Hi,
I have a Librem15rev2, and the fan makes strange noises (it seems it is dying).
Are there specifications for which fan I should get to replace it? How difficult is it to replace the fan?
If I were you I’d try to open the thing up, just be sure to follow a guide for your specific fan, but usually it’s not that hard to fix a fan.
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OK,
the model is ADDA AB07505HX060300, I ordered a new one on Amazon…
…but of course the connection cable of the new fan is much too short!
I’ll try to see if I can get away with cleaning it as described in the Youtube video, but from the noise it seems to me that the ball bearings are giving the problem, so I probably have to replace the fan
Unfortunately, I broke the fan while trying to get it off the motor (these is very delicate plastic indeed). Now I had two options:
a) Try to prolong the cables of the new fan
b) Try to get the new fan off its motor coils, and put it onto the motor of the old fan (what they do in the youtube video)
I went for option a), also because I didn’t want to risk breaking the new fan.
Apparently, there is no color coding for the wires, so I took care that I remembered where the wires went into the connector when I soldered the longer cables of the old fan to the new ones. I think I succeeded in connecting everything ok, but the fan is not spinning!
Occasionally, it wiggles a little bit in one direction, but then stops itself - can it be that the voltage is wrong? Or the polarity? At least this should be a standard, right? Once I plug in the connector the fan should work!
Or maybe I destroyed the controller of the fan while sodering?
Specs of the new fan say DC5V-0.5A.
Temperatures look fine for now, but I am not sure what happens under load (computer is switched off now).
Help would be appreciated!
OK,
I got it working. It seems I had it wired up completely wrong.
Could it be that the 3pin fan connector on the motherboard is wired differently from what is reported as standard (e.g. at http://pcbheaven.com/wikipages/How_PC_Fans_Work/)?
Using the color codes of the fan cables as they were in my Librem, I have now
black = Negative (GND)
yellow = rpm readout
red = Positive (+5V)
(in this order looking at the front of the connector plug on the cables with the flat side of the connector down, like it is to be plugged in).
What I had expected it to be from the documentation on 3pin fan connectors on the web was more something like
black
red
yellow
Took quite some resoldering to get it in the right order.
New fan looks a little bit more sturdy than the original one. I actually put it with the corresponding 3 small screws onto the baseplate of the old fan, because this had still the rubber spacers on it.
Now I have a nice low-noise fan. Let’s hope it stays like this!
Btw, taking out the fan was just taking out 2 screws and unplugging the connector.
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This disassembly and servicing cannot be done with this model fan:
That’s why the OP broke the rotor trying to get it off the motor.
As you see in the Adda diagram http://www.adda.com.tw/tech.php?no=7
there is a clip there that prevents the shaft from being pulled through the bearing.
Unlike the diagram, on my fan, instead of the rubber plug, there is a metal plug, which can’t be removed:
So, Adda precluded the user from removing the rotor to put any lubricant back into the bearing, and made it so that the only option for the user is to buy a new fan.
So far, the indications from support is that only another Adda fan with this same predisposition to fail quickly can be used to replace the failed one, unless one is willing to go through the hassle the OP did. Profit! 
Really disappointed with the Adda brand, and will remember to avoid it in the future.