continued from part 1
step 6 Aquire Heatsink
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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.
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step 7 Install Heatsink
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In this step we will be mixing and applying theThermal Adhesive to the CPU, and mounting the heatsink/fan.
The ratio is equal 1A:1B. Mix them in the Pringles lid with the provided black mixing scraper wand thingy. This will become pretty thick and start setting in about 5 minutes, so keep it movin quickly! J
Apply a THIN layer of the mixed thermal paste over the entire surface of the CPU.
Do not overdue it here, this is some extremely strong thermal glue that dries rock hard and will be holding onto that chip for years, even with minimal application. Chances are; once it dries, you’re never going to get it that heatsink off unless you take the CPU with it.
Position your heatsink over the CPU at whatever orientation allows the entire chip to be covered, and WITHOUT letting the heatsink touch any other parts! (The arrangements of parts varies with the different versions of this router), Press down firmly for about 30 seconds, and then find something heavy to set on top of it.
Let it dry for 2 hours.
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step 8 Mount the External Fan
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Take your fan, set it in the position you want it on top of your router, and tape it down.
Hook up your Dremel drilling tool; make your pilot holes for the screws.
Remove the tape and fan, attach your cutting tool to the Dremel and start cutting the pre-punched area on the top of the router.
Here I attached a switch on the large fan so it can be turned off if it gets too loud. I made a hole behind the fan for easy/ concealed access. Super glue on the bottom and a little Elmer’s glue with ink from a Crayola marker mixed in on the top, and were good to go J
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step 9 Wire It up
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The final step is to wire everything up.
The pictures for this section can sum it up much better than I can, so I’m going to leave it at that.
If you aren’t sure which large speaker wire to attach your little ones to, just plug it in, touch the wires together, and if it works, mark those wires. If it doesn’t, Mark the other wire.
I solder all the wire connections together, just follow the same steps as step 4 for wire soldering.
To put it back together, you follow the same directions as taking it apart, except backwards J
Now we can add the 9dB antenna, and this little puppy is primed and ready for some serious overclocking!
Again, this was my first Instructable so please be nice!
I really enjoyed working on this, and I’m glad I can finally give something back to the community.
You guys are awesome J
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step 10 Additional Firmware Options!
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Several Instructable members have requested that I add another slide that lists some additional alternative free firmware releases. I have also been accused of working for DD-WRT. I assure you that I have absolutely no affiliation with any of the firmware release teams.
For your additional free firmware requests,
Ask and you shall receive!
**WARNING**
Changing the firmware on your router is a risky procedure which if done incorrectly, can result in permanent damage to your hardware! Do not attempt to flash your router to another version of firmware if you are already satisfied with its performance, and do not need addition capabilities that you will never use! ALWAYS thoroughly and extensively research the firmware in question before attempting ANY upgrades/ downgrades sideways or the likes!! Failure to understand the risks involved will almost definitely result in damaged hardware!
Router Firmware Releases
DD-WRT
http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index (http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index)
Tomato
For those of you who have accidentally lost portions of their memory with failed/ incorrect flashing with DD-WRT in the past, Tomato firmware has a setting to do a complete erase of NVRAM!
http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato (http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato)
OpenWRT
http://openwrt.org/ (http://openwrt.org/)
HyperWRT + Tofu
(HyperWRT +Tofu is a Linksys WRT54G/GL and Linksys WRTSL54GS firmware based on stock Linksys firmware + HyperWRT + added extras.)
http://www.polarcloud.com/tofu (http://www.polarcloud.com/tofu)
If you have another firmware version that you would like to add, please let me know in the comments section, or send me a PM!
source:instructables end