How Computer Fan Bearings Are Made: Ball Bearings & Fluid Dynamic Bearings
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มิ.ย. 2024
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This factory tour shows TPI's bearing manufacturing processes for ball bearings and fluid dynamic bearings, alongside testing procedures for endurance and burn-in. This factory is used by Lian Li and other case fan manufacturers for high-end computer case fans, particularly those that use customized ball bearings or fluid dynamic bearings. The factory is based in Taiwan and supplies one of the smallest (but critical) parts to a PC case fan.
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - How Bearings Are Made
02:09 - Ad Spot
02:34 - Explaining Ball Bearings & Diagrams
04:19 - How Ball Bearings Are Made
13:07 - Testing & Ovens
15:11 - Fluid Dynamic Bearing Explainer & Factory
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Let us know what parts you want to see made next so we can start planning our travel! This was really cool to see in action! We have a few more factories left in this season and we've uploaded 4 episodes so far! We're taking a short break next weekend, then we'll be back to posting a few more to round-out this season. Watch last week's engineering lab tour here: th-cam.com/video/dhEQkb6uqzw/w-d-xo.html
And watch how RAM is made here: th-cam.com/video/---fHu9jFtw/w-d-xo.html
Or see how servers are built in this one! th-cam.com/video/ofKw9SU9OOk/w-d-xo.html
Excellent video, you chaps are the peak of computer geekery 🇬🇧
I think you need to specify if the arcade music is from the factory or added in post production XD
May I request for a display panel factory tour ? Companies like LG , Samsung , BOE and AU Optronics . I searched your videos , didn't find any.
The magnetic levitation is what caught me on guard when I went skateboarding I found out they use ceramic bone bearings to skate handrails successfully. lol.
More fan stuff and no VR test
I absolutely love this series. The quality of production and pacing is perfect for me. Really feels like I'm watching a modernized "How it's Made" reboot. Actually gives me a weird and pleasant nostalgia. Thanks for doing this!
Thank you for sharing and for watching! This series is the most fun for me personally to work on. We don't make them all the time, so it's a great opportunity for us to try different editing styles and learn about the parts.
Can we have a moment of silence for the bearings that gave their lives for us to be here today? May the gaming Gods live forever
I was just about to say, it feels like the Discovery series How its made. I loved that show. Much appreciated, GN!
"How It's Made" from the shot pacing and narration all the way down to the not-Daft Punk soundtrack. It's uncanny how well similar it is.
@@GamersNexus Should see how much the narrator for How Its Made costs and get him to do at least one of these for you lol.
GN has made my life more interesting and so much easier when it comes to giving my friends and family tech advice. Thanks for your content, the community appreciates it
Thank you so much for the kind words! We love making this type of content.
So one fun fact, the debris left over from grinding operations is called "swarf." It's usually a mix of the metal that's been removed, particles of the grinding wheel, and whatever coolant that you're using. It's a fun word for something pretty mundane. Thanks for these factory tours, I work in a factory and I enjoy seeing factories from other industries.
Wow! Had to look it up to see if I was being trolled, but that's a real word for debris. Thanks for sharing!
Cause "shavings" is just too boring.
Every industry has their own words...metal..wood..plastic..it's always different, even tho it's all the same shit..I mean swarf.
cool trivia, thx !
@@GamersNexus Wow I'm surprised by that, I learnt that word back at school while doing metal work and have had heard the word used hundreds maybe thousands of times over my lifetime.
I think you need to get out more, lol.
@@brettspicer6463 Difference being, you needed to learn that for your puny salary running some machine 12 hours a day, soon to be replaced my yet another machine, and he did not have to learn that to make exponentially more money... Interesting isnt it? I think you should get out more.
Glad my comment helped!
Thanks again for posting the explanation! Super helpful! All we had from translation was 'metal rod machine,' which is definitely accurate, but we wanted the proper name. Thanks!
The community appreciates you Mr. Bear!
I have a new appreciation for fan bearings. So much work goes into making them.
It's amazing the scale of an operation to make things so tiny - and we're not even at the transistor level yet in our tours!
The ring size matching is actually so cool and definitely something I would not have thought of, awesome to learn about these kinds of optimizations
Had the biggest grin on my face when they showed that part of the process. That's such awesome problem solving and it's so cool to see it in action!
I was going to say exactly, very cool.
They slightly heat the outer ring so the wall chase drops in. Thats super interesting.
On my bench I have a brand new PS5 fan that broke because I accidentally spilled a few drops of pop on my new PS5. I now have a good reason to tear it apart. To see how they keep the lubricants in the bearing they showed last. If that’s what’s in it.
Have we done a thermal paste/pad tour yet? Would love to see that.
Great work as always!
Great request! We'll start setting one up!
Don't be surprised if it's not quite as exciting as a factory like this. Thermal paste formulas will be a secret of the manufacturer, and mixing a bunch of ingredients into a goo takes fewer steps.
@@Mountain-Man-3000 Very true, but at the same time it could still be interesting to see the QC processes involved, especially for various types of thermal pads and paste and/or liquid metals.
@@GamersNexus Considering you're on good terms with Der8auer, and also considering the rather wide line-up of Thermal solutions Thermal Grizzly has... *_*wink wink nudge nudge_**
Show us how sticky goo is made.
I still remember how I destroyed my first fan bearing. It was a small CPU fan that I had the brilliant idea of cleaning with a vacuum cleaner at full throttle. That was my first rig in 2000. Good times.
RIP little bearing.
Can you oil them or anything if they start to go out?
@@SpaceRanger187 You can but, by the time they start to make any kind of noise, it is probably already too late to save it. The reason is because the noise is usually due to slack that the motors get from running all the time (fatigue) and changing the oil does nothing to stop it or reduce the rate at which it increases. Also, the oil may not be appropriate and actually work to increase the rate at which the slack increases.
I do oil my "cheapest" fans from time to time when they are too dirty, but only the "cheapest" ones because there is always a chance of breaking or misplacing something and because the most expensive ones, like Noctua, have never failed on me yet. I also never use those fans in anything where there is a chance they might fail unnoticed, like inside a PC.
Anyway, if you are interested my procedure is as follows:
1- carefully raise the sticker on the back of the fan without cutting it. You will need the sticker in good condition to reseal the fan otherwise the oil will come out or dry quickly. Sometimes there is also a rubber cover just beneath the sticker.
2- check if the shaft looks clean (no dirt or goo) and oily. If it is, just reseal the fan as there is no point on proceeding and your better off replacing the fan.
3- if it is dirty or dry, remove the sticker completely and start disassembly. Usually, fans have either a metal or plastic clip holding the shaft. Remove it carefully, without bending/cutting/stretching it. You will need to reinsert it later. Some higher end fans have two of these clips.
4- next there is usually a rubber ring and may also be washers. Take care with the order. Assembling it incorrectly later may destroy the fans. If you can't find the rubber ring, it is probably all the pieces of goo that were jamming the shaft. I usually get replacements for these from donor fans.
5- now you can push the fan. Beware that, on the fan side inside the central cover, there is usually another rubber ring and can also be a spring and washers so be careful when removing it or it may all fly away.
6- select your oil carefully. If the viscosity is too thin, the rotation will throw the oil away from the shaft. If the viscosity is too thick, the motor will have to work harder which will probably result in lower rotation speed, higher consumption and lower life span of the electronics (which will run hotter due to the higher consumption). I use a high temperature (600°C) that is marketed for high speed bearings (a small bottle cost a fortune in comparison to cooking oil) but is also toxic so you might want to be careful (wear gloves/glasses/mask) depending on what you get.
7- oil it by putting a very thin layer on the side of the shaft (less than a drop). I just use an oilier with a thin plastic tip an rub it on the side of the shaft. If you put too much remove it with absorbent paper (kitchen paper works) or wash it and clean everything but the shaft (or just clean everything and reapply the oil). Oil and electricity do not mix and any oil not on the shaft may end up in the coils of the motor or the electronics, potentially shorting it.
8- reassemble in reverse order
9- if the sticker does not seal properly, you need to replace the glue. Choose the glue wisely or you may never be able to remove the sticker in one piece ever again
10- test the fan in a bench power supply or on a system you do not mind frying just in case you did something wrong and the fan shorts.
11- If successful, pat yourself in the back for a job well done while keeping in mind all the time you wasted (it will help you evaluate if it is worth doing it again more selectively instead of doing it always for all fans)
Good luck
@@SpaceRanger187 You can but if its making noise, then its already damaged. Thus it cannot be quieted without replacing the bearing or in most cases now days the entire fan. There are some older, and cheaper fans that can be oiled, Most higher quality ones these days used "sealed' units like shown in the video, and you are more likely to destroy the fan trying to get lube inside it, than you are fixing an annoying noise.
@@SpaceRanger187ye-es, but i've never got more than about 6 weeks more from doing that, though I only have sewing machine oil. You want to catch them when their rolling resistance increases, if its rattling about the inside is buggered.
Tl;dr it works if you catch early they aren't freely spinning- but use the time it buys you to order a new one as time has already damaged it. I've enjoyed doing it but if you explosive diarrhea oil over your pc when you boot it don't blame me.
It's like Saturday morning cartoons except we learning. Bless you GN.
I miss Saturday morning cartoons!
This series is amazing. So many parts going into all kinds of products are often neglected or undervalued, mostly because of just how difficult it is to get a proper picture of how they're made and what actually goes into their production.
Thanks, Steve!
Thank you!
Absolutely brilliant use of the induction coil for the bearings
Love this series so much. Thank you for making it. I will be showing it to my 8 year old son who is interested in tech. Would love to see the steel/aluminum/plastic creation process. From raw materials to forging/production.
Wow! That's awesome to hear. I used to watch How It's Made with my dad, so that's a big compliment. Enjoy! And agreed on wanting to see the metal forging!
This "How it's made" tipy of content is GOLD.
We take this technology for granted. Bearings move everything from skateboards and cars. TYVM for this series. Loved this video.
Massive thanks to GN and, supporters of GN for this sublime factory tour.
Please never stop making these videos, at least until you've toured every tech-related factory in Asia! It's always super interesting to see how these products we take for granted are made, and it gives a lot of insight into the differences between parts that may seem similar on the surface. Not to mention the quality of these videos is superior to most of the "how it's made" content I was shown in school! It would be really interesting to see a power supply factory, if that's something you ever get an opportunity to do!
I love the shot at 15:01 where the they just wrote down 2 extra zeroes after the original "500 hours" of testing. It's great that these components can have such a longevity
As an mechanical engineering student it is really interesting to see what we learn theoretically applied in a factory. Thanks for the amazing insight!
As a ball bearing factory worker, i have been involved in several of the steps showcased in this video
I used to work in an manually assembly line, where the rings would be manually sorted by size of the raceway in to rods by two colleagues (in microns: it's ALWAYS in microns): one worker would work on inner rings and another on outer rings. The rings would be sorted by a size of every 2 microns.
Then a worker would select a rod of inner rings + a rod of outer rings to pair them, base on the raceway sizes and the sphere size: it had to add up to a specific average, depending on the type of bearing as well as the slack tolerances. These would be put in a "carousel" and it would "spew out" a pair of (inner and outer) rings per cycle which the worker would place the spheres on (by slightly deforming the outer ring so that the spheres slide in: such deformation WOULD NOT "hurt" the bearing's quality).
The assembled bearings would be pushed in to a washer station on to the next step, which was adding cages to the bearings: these could be plastic (only one) or metal (two), depending on the type of bearing we were making. The bearing would be pushed to the next stage on to the marking station where it would be marked by an acid + water solution and washed before passing through a slack tolerance checking station (some bearings require 100% checking, but MOST do not).
Then the bearings would go through another washing station to a manual noise checking station, where EVERY bearing is heard to see if it would comply with the frequencies as well as there were any defects in raceway fabrication: a raceway defect can EASILY be spotted via noise testing.
Then the bearings would then get greased, either manually or via a machine, depending on the bearing type and then be visually inspected for packaging: sometimes in single unit boxes, sometimes in boxes of X quantity, where quantity varies, depending on the bearing type.
In this assembly line, i'd either place the spheres, the cages or work on the manual greasing station.
I worked on this part of the factory for several years, before an arm injury forced me out of that section in to a ring manufacturing section, where i make the inner and outer rings, per specifications.
I receive the "black" rings after they have been processed in another section of the factory i've never worked on (heat treated and faces / outer diameter of outer ring polished) and i feed them to the grinding machines to cut the rings to tolerance: 20 microns for the inner rings and 30 microns for the outer rings.
The rings then go to the super-finish machines via raceways to have them polished before they are sent to the bearing assembly side of the factory.
I work in this section, presently.
This week, i'm making 6205-B-2Z-8102 inner and outer rings, which will be assembled in to various types of 6205-B bearings.
I'm so glad GN has continued one of my favorite TV shows, How it's made
I'm glad the manufacturers allow these kind of tours to create this awesome series.
As someone who has serviced countless monitors and TVs of all different types, a factory tour of displays would be cool!
I love that show "How it's Made" but I love this series even more!
Can’t get enough of the factory tours. Love this type of content. Keep it up!
This is giving me "How it's made" flashbacks, and I love it.
The production level of these is higher than anything you can get on tv. It's absolutely awesome. Keep up the good work!
10:06 The wooden extension to hold the parts into the induction heater made my day.
The true "How It's Made" element of this series is perfection, end elevated because so much time is dedicated to the entire process. Excellent work GN Team! 💛
This is a question I once had, I never thought someone would care enough to give a detailed answer but here we are, one of the best in the biz giving a detailed tour
Another well balanced well oiled factory tour video revolving around the fast paced free spinning world of fan bearings, a pivotal industry.
GN is turning into a higher quality How It's Made. I'm loving it!
this series is definitely a treat for people who love watching machines working repeatedly. 工場萌え
GN sets the bar high. Everybody else is sitting in their garages regurgitating reddit news while Steve is out there touring factories overseas and speaking the lingo so he can bring us fresh new first hand perspectives on untouched topics. Someone give this man an award.
The production quality on these is TV show level quality. (in a good way)
It's soothing watching these. Reminds me of Mr. Rodger's Neighborhood when he would take us on a journey to see how candy was made or cars or whatever. I never would have thought that bearing manufacturing would be so high-tech. This series is amazing
even though this stuff doesn't get the viewership of your other content, it is valuable. We often forget that cutting edge products are built on the backs of old technology that is still steadily improving its economics or its efficacy in small and big ways every day.
I love this "how it's made factory tour" :D You show us something unique. Process of made this tiny part of Fan. That's awsome :D Thank's Steve.
These factory tours are excellent. Long May they continue! 😁
I love going out to a cafe and watching one while I have breakfast.
As an auditor in the automotive industry, I love these series! Thanks for the great job! Just next time you show manual gauges and calipers (7:00), don't try to sell it as high tech: real high tech ones are digital and linked to a computer to monitor the trends (SPC cards), prevent typing errors and allow for long time traceability.
Never thought making ball bearings is this fascinating.. good stuff GN..
If you find this interesting you should see how the even more mundane plastic bottle is made.
@@BiscuitBarrel179No kidding. Plastic injection moulding is half and half science and art.
@WenchesNMead Injection moulding is easy, until you flash the moulds lol. I do blow moulding which is a lot more "by feel" for want of a better phrase.
This was the best episode of How its Made that ive ever seen.
The little things that matter: I've long been used to the idea of a bearing having a maximum speed, but I was today years old when I learned it's possible for a (fluid dynamic) bearing to have a _minimum_ speed. Perhaps obvious in hindsight, but it's an important data point for quiet builds, or builds where the fans are routinely blocked because of furry quadrupeds. Really cool, Steve. And thanks to TPI for being willing to show their stuff. 👍
I love seeing a factory that keeps a real time test bench going even if it takes decades. At one of the manufacturers I work with they have an AC compressor that had been running for 60 years straight before it died a few years back. It outlasted their own production of AC compressors entirely by 5 years.
As a car enthusiast and a background in various engineering fields, bearing are always on my agenda and I find them extremely fascinating and a marvel of centuries of engineering progress. Plain bearing "hydrodynamic" type found in engines, also on the same principal as those FDBs in this video are some of the most mind blowing engineering, metallurgy, precision and metrology intense bearings out there, despite being one of the oldest and simplest designs at face value.
FYI, the oil film that supports the load in these type of bearings are often refereed as the oil wedge and there is a ship ton of cleaver engineering and physics involved to make it all work and work optimally.
I find it incredible that bearings in some many thing we take for granted in many harsh use cases just last so long and are so reliable.
"How It's Made", GN style. I like. Thank you!
Don't get me wrong, every aspect of the editing here is great, but whoever chose the music for the soundtracks did a particularly excellent job.
This series continues to be excellent, with one exception. The music. I'd rather hear the factory ambience with your narration over it. Maybe that's just me though.
An ASMR edition for the second channel might work.
9:13 That machine is cool as hell
Absolutely fascinating! Love the series, it is good to see what goes into making things that are usually only discussed as lines on a spec sheet.
These factory tours are great keep up the good work folks at G.N.
I've loved your factory tours for years. I'm so glad you're doing a lot more with them. These are highly educational and invaluable. ❤
“Oh Come on guys, it’s so simple, maybe you need a refresher course, it’s all ball bearings nowadays” -Fletch
Bearings like these give my lawn tractor the "poor man's power steering" it needs 😂
Cool video GN!
Thoroughly educational and somehow sparked my interest in something I hardly ever think of.
[insert “Thank you Steve!” Intel meme here]
Thanks Steve
Really loving these factory tours, thanks Steve.....
Love seeing 'how it's made', Would really like to see how they make modern multi layer pcbs if it has not already been covered.
Everyone has a plumbus at home.
I almost never like or comment on videos. I'm doing so now to show how much I've loved this series. Please continue it and, if possible, expand it!
I love Steve, he has the same broad interest in technology as I do. Software, hardware, system integration, R&D, manufacturing. It's been amazing to see GN grow in what it is today. Probably the most well-respected brand and content producer in the tech industry.
@Steve and the team: don't forget to take a break every now and then, we want you to be around for much longer :)
This is our favorite part of the series so far, we're really loving the entire series and have been learning a lot. Looking forward to the next part.
I am really glad you folks have been doing this series about how some of our tech gets made. One of my favorite tv shows has always been How it's Made.
I very much enjoyed getting to see the steps in assembling a ball bearing and hearing about why things are done the way they are.
Wow, who would have thought just how deep the QC rabbit hole went making these bearings. I am sincerely impressed with the attention to detail in the whole process. 😋
Love these Tours, hope you can keep them up!
I'm in my 40s and learning has been my number 1 hobby since around 2008. So stuff like this is just friggin amazing, so THANK YOU for making this content!
Loving the "How it's Made" vibes from this series!!
Very nice. Im an equipment design engineer in med device manufacturing and we use TPI bearings all the time. Very high quality.
I always knew I subscribed to the best TH-cam channel. Thank you for your great effort!
Very interesting again. Please keep making these factory tour videos.
This is hands down my favorite TH-cam series. Thank you all for the work you do.
I love to see this. One of my favorite T.V. shows from a while back was "How Its Made", and this just scratched that itch! Thank you and the production here is excellent! Hope to see more of this stuff!
CalvinoBear was exactly right on the Bar Fed Lathe, I use to run those machines when I worked at a machine shop in Michigan 🤙🏽😉 very interesting to watch them run and make parts.
You guys are killing it with the educational episodes. These need to be in the playlist of soooo many teachers!
THANK YOU! and thanks to bear for that info ! i enjoy this series with all my heart i feel my brain growing
This is my second favorite adventure I've ever seen a ring go on. In all seriousness, fantastic work again. That "matchmaking" robot arm is endlessly fascinating.
Now THIS is how you do a factory tour video.
brilliant! always happy to see factory tours
I think this video is super useful when I want to explain why a dropped fan usually no longer works. These bearings all and especially FDB have delicate fine structures.
I love this kind of video. Reminds me of the old "How It's Made"
I finally watched this video, this was incredibly well done! I loved the details of how the process worked. The ball bearings were very interesting. What a process for something so "simple".
Thank you Steve!! I love this series!
This is an awesome series and I love this because it's all about the PC world and how it is manufactured. Thanks Steve.
I am so jealous of you guys. What an adventure you are on. These trips to Taiwan are amazing. Thank you for bringing us along.
2:35 Ceiling conveyors? Is this a Satisfactory Let's Play? Let's goooooooooooo!
Thanks for the vid, this was very interesting.
loving these videos! keep up the amazing work the amount of work that goes into products we take for granted is insane, and this series is helping to bring all this work to light, and show the workers who put all the work into these parts who almost never get mentions...Thanks Steve.
A fascinating look at the manufacturing process. I love these so much. Thank you Steve.
So far, this has been my favorite educational video. It's fascinating to see just how intricate the process is just for making a fluid Dynamic bearing. Thanks Steve
Recently graduated from Mechatronic Engineering and holy, this series is amazing to watch and appreciate how other countries approach automation!!
Love the level of breakdown you give, and specifically for this episode the level of metrology they apply trough their process is just beautiful to see (never have seen something alike). Thank you for these amazing videos!!!
Oh man i just had the bearings fail again on clothes dryer right pain! Mad respect for the tech that goes into making them so durable though that thing had been going for so long.
@@shanent5793 yeah it’s the motor or drum warped unfortunately, I hate chucking stuff away but a friend had an old one going so I got that for free to use. I did try repair it again but yeah it’s just not really economical especially when your mate has a free one going. So off to the recycle centre she goes.
Awesome series.
This episode reminds me of my old job.
Except our smallest bearings were starting at this companies biggest 😅 (our biggest ones were up to several meters).
It's been quite some time now, and my department did the rollers in the bearing.
Still remember some special tolerance for customer wishes.
5μm tolerance for a 27mm diameter roller.
And yeah, they still got sorted after, for a tolerance in a set to 1.5μm.
With a roundness of 0.4μm or better.
It's kinda amazing what we can do in modern times.
A few times over my decade working there, when the measurement came back from the lab that the roller wasn't round enough, I just flipped the roller on the side, rolled it down the table.
Looks like it's rolling to me without wobbling 😅 (tolerance says 0.5μm, 0.5 and higher is obviously red, 0.4 is yellow, not good enough to start production, 0.35 and lower is the target)
Very, very cool! Bearings are very much more than meets rhe eye. Thanks GN!
I almost didn’t watch this GN video because I thought, how could this be entertaining? How wrong I was. A perfect 10 video GN team.
This is one of the most interesting, in depth videos I've seen. I've watched parts of it multiple times to soak in as much as possible. Thank you for creating it and a big shout out to the companies that let you have access to their products and procedures.
Avid GN watcher, the factory tours are I my fav content! Very interesting.
I love these little computer based "How it's Made" series you guys are doing
I know quite a few of us really love these videos as a peak behind the curtain for the computers we use everyday. I hope these manufacturers understand or see how much we appreciate these videos which demonstrate their prowess. Thanks Steve!
Wow, been using TPI bearings to build engines for years. This is actually a really big advert for them and now I have much more of an appreciation for their products. So much so that I'd even go out my way to order a TPI bearing over another brand, Koyo/FAG etc.
You are a legend, Mr Steve! God bless you, Sir!
Turns on PC to watch latest HW news. Watches video about metal balls. "Wow that was genuinely cool and interesting" Thanks Steve!