In this video Driveway Dudes Paul strips down an Apple Airport Extreme router to give it a deep clean.
When powered up it would work for perhaps an hour then suddenly die. Upon further investigation and research online, it appears this is not uncommon. The fan is deep within the unit and can get quite clogged with dust. It will either operate poorly or completely fail and cause the power supply board to overheat and shut down or in some cases burn out.
Watching this video you will be able to strip down your Apple Airport Extreme, clean and reassemble.
The same general disassembly should apply to the Apple Airport Time Capsule with the SATA connector and HDD to remove and refit.
Only tools needed is a size T8 screwdriver or bit, a couple of spudgers / spatulas and a small brush.
If upon reassembly and after making sure all leads and connections inside are secure that it still does not work then you may need to replace the power supply unit and the fan but hopefully a deep clean is all it needs.
We have seen both replacement power boards and fans are available on various websites for less than 20 £$€.
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This video is for guide purposes.
Update: 3 Months later and it is still working fine.
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My used Extreme came in today and first thing I did was watch your teardown so I could give mine a deep cleaning. Fan was clogged solid. Thank you for filming this, it was extremely helpful!
who is still using Apple Airport Extreme :-). I wish apple will bring this back 🙂
Thank you so much for the video! The fan on ours was going into overdrive about 3 times a minute. Followed your instructions for the deep clean and in hasn't had the need to rapid cool since. Thank you again.
Really helped me, the fan was making noise, I opened it up and cleaned it. This video helped me a lot to solve the issue and everything is working perfectly fine.. thanks for making this video. 😊
As a retired eng tech with many years of experience dealing with small, compressed electronic devices and equipment, I would advise any inexperienced user to refrain from attempting to completely disassemble a working Apple router, and then correctly reassembling it. Unless there are no other choices, leave it alone! There’s an old saying…If it works…don’t mess with it!
Thanks a lot. My fan was clogged and now its working fine after your tutorials.
Thanks for the help! Nicely shot video, excellent delivery. Worked out well for me. I'll be tuning in again! 👍🏾
Perfectly straightforward video. Thank you.
Great tutorial, but I made a mistake while loosening the 8-wire connection. I couldn't get it of the way you did it, so I used a spatula and now broke the connector of the board.....😬 😄 Hopefully I can find someone to solder it back, but I dint think so. Thanks for the video!
Nice video. Thank you. I’ll be attempting to do this tomorrow
Nice and helpful video! Thank you for sharing! When I took apart my Airport Extreme to see why it was overheating, instead of disconnecting all the wires, I just unclipped the reset button from the plastic body and did the same with status light just using a my fingernail. That way I did not have to worry about reconnecting and damaging other wires. The metal cage came out with other wires attached as is. Second, I just removed the fan without touching power supply. Third, after opening the plastic fan enclosure, pulling out the fan and spraying the metal rod and inside coils with WD-40, the fan came back to life and seems to be working fine since.
thumbs up. I was able to just blow compressed air threw the bottom slots and just as much stuff came out as if you were to tear it all down and risk breaking the tiny connectors. But its nice to see the teardown and the great quality APPLE makes. I never saw a Router with a fan before. Im anal when it comes to cooling. I have low speed 120mm fans all over my electronics. It cant hurt to keep things cool.
Thanks man! this is very useful
Really good video. Helped me today when I fixed my unit. Had to lubricate the fan axis as well since it was almost stuck. Thanks!
Same here
Thanks, dude - good tips & clear advice... what's not to like ?!
how well would an 120psi air blower work? I can see myself not being able to get them little plugs back in. Though I did just change an iPhone 4s battery in 20-30 minutes. I have all the tools for this job.
Thank you ,That's very helpful indeed .
Driveway Dude! Muchas muchas gracias! Got green LED back! You da man!
We're happy that you found the video useful
I put this unit upside down, removed the base panel and used a powerful vacuum cleaner to suck out al the dust. This worked !! The unit sits on my desk, upside down without base cover. Any hot air can escape. No Nobel prize but heat problem solved.
may I ask... did you just suck out the dust without taking the components apart like he did in the video? I'd prefer to do it the way without having to taking apart the unit and then putting it back together.
the dust in my tiny fan blades was very persistent and practically had to scrub it off, so vacuum likely not getting that stuff.
It’s best to use an air compressor, or compressed can. You really should not use vacuum on electric circuits, as it can cause electrostatic energy and fry something over there.
Great video👍 Thanks
Great video!
Thank you
Can you list the tools you used?
I did not even know the final generation AirPort Extreme had a fan. Mine has been working silently for years with no issues.
Merci Beaucoup !!
Thanks, that was really useful! I was a bit confused to see the Time Capsule not containing a hard drive though =)
You're welcome! The Airport Extreme does not contain a hdd whereas the Time Capsule does. Hope this helps.
This guide reminds me of the old joke about the kid coming home and was asked by his mother if he had been good. ^half good, half bad^ was the reply. When she asked him what he meant he said ^I spent the afternoon helping little old ladies half way across the road^ So now my device is in pieces, probably with a faulty fan and I cannot get it back together again. It would have been nice to see the order plugs should be connected, how to tell which way round they go, how to manoeuvrer the led connector wire which is just too short to give room for itself and my fingers.
Handy video but jeezus mary and joseph imagine if apple designed a car. I have to replace my windshield wipers but first i have to take apart the whole blasted motor
Thanks a lot, Sir. Just one question. In which direction should we pull those tiny wires in 3:08? Upwards, sideways? I don't want to break them. :O
Very helpful guidance, thanks. Unfortunately my 8-pin connector would not slide into place until I broke the shell around it and removed one of the plug "ears", then taped with Gorilla tape ;) Be gentle on that connector folks(I was). Fan seems to run fine now but I get overheat error cyclically whenever fan is not running so it must have other issues :(
Very helpful:) I was kind of scratching my head while putting it back together but I worked myself through it. I was just going for the fan cause it had a clicking noise. I broke couple of clamps when opening the fan to clean but the screws actually held the plates well without it. The light indicator also fell so I gorilla glued it back to the chassis. So far so good. Thank you!!
Now I know why you skipped over reassembly. Putting the tiny cable connectors back in place is very challenging.
Seems like there is room for some HDD in there :-) I was wondering if the board has requiered data and power cables (or ports) to turn this into a Time Capsule ?
Unfortunately the time capsule is different. If it was the same then it would be so much cheaper for someone to add a hdd or ssd to an airport extreme rather than paying so much more for a time capsule
hello sir thank you for the share, your video is the only one which shows on a1521, i've just bought the same model, but dont know how to install a hdd, because this model has no hdd connector /nappe, can you show me please? thank you so much, danile
Hi, This is not the time capsule model that contains a hdd. As far as I am aware, there is no easy way to install one into it. However, there is a usb port on the casing of the unit which will enable you to attach an external hdd or usb key which can be used for storage or remote access. Hope this helps
I hope you also showed how to reassemble the thing. There seems to be one or two millimeters missing to reconnect the 8-pin wire.
I managed to put everything back together but the router does not work anymore. So sad.
Actually, it powered up. I had to insert the power cable deeper.
yes, that 8-pin harness is as you say, a couple mm short. I ended up breaking the shield around it and shaving the connector to fit, then taping it down to board! Working somewhat.
The older flat type was better; no fans. Mine has been running for over ten years without any issues. I have another ready to replace it, but it just will not die. Also, despite all the advancements. It is fast enough. Cheap secondhand.
You showed how to take it apart and together again apart from two important parts. These are the two small cables you prised off the board with the plastic spatua at the beginning. I cannot work out how you put them back in place as i cannot see where to put them individually on the board and how fix them in place.
They're press in connectors, opposite to removal
It is also good to add a little of lubricant to the fan motor shaft.
I don't recall seeing any residue lube on the fan from manufacture. Using lubrication may attract dust particles which can eventually build up and possibly cause more problems
@@DrivewayDudes You are probably right. I preferred to add a little lube because sometimes the original lube is lost over time and friction increases, making it difficult for the motor to start spinning, but, as I said, I'm not sure whether it will be for the better or not because the dust can be stuck to the shaft. In my Time Capsule v4, the shaft is protected from dust by a sticker.
I added some graphite powder in lieu of oil.
Hello, do you know if is possible to access to the information stored on the time capsule? I get a new mac and I started from new instead of restore the backup and now I can not access to the files
If you remove the hdd from the capsule then using a sata to usb adaptor cable connect the hdd to your Mac you may be able to access some if not all the files
@@DrivewayDudes thank you, on the video seems that there is not any HDD, where are located?
@@jesusr7792 The model in the video is an airport and not a time capsule. The only difference is that the time capsule has a hdd which you will see when you crack open yours.
Turns out that my router was overheating only because file sharing had been set in the Disks tab of Airport Utility although there wasn't any drive connected. Now the router is fine (and clean).
Aww, I was hoping this was my issue, but turned File Sharing Off and still getting the overheat error.
What is the difference between the Extreme and the Time Capsule? Does the Extreme just not have an HD? And if so is it possible to install one?
Yes, the extreme does not have a hdd whereas the time capsule does. Unfortunately it is not upgradable though you can attach an external hdd using the usb port on it.
Thank you for the quick response.@@DrivewayDudes I tried to upgrade my Time Capsule and I pulled the hard out too suddenly not unclipping the little piece. So now I have noway of getting the data off the hard drive. I guess my best option is to purchase another one of these then try to swap the HD to pull my data or is there an adapter I can use to just read the hard drive?
You can purchase either a sata to usb adapter lead or an external sata caddy/enclosure that would be supplied with a usb lead to connect to your MacBook to use as an external hdd. Either would cost less than 10 € £ $ online
@@DrivewayDudes thank you for your response, help, and videos. I'm going to purchase the sata usb adapter.
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If I did this it would be absolutely useless.ill just buy a new one