Gear VR Front Cover Fan Mount

thingiverse

My old Gear VR S6 edition had an overheating issue, so I designed this fan mount as a discreet cooling solution. It attaches to the inside of the Gear VR cover and runs on a small USB battery, providing a clean look and eliminating shutdowns due to overheating entirely. The fan I used was repurposed from an old Dell laptop and came with a dual-fan unit, but this design made it difficult to reuse the original fan shroud/mount. This led me to create a custom single-fan mount. The fan was attached to the original housing via a press-fit between the plastic center ring and the motor/PCB assembly. I used the same method on my design, which has worked well so far. A little adhesive or epoxy can be added to supplement this attachment if needed. The actual model number of the fan is Sunon GM0503PEB1-8 ($5 gets you two fans on eBay). To power the 5V fan, I cut off a USB charging cable from an external battery pack. This type of cable only has two power wires inside, which is ideal for this purpose since they are a bit heavier gauge than regular USB data cables. I soldered the wires directly to the fan PCB--the +5V power wire goes to the red wire/terminal, and the black wire/terminal is ground. For clearance, I stripped the outer insulation from the USB cable so that only the small inner wires pass by the fan blades. A dab of super glue on the USB cord where it enters the fan housing secured it in place. For the actual cutout in the Gear VR cover, I used a 1mm end mill on a small bench-top mill to cut out the pattern from the included DXF file. If you don't have access to this kind of equipment, the DXF could still be printed out and used as a pattern to be cut out with a Dremel or X-acto. Alternatively, you could just cut a single 28mm hole in the cover--you lose the finger protection that the grill pattern provides (a cluster of small holes may be a better option). With the cover and phone installed, I made my cutout just to the side of the protruding camera of the S6. I think it will fit directly over the top of the camera, but I wanted to ensure good airflow. Finally, I used some Loctite Plastics Bonder to attach the fan assembly to the inside of the cover. Other adhesives may work, but I wasn't sure what kind of plastic the Gear cover was made of, so I played it safe. There is a depression designed into the lip of the fan housing to help contain the adhesive and allow for a cleaner, more secure install. Printer Settings Printer Brand: Formlabs Printer Model: Form 1+ Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: Yes Resolution: 0.05 mm Notes: The actual printer model used was a Form 1+, and I printed it in Black.