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Fan Life. They Eventually Die?
- Thread starter haitu
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There are a number of different types of bearings, including sleeve and ball-bearing. Sleeve is the most silent, but also wears out a lot sooner than ball-bearing. In both cases it's generally the lubricant drying out or becoming contaminated with dirt. A touch of lubricant to a noisy fan (I use silicone lubricant) does miracles to a noisy fan and can increase their useful life by many times.
Assuming you refresh the lubricant like this, a fan could last for tens of years.
Assuming you refresh the lubricant like this, a fan could last for tens of years.
Ball bearings become noisier when they wear so they don't stop entirely without warning.
Sleeve bearings again can stop without much warnings.
Naturally both bearings wear faster when ambient temperature rises (sleeve bearing lot more sensitive to high temperature) and basic sleeve bearing fans don't like running in horizontal position.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article690-page1.html
what do you use to squirt some lube into the fans?
A small penknife to remove the sticker covering one side of the housing. Underneath it you'll find the opening to the bearings. Sometimes it's covered with a rubber plug or so, which you should gently remove so that you can place it back afterwards (helps to keep out dust). The bottle of lubricant I use has an opening which allows you to dispense only a few drops at a time. Don't put in too much
Spin the fan a few times after applying to see whether you have used enough and to distribute it a bit. After that seal it up (rubber plug, if present, sticker assuming you didn't ruin it). It is paramount that no dirt can get to the bearings.Yeah, any kind of lubricant (oil or synthetic) that has the proper viscosity should work
Something you'd use to lubricate gears or chains with (my lubricant is meant for bicycle gears ) should work fine.I don't like the idea of oiling fans unless the manufacturer recommends it. I think you might be decreasing the life of the fan. The oil you are using could be cutting the the factory grease off and having it drool into the motor.
Dust and grit sticks to oil,creating grinding compound. The more oil you add the more dust that is going to cake up inside.
It might be bad for the motor also. Oil is a insulator. If the fan has brushes it can cause resistance and heat.
Dust and grit sticks to oil,creating grinding compound. The more oil you add the more dust that is going to cake up inside.
It might be bad for the motor also. Oil is a insulator. If the fan has brushes it can cause resistance and heat.
commissioneranthony
[H]ard|Gawd
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Well, actually, it depends on the motor type used in the fan. For example, papst makes ball bearing, syntec-sleve and oil based bearings for motors, which depending can improve the life of the fan greatly over conventional ball bearing fans. Sleve and oil based bearings don't need any specific maintenance like ball bearing fans, which is a convenience, but I'm not sure if it extends the life of the fan.
Well if the alternative to not oiling the bearing is leave it to rub metal to metal (because stock grease has decomposed) I would go with oiling.
A good quality fan like Noctua has a mbtf of 150.000 h. The stock lubrication is good for that long.
Hosing it with oil will only reduce the life of the fan. Nothing good can come out of oiling your computer.
You'd only re-lubricate a fan if it gets noisy. Would you even want to keep using a noisy fan?
Re-lubricating has saved many fans from getting junked for me
I only broke out the oil once the fan started making a racket/had locked up. I brought back many a fan using the oil and spinnin the blades by hand.
McRackin
Limp Gawd
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I'm still using a computer from 2002 (until tomorrow that is =D ). I have 9 fans...5 on the case, cpu fan, mobo fan, ps fan, vid card fan. Every single fan other then the thermaltake cpu fan and the power supply fan are not working, or I intentionally disconnected them because they were making too much noise. I don't bother replacing them because the computer is too old and its time to retire it. Bearings get degraded over time and the whole thing in general collects dirt and particles. The 2 fans that are still working are the most important (cpu, ps) and probably originally costed a lot more then the other fans. A good fan can cost upwards of $50-100, while general purpose fans can cost a couple bucks.
Thank god I've got a new computer coming tomorrow! Upgrading from an Athlon 2400+, 80gb, radeon9700 to the system below....
Thank god I've got a new computer coming tomorrow! Upgrading from an Athlon 2400+, 80gb, radeon9700 to the system below....
LesterOfPuppets2
Limp Gawd
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- Sep 8, 2007
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I use Tri-Flow to rehab noisy fans.
Maybe on Nigerian etail sites they do but I've never seen a computer fan that cost anywhere near that amount.
High quality PC fans are so cheap I don't understand the desire to extend their life...if a fan is in question, I'd just as soon replace it and not worry rather than attempt to eke out a few more hours of use.
AltTabbins
Fully [H]
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Even the best fans fail. Its nothing new.
I have had 2 fans fail on my antec 900 in the past year. The big one on top and one of the tri cools. Even what I consider the best fan ever (Vantec Stealth 120mm) fails eventually. The same time I got my 900, I had a buddy get a CM stacker and loaded it up with them. 2 of them have failed already.
I have had 2 fans fail on my antec 900 in the past year. The big one on top and one of the tri cools. Even what I consider the best fan ever (Vantec Stealth 120mm) fails eventually. The same time I got my 900, I had a buddy get a CM stacker and loaded it up with them. 2 of them have failed already.
Quoted for bullshit.
Mostly sheer convenience. It takes <1 minute to re-lubricate a fan which will then last easily for another few years. It takes more time and effort to obtain a new fan and dispose of the old one
You make it sound like it's a given that squirting a few drops of oil will revive the fan for years...how can you be so sure?
My take on this is that a fan is a cheap part that performs a critical task...the consequences of fan failure far outweigh it's replacement cost and having already failed once (else why are you paying attention to it at all?), it has forfeited any confidence in it's continued utility.
But maybe that's just me.
just don't buy rosewill fans, they die with in a month or two. I got 10 of them from newegg and with in 2 months 2 of them starting having issues. I have 2 more now that are having issues. What do you expect for fans that costs maybe a dollar apeice.
Because it has worked every single time I have done it?
Yes, it is you. Good, silent fans cost at least 15-20 Euro. If a few drops worth not even a fraction of a cent of oil can revive a fan for years, then it's worth it to me.
Hence what they say: 'you get what you pay for'
There's no way a good fan can cost less than a dollar in parts alone unless you really skimp on the quality.