but today, even at full fan speed, it wouldn't stop making grinding sounds. I didn't want to send it to Traxxas, I need it for a camping trip this weekend. (can't wait to take my Summit!) So, I took out the 4 screws holding it together, and I put a small drop of motor oil on the fan. Now, at any speed, the fan it really quite. Even at the very beginning, it's super quite! This could be just me, but it sounds like it's spinning even faster than it was when it was new! I just thought I'd post this for any one else that has the noise. I have no idea if this voids some warranty, but I figured it was worth a try.

[Traxxasnoob2012]

I had the same issue with my charger...I sent it in to Traxxas last month...They said they are replacing it with a new charger....But after 4 weeks...still no charger...

[blurrdvision]

If you have not heard from nor received your charger yet. Please call in so we can see what is going on.

[Traxxasnoob2012]

If you have not heard from nor received your charger yet. Please call in so we can see what is going on.

Just called Traxxas....Guess the new chargers were on back order....The tech said it's on the way to me now...Hopefully with no more "bad" noises...

[Wolfslash16]

Hopefully with no more "bad" noises...

Remember, just a little drop of oil will make the noise go away...

[Crock]

Should not void warranty.. i have a charger by different name same issue.. sent it out for warranty and specifically told them i wanted the fan replaced and not a temp fix like oiling.. Well wen it got shipped back they forgot to remove the note that stated they removed the fan and oiled..

[Traxxasnoob2012]

Well my fan would grind so much it would stop completly...I'm no engineer but I wouldn't want something I designed making noise like that and not funtioning properly new out of the box...Very common....I would recall them and address the issue not expect people to open a new item and oil it..

[Vspina123]

Greetings fellow Traxxers!
Just bought the Traxxas EZ Peak Plus 6 AMP 80 Watt Unit just yesterday and on both my 1st and 2nd charges also noticed this odd noise anomaly (obvious enough to cause concern for a first time user). I lightly tapped the fan area thinking was fan and hoping not A short circuit and sound subsided. Curious however did anyone out there purchase the new EZ Peak with I.D. recognition and still have same issue? I was. Going to purchase new unit however opted out as a) was not yet avail and b) would present compatibility issues with existing hardware. Anyhow, this seems to be a design flaw or substandard fan component built into the unit. I just hope it doesn't present or pose any safety issues. Traxxas appears to stand behind their products and services, perhaps this issue is deserving of a recall notice being posted on their web site or at a minimum inform users. Applying "a bit of oil" to such a sophisticated electronic device seems an odd way to deal with this odd issue. Mike Jenkins have anything to say? V

[xacto]

I have had two of the 2970 ID chargers so far. Out of the box, the first one made terrible grinding noises at startup but then settled into the normal, somewhat loud "whir" after 20 seconds or so. If that wasn't bad enough, the sound got worse with pretty much every charge. Eventually (after less than 6-8 charges), the fan began sounding as if it was grinding down to a halt and also started to fail mid-charge.

Since I had purchased via eBay (none of my LHS had stock), I ended up sending my 2970 in for warranty repair. I was extremely happy when I received a new, replacement unit that initially seemed to work great. No grinding or stopping - just a hairdryer-ish whirring sound while it ran.

Unfortunately, the replacement unit's fan started grinding when I kicked off a final storage charge yesterday. So, I guess I’ll be opening mine up and adding some oil to the fan bearing. Based on the other reports here, it sounds like this will "fix" the problem for a while… but I shouldn’t have to do that with a device that has only been used a handful of times in a perfectly clean environment (no debris is being sucked into the fan).

I just recently got back into RC after a very long break. (My last truck was a Midnight Pumpkin back in the early 90's.) The "Battery ID" system was a huge draw for me as I wasn’t fond of my son having to mess with LiPo charge settings. Unfortunately, the only "ID"-aware charger on the market so far has been somewhat of a letdown.

The ID system is brain-dead easy to use, though... works exactly as advertised. I just wish Traxxas offered an ID charger that was built better and could charge at a much higher rate (for large packs at 1C).

[savela]

Ah! I have the same issue and Traxxas support told me it was normal? A bit concerning. In all my years of working with electronics, I absolutely know this is not a normal noise. The fan sounds like it is binding or is off balance. If a drop of oil solves the problem then there is obviously binding or too much friction which can lead to overheating or failure of the fan and eventually the charger which could be a bit of a problem.

I was initially told I would receive a replacement and then told it was normal and not to worry about it.

Not terribly excited about needing to tinker with a lipo charger but if a drop of oil will do the trick, so be it.

Thanks for the tip!!!

[Crock]

I have the same issue with another brand. They even went as far as returning it for warranty repair to replace fan. Came back with a note in the box "fan did not need replacement just oiling". I thought it was quite funny to spend all that money in shipping on their part and just put a drop of oil in it and hope it lasts. Since it was brand new I went to the hobby shop showed them the note and told them I wanted a new one

[SpeedRacer02187]

I just got one of these chargers and am having the same issue. What I've noticed is that if the charger is placed at an angle or held upside down it sounds perfectly normal. I don't want to flip the fan over, but I wonder if its installed upside down. When I place my hand near the vent, I don't feel any air being pushed out. I might just send it back and get a new one, but I don't know if that's going to fix the issue, because it sounds like all of you have gone through multiple units already and are still experiencing the problem.

[RobertZ311]

Would 45wt shock oil work?

[ruttrowreroy]

yes it will work

[adi984]

Same problem... Should be recall on these units!

[Wolfslash16]

Same problem... Should be recall on these units!

Welcome to the forums!

I doubt Traxxas will ever recall these, they sell probably over 10,000 of these a year, and only a few have the fan noise. At my hobby shop we sell at least 3-4 different brand chargers with fans like this one, and they too from time to time have fan noises. It's unfortunately part of these little fans, not all of them are ever 100% perfect.

[mattryan]

haha great thread, same drama and ill add some oil to see if it fixes it??
As far as the comments that these shouldnt do this. Absolutely correct however we live in this world of everything coming out of china. How ever even KTM (Greatest precision dirt bikes made in austria) Even leave the factory with dry ungreased head stem bearings?? Go figure??

[mattryan]

hmm just pulled mine apart and really not sure how to get the oil onto the shaft. For info it was a little fiddly to pull apart and had 5 screws, with the fith screw hiding under the QC sticker haha.
Then flicked the fan out and wanted to expose the shaft but its just pressed together, so just squirted a bit of onox in there (tiniest spray). Long story short I could of just sprayed it in without pulling anything apart.
Note. Inox is non conductive doesnt dry thick etc so perfect for this application i think, unlike wd-40 etc.

put it all back together and thought i buggered it as so quite had to visually inspect fan was running.

[adi984]

Seller said it's a common problem and suggested dual charger because they get less complaints on them... replaced it with dual charger... no noise from its fan.

[Lavaheadache]

It's a decent charger plagued by a small high rpm fan that has a bushing where a bearing should be. Day 3 of having mine I was having the awful noise problem. Oil is too thin to last very long. You need to use grease. I'm going to start looking for a ball bearing fan that I can fit in the space.

[Natedog]

...Long story short I could of just sprayed it in without pulling anything apart.
Note. Inox is non conductive doesnt dry thick etc so perfect for this application i think, unlike wd-40 etc.

put it all back together and thought i buggered it as so quite had to visually inspect fan was running.

Nice, Inox looks like good stuff and assuming you used the Inox MX5 Plus PTFE? Sounds similar to TriFlow here in the States.

Seller said it's a common problem and suggested dual charger because they get less complaints on them... replaced it with dual charger... no noise from its fan.

Hmmmm...really wanted dual charger anyways. Wish they were AC/DC and didn't need inverter.

It's a decent charger plagued by a small high rpm fan that has a bushing where a bearing should be. Day 3 of having mine I was having the awful noise problem. Oil is too thin to last very long. You need to use grease. I'm going to start looking for a ball bearing fan that I can fit in the space.

Actually most fans of this type (including in computers) that I've seen use a close tolerance high speed bushing. They do require proper assembly with proper lube and I've had to disassemble a couple high end video cards to clean and lube the fans after several years of running. :/

I'm thinking about buying adapter harness to use my other charger with the Traxxas ID lipos in my Mini Slash.

[GThunter]

Lol my english teacher would be so frustrated with you.Use quiet not quite XD.

[lotust251]

im glad its not just me with this problem. I just bought the traxxas dual charger and the fan in there is much larger. the single charger should be recalled. returned 2 of them to amazon before I broke down and opened up the case and peeled the back sticker off where you can put a drop of oil. for 50$ and something new out of the box its a shame. I do love there dual charger. the batteries insert and disconnect much easier and I love the audible sounds when charging is done.

[ezski]

Here is what i did for a fix on my EZ peak Dual Fan noise problem. I did try to oil the fan like some of you suggested but i did not see an improvement in the fan noise. My fan noise issue happened since new. With the fix i used below i barely hear the fan running.

What i did was i went to the electronic components shop in my city and bought a new high quality fan (8 dollars). All you need to replace the original fan is a soldering iron. It is a 5 minute switch out and it cured my problem. Try and get a fan that has a bearing in it rather than a bushing. The rep at the store told me even fans with good busings on them should be quiet. I did end up getting a fan with a bushing as they were out of bearing fans but it seems to be much better.

I brought my fan in to the store but if you want the specs of the fan you are looking for it would be:
40mm x 10mm Fan
DC 12V
0.08A .96Watt

Most of the new fans come with a third "yellow" wire which you can just cut off as all you need is black and red.

Hope this helps.

[iceman511]

Hello I'm new to this forum and new to traxxas world.
Just got my new slash 4x4 rig with a Id ez peak dual charger.
And have same issue, noise from fan.
To fix mine I took 4 screws out, took back off to access fan.
Noticed fan is not secured in place it's just sitting there.
My fix was taking 1/4 inch double side tape and raped 3 edges leaving the wire side untapped.
And left the red strip on just in case need to do repairs later.
Put back in nice and snug, screwed back on.
And tested
Noise was gone.
This is my fix hope this helps others.

[StDragon]

Few days short of being a 6 year old thread - Rise, rise!!! I resurrect thee!!

Ok, so the fans in these chargers are still garbage! On the 2nd week of using my EZ Peak Plus it started to buzz (harmonic oscillation). That's because it's a bushing and not a ball bearing. A few drops of 3-in-1 oil cleared it up for about a month, but it's back.

It's not a 40mm fan, that's for sure. I think it's a 30x30x10mm. The sticker shows "Honghao - Model: H3007HS" It's 12V 0.05A.

I searched online for "Honghao H3007HS" and found nothing! Not sure what the maximum amp draw the fan can be rated at, but I'll keep it at 0.05A if I can find a suitable replacement that's ball bearing. Let me know if anyone has a part number to reference.

Thanks.

[Natedog]

YR replacement fan.

[StDragon]

YR replacement fan.

I didn't see any Hobbywing fans with the specs needed. Actually, the specs are rather specific to the point where I hunted one down on digikey.com

It's a Sunon fan. Part# MC30101V1-000U-A99. Lists for $7.76

Size: 30x30x10mm
Bearing type: "Vapo-Bearing" (Magnetic Levitation)
Voltage: 12VDC
Current: 0.048A
Power (watts): 580mW
RPM: 9500
Noise: 23.0 dB(A)
Air Flow: 5.5 CFM

So assuming it's the correct size, I'll be ordering one once I confirm the size.

[Natedog]

Yep Digikey has some great components. I was referring to Yeah Racing fans that we've had great results with, keep us posted on yours.

[StDragon]

Measuring with a metric ruler...

O M G! Ok, so basically now I have a theory as to why it's been 6 year and prior as to why this fan failure issue is still persistent. It's a PROPRIETARY FAN DESIGN!!!! Basically, the plastic molding can only accept a 30x30x7 (or 6.9mm). That's right, NOT 10mm, but 6.9mm or 7mm thickness. The ONLY FANS matching that dimension can only be sourced in 5v. And that's when I checked both digikey.com and mouser.com.

Stupid stupid stupid design!!

So basically, unless Traxxas is willing to replace the fan with a version that isn't crap, your only recourse is to hack it with a Dremel tool which I don't recommend for safety reasons.

So basically, just keep putting oil in it unit until the fan fails then replace the charger.

EDIT: So I did find a 30x30x7mm 12v DC fan, but it's rated at 0.08A. That's higher than the stock. Not sure if the controller can handle that load, so I won't risk it.

[Natedog]

Dremel out the plastic, install proper high quality fan, reassemble and enjoy. Did that to my old nicd charger back in my buggy race days and it made a big difference in charget temperature.

[Baiku]

Atleast some peoples are lasting longer mine worked for two charges now the fan dosnt even turn anymore. for the time being I just have another fan beside it feeding air into the charger lol. I hope they consider fixing the issue. judging by this thread thats proberly a no till someones house burns down or someone dies lol

[StDragon]

I keep having to add a drop of oil in the fan bushing every week or so. I'm getting tired of having to unscrew the charger to perform this. I'm going to install some cheap quick release latches instead. Once the fan dies, this thing goes into the garbage!

[Baiku]

I think I found the fans that work. ill know whenever it comes in. the fans from some 3D printers seem to be same sizes. I got my charger to work again for time being by submerging the whole fan in penitrating fluid lol it actualy sounds like somethings rubbing inside it causing the issue.

[VeryOldGuy]

New charger, 20 days old, and it sounds like someone is strangling a cat...

Added a drop of oil, that lasted all of 5 minutes.

Anybody ever find a good replacement fan ?

Got a brand or part # ?

[SanDiegan]

New charger, 20 days old, and it sounds like someone is strangling a cat...

Added a drop of oil, that lasted all of 5 minutes.

Anybody ever find a good replacement fan ?

Got a brand or part # ?

Let me know...


Brand new charger, 30 mins of use so far, sounds like a turbo prop airplane preparing for takeoff...