How to clean a computer fan
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- In this video I'm demonstrating how to clean a noisy computer fan. If you decide to spend a few minutes you won't have to buy a new fan, you'll save some money and you'll contribute (at least a bit) to saving the environment.
Computer fans can be salvaged from old PCs and used in electronics projects (after cleaning of course). See how I used 4 computer fans to build a soldering fume extractor:
• How to build a fume ex...
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Video, edit, voice by Chris Lorkowski
Music by Jason Shaw - Nickel Rock
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![How to remove PC fan blades quickly: [The right way]](/img/1.gif)
This is the third computer fan video I've watched, and the third Russian narrator. Russia must have some sort of required course in computer fan repair.
Will you be very disappointed, if I tell you I'm not from Russia?
ElectronFun.com
Belarus? Ukraine? Georgia? Russian has to be your native language, at least, right?
ReligiousZombie I must disappoint you again. Russian is not my native language and I don't come from any of the former Soviet Union republics.
He's from Germany
If you want to disassemble the whole thing, I'm afraid you don't have much choice. You won't be able to pull out the rotor without removing the washer.
I just restored a completely stuck 12 year old PC fan that I had lying around for some reason before trying it on a real one. It's incredible how well it works now. Very nice guide.
Good work :)
I feel a big headache for cleaning this CPU fan before I see this video from your.
Now, I can clean it very easily and the fan running more smooth and quiet.
Many thanks for posting this video! Very helpful!!!
This video was a revelation to me. I'm responsible for maintaining the computers in our office, and for years, when a computer developed a noisy fan, I would order a new fan and replace it. I never thought they could be dismantled and cleaned. I just figured they were disposable parts. I'm very happy to discover this, because it saves me the expense of a new fan, and the time. I would have to dismantle the computer to find out what kind of fan it is (and more often than not, they seem to put the label on the side you can't see it, until you take the fan completely out). Then, I'd have to order the fan, and I'd usually reassemble the computer in the meantime while I'm waiting for the replacement fan, so I don't lose parts. Then, when the replacement fan arrived, I'd have to install it which means of course taking everything apart again. So, being able to do it all in one operation of dismantle, clean, and reassemble is a big time saver as well as money saver. Thank you very much!
Mark Fairchild I know exactly what you mean, because I had the same problem in my office :)
Thanks for your comment!
I've watched over 20 fan noise fix videos. This is the first comprehensive fan video thanks so much 😊
Thanks a lot 😀
"Do it gently or it may shoot out and you may never find it" made me laugh :D
Mainly because it's so true.
Thanks for the video... my fan keeps making quite loud buzzing noise and going to clean it today - so this was really helpful.
Thanks a lot! I'm glad this video is helpfun for you :)
It's tight when you first go in loosens up as you go 😂😂😂😂
One of the best howto videos I've seen. Good balance of talking and showing - diction is clear and comments are to the point. You "de-risked" my upcoming PC fan repair!
Thank you so much!
2022 and your video is still helping people out! Greatly appreciate your posting this video online - Excellent instructions! Thank you very much!
Dropping another like on your video!
Thank you so much!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS. My computer has been SO loud for so long, in fact it was so loud I couldn't even use my speakers because the fan would drown out the sound... I was seriously losing my mind and it's so much quieter now!! The inside of the fan was just totally caked in dust.
I'm glad I could help you solve this problem. Thank you for the comment and kind words :)
finally, someone who's got intuition curiosity and the proper knowhow posted something that is truly useful in RUclips. you've done great!
Thanks a lot! You just made my day :)
I have learned more in this video than in the PC repair course. 👏👏👏
Thanks Chris this really helped me out. I was having rattling and speeding up/slowing down of my fan for a month and it was super annoying. Followed your video and all is well now thank you so much!
Thank you so fucking much! My PC went from a plane turbine to actually what a PC sounds like!
I'm glad it worked for you! Thanks for your comment :)
LOL
Thanks, this is very good as I wanted to clean up my SMPS FAN - making a lot of noise / has collected a lot of dust. This video is very professional - unlike many others who only show cleaning up the outside body without cleaning the insides.
Thank you!
I believe it is a bit of overkill.I usually blow out what dust from the blades with compressed air(hold the blades to keep them from spinning),then use a damp rag to get rid of the rest.Then take off the label and rubber plug out.Put in a couple of drops of light machine oil(I use sewing machine oil).By the way,make sure the bearings aren't worn.Put it back together and power it up with a 12v supply to make sure the bearings have been lubricated,or use the computer to power it up.I have recovered everything from record players,tape decks(back in the day) up to computer fans,etc.A good tutorial,anyway.
Mike Henwood Thanks for the tip Mike :)
I do not agree with the part of your comment: "I believe it is a bit of overkill"...because just blowing out the dust from the blades will not get the cleanliness off of the area under the seal and rubber plug. I know smoking cigarettes is bad....but I have not stopped smoking as of yet...and the smoke residue ...invades every single part of my pc. THEREFORE: In my specific instance; a very through cleaning; such as shown in this video is necessary for me. BUT, for other people this may indeed be an 'overkill'.Even if I did not smoke cigarettes, once I went to all the trouble to get to the fan and remove it, I am the type of person that wants the job done as well as it can be done....so I do not have to REPEAT the process any more than necessary.For non-smokers, probably like yourself, you may not understand fully the FILTH inside of my pc fan.Your comment may work for others....just not for me. That being said....have a great day!
I bet to clean the fan you could also use dish liquid soap and an old toothbrush, just making sure you dry off the metal shaft before setting it out to dry. I just pulled my rear case fan from my PC, pulled the plug and put a couple of drops of Wahl's Clipper oil on the bearing and shaft and walla, problem solved. Your method is very thorough. Thanks for the vid.
My dear lord, my Fan stopped comepletely and my PC would just shut off completely. Thank you.
You're welcome :)
Thanks, it saved me a cost of buying two fans for my son.
+Batchimeg Ariunbold Thanks, good to hear that :)
Thanks for the video. I had a very noisy power supply fan and I cleaned it just as you instructed. It was so quiet afterwards, I had to check to see if it was even running.
Thank you very much! Great tutorial and it really saved me. I have a 200mm blue led chassis fan that pretty much stopped spinning and started squeaking from the dust accumilation. First thoughts were "great, time to spend ages trying to get a discontinued product sold with my case. Thanks to you, I have a like-new fan again. Thanks again!
+galbot That's great! A lot of fans can be saved from dumpster with a bit of effort. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Great video! One thing to add would be a dust filter on the intake fan. Turn the pc in and use two smoking incense sticks to determine which us the intake fan and which are outake fans. Also keep your pc off the floor will reduce dust intake.
Literally on every fan there are markings that show direction of fan movement and intake direction
WOW, what a great tutorial, exactly what I was looking for... I wont be throwing away "noisy" fans anymore!!! THANKS!!!!!!
Note: I had to dremel the top cap from my Cooler Master fan... did this very gently using the dremel press-drill tool and small drywall cutting bit, nice round clean opening to the circle clip...
Thanks again!
+Fred Methot Thanks for your advice with drilling. Some fans don't have that rubber cup and the only way to get inside is a drill.
Excellent video, the only thing I would add to this video is a sample of the sound that the fan makes when it is making a loud noise and needs cleaning. Once again, EXCELLENT video, looking forward to trying this.
Thank you :)
This was my first ever published video. I would change so many things about it. The noise is definitely one of them.
pretty impressive for a FIRST video...you did very well. helped a lot of people...by the comments. Congratulation's!
One of my fans made a horrible vibrating noise, and your video *FIXED IT!!!*
Very nice video! Didn't know there was a rubber cap thing under the sticker. And didn't know about the washer either. You helped me fix my neighbors fan. I thank you and so do they!
I'm glad my video helped you :) Thank you for your nice comment, it helps me a lot!
You should clean more thoroughly the bushing (bearing) before applying the grease.
I use to take a piece of tissue, twist it to "thin rope" insert into the bushing hole, moving back and forth to clean the bushing inside.any how, a very helpull vudeo!
Thanks for sharing your experience. It's quite difficult to clean the bushing hole because it's so small. I agree - I should have done this more thoroughly.
Thanks for the upload. My kid's oil diffuser was buzzing for the first few mins after turning on. It was caked with dust and gunk. Good as new now.
That's great to hear/read :) Thank you for your comment!
Great description! The fan now runs completely silently! Thanks for the video!
Thanks for your comment Platom :)
Hey - you are gonna save me a ton of money! I have been replacing my expensive $15 fans for years now but after watching how easy this is, I'll be cleaning them myself for now on. Thanks again.
It's great to hear/read that! A couple of fans saved from dumpster :)
Thank you for watching, commenting and sacrificing your time to clean the fans Brian :)
And thank you very much for taking your time to post a video about something that can save millions of people a few bucks. Even a busy guy like myself can appreciate a selfless person like you with but a few words of kindness and encouragement without picking on your foreign accent. However; I swear - you sound more Russian than German. LOL.
No problem, I'm glad I could help :)
By the way, who told you I was German?
A user commented as such. So are you Russian after all? It's my best guess.
No, I'm not Russian. I replied the user you are talking about that Russian is not my native language and I don't come from any of the former Soviet Union republics. I also didn't say I'm German.
I come from Poland and I understand why people may think I could be from Russia. Polish, Russian, Czech, Slovak and quite a few more languages fall into a group of Slavic languages - they have some common features. Even though Polish is much different from Russian, people from the western countries usually won't recognize the difference and that's why most Slavic speakers sound Russian to them.
I would do anything to get rid of that foreign accent...
It's scary to repair GPU fan without the proper guidance. Thankfully you provided an excellent one without the BS of "blow some air on the fan to make it work" etc. Thank you for very informative, detailed and helpful video!
This was a pretty handy video. I hadn't realized that little circle in the center under the label was actually a plug (like, "plug a hole," not, "plug for power.")
Mine on my fan definitely did NOT pop right out. It must have been glued in because it just came apart in pieces. After a few minutes of digging in there with a screwdriver it occurred to me that I could just put a (somewhat) large hex driver bit in my screwdriver and use it to press the pin out of the washer. That worked just fine and left the washer still captive in the plastic so it can't get lost.
(There was also a tiny metal plate in the 'plug'. I have no idea what it was supposed to be for.)
seven years later this was useful to me :D
I did this and still won't spin hmm tried a different port on the mobo and still nothing smh maybe dead... it was much cleaner than the one on this video too when I opened it
My fan was different. I had to pop out the fan blades by applying pressure. I had to glue it back together after I was done cleaning and oiling. It's drying as we speak. Let's hope it all went alright.
Still, this video was still useful for me, and the music choice was PERFECT. Makes you wanna clean fans all day. Thank you!
That's great - it means I inspired you! Thank you for describing your situation and your nice comment :) I hope we can inspire more people.
Thanks! Unfortunately the glue didn't work. I'm about to try out another type of glue. But at least it's not doing any noise anymore, so the cleaning and oiling process was effective
I hope you will find the right type of glue. Good luck Matias!
Great video, great music, great explanation. Just awesome.
I used a dental pick to get the nylon washer out that holds the fan shaft in place. This is a great tutorial. Fans spin even faster IMO after lubing them as there typically is not enough lube put in at the factory. I bet most people would just throw a noisy or stopped fan out. Too bad....
I was always switching fans,but i'll try to clean them next time,thanks for the tut.
+Johny Strike Thanks for your comment :) It's worth trying and not difficult.
Thanks, Chris! Great video. I used automotive grease and it worked great.
Thanks for your comment djwinston99! Nice doggie in your profile picture :)
I just went into some cleaning yesterday. My pc is liquid cooled, so I have 2 140mm fans on a 280mm radiator (mounted on the top), 2 120mm fans on the front and a 120mm fan on another 120mm radiator on the back. The 120mm on the back is a Cooler Master, wich had the back sealed in plastic. I drilled a hole to reach the shaft, lubed the bearings and sealed again with isolating tape. The two 140mm were even more complicated: they had a new technology wich encloses the whole bearings/shaft mechanism in one brass drum, completely sealed, I had to drill coaxially the drum on the back to reach the inner chamber and bearings, and lubricate the system. When doing so, use a fixed-drill and blow compressed hair while drilling: you don't want any shavings to go inside the chamber and in the bearings.
Thanks for sharing. Have you seen any video tutorial about a similar cleaning process?
ElectronFun.com unfortunately not... Dammit! I knew that I had to make a video while I was doing it! I'll try to post one if I find any fan to overhaul.
Thomas soffiantini
It might be very useful. The newer the fan, the more complicated it becomes.
ElectronFun.com ...and they're not always so reliable!!!
Not sure if I got it better but it was an exciting voyage to open up my PSU's vent. I didn't know it was even an option. I was already thinking of replacing it but cleaning it made more sense. Didn't have to cut anything.
Sure, it's a good option, if you can open the fan. Thanks for watching and your comment!
Came for the fan advice, stayed for the jams. TUNE
Thanks for this vid, it helps me a lot, now i don't need to buy a new fan
+Cejay Dela Cruz Thanks for your comment :) That's why I made this video - you don't have to buy a new fan, when the old one starts making some noise.
tried this aaaaaand I broke the plastic washer. lmao.
What can I say, that's life!
Replaced it with a piece of plastic from a used gel pen tube. Works great!
Well, that's creativity! Great job :)
@@lowkeyobsessedngl if ur fan blade falls out your cpu will fry up, good luck.
@@irkiIIer depends if its the cpu fan ur fixing
i wish i knew about this video before i threw out my 15$ 3 speed transparent antec fan i just fixed 3 old 80mm fans they look brand new now thank you! :D
I'm glad I could help you :)
The best fan cleaning video I've ever seen!
Thank you so much! Such nice comments make me believe it's worth the effort.
ElectronFun.com
Yesterday I cleaned my old power supply fan (the way you present), now it works like a charm, I'm very satisfied with the results!
SladkaPritomnost
I'm happy my video helped you :)
Thanks so MUCH!!!!!!!!
In less then 5 minutes my fan was like NEW!!!!
Thanks again.
Best of the many videos on this topic. Nicely done. Thank you.
Bill Appledorf Thank you so much :)
Thanks for the video. It helped me it makes almost no sound now B)
Nice video. Thanks for your thorough approach to disassembly, cleaning and reassembly.
Thank you for your video. You just saved me buying a new fan which I can't afford right now. And also saved me from burning out my CPU. It was overheating way to quickly and the fan got slower and slower. Normally I'd just replace it and forget about it.
Thanks to this I saved some money and my PC.
Thank you 😁
Very nice video I would also add a couple of drops of 3-IN-ONE oil or sewing machine oil to the shaft. Old timer with two desktops, one seven years old and the other eight running win 7 and win10 in my home, one for myself and the other for my wife. Have used 3-IN-ONE oil for many years on our PCs in addition to the things you recommend for cleaning. Thanks again for the video
+Ray Gardner I agree - sewing machine oil, or 3-in-one oil work too. Thanks for watching the video and leaving your comment :)
Really great video, rally thorough explanation and good shots of what you were doing. I have a question, instead of the alcohol, do you know if I could you use graphite powder?
+Third i Studio Thanks a lot for your comment :)
I used the alcohol to clean the old lubricants and dirt. As far as I know graphite powder is used as a dry lubricant (e.g. for locks). I'm not sure how it would work in a fan, never tried it.
Excellent video! Very clear voice, too.
Thank you so much!
easy,and practice,thank you very much member "Electrofun".
+stran kam Thank you :)
no;it's me who must to you Thank you,cause i have search a lot of shit programmes,one of them have destroy "dammage" the fun CPU,so i ave bur new one,and tis new one have strange sound,no it's ok,because my pc sound was like arefregerateur .no it's cool.just one question please,ave you an oter videos?about pc?because i have click your videos,but see most of tem for Mobile phone.Please.
+stran kam I have 22 videos on my channel. Most of them are about electronics, but my 3 newest videos are about solid state drives for PC.
Thank you! literally 1 fan makes 90% the noise of my pc
Thanks for that, now i can take apart and swap my dead PSU fan blades with the broken ones in my case! Yeah i'm cheap! :D
Why not, if they fit :)
Thanks man , now I how how to cleans those fans !!! ;)
I'm glad you learned something from my video, thanks for watching :)
I've seen some cleaning fans videos, yours is the best, thanks man.
Most excellent video. I will do this on my desktop. We have horrible dust and the noise is loud. I stopped using it. I will have to dig it out. Thank you.
Wow..It was really dirty inside. I know mine is going to be worse. lol....Have a great day. Peace.
Thanks, I fixed my noisy case fan by using the same method. It worked for a few weeks then the noise started again. This time I removed that nylon circle which was a bit harmed after my first removal. And tadaa !!! It's been a few months and its all good and quiet. Dunno if its related to it but you can try removing that thing if its still noisy after cleaning. You probably shouldnt remove it if your rotor looks downwards as this little thing prevents rotor from falling off.
Berkay Bereket Thanks for your comment, I'm glad you managed to quiet your fan :)
Thanks, this helped me save money on a PC build when I realized my new case had no rear fan.
Cool, it's good to hear that :)
AWESOME!! This video helped me a LOT! Thanx Chris!
Thank you for your comment! I'm glad my video helped you.
excellent, thanks ..will clean my old one up real soon as I have a spot for it.
Well done!
I use " Gum " type dental brush ( it is like a miniature gun barrell brush) for the axel bushing and a syringe to rinse it with alcohol.
I also clean the coils with a soft bristle paint brush.
Cheers!
Looks like a lot of work but the results are rewarding. Plus, I can now spray the blades to the color of my choosing so thank you for that.
Thank you very very much for this information, i have one in a battery charger that makes a loud buzzing sound that irritate me very much, it needed cleaning and oiling badly, your instructions WILL help me tremendously, THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.
very informative and well done. My personal problem is I have nothing to grease it with so I didn't end up cleaning the old grease off and instead just cleaned around everything else.
The instructional quality of your video is top notch. Music and editting could be a bit more entertaining / less flat. But, I'd rather have the quality of information and have the video be a bit dry rather than you putting a lot of effort in editting / music and skimping on the info. Info 10/10 editting 7/10 (logic, cohesion, visuals and music 6/10 (not super soecial, but not distracting either).
Thank you for being objective and for constructive criticism. Right now I would change so many aspects of these videos and I fully agree with you.
Great information. I cleaned my CPU suppy . Thanks for great work
make some more videos like this.......this video was really helpful...thanks bro
Thanks! What would you like to see in my future videos?
m currently having issues with my stock heatsink...my cpu gets hot(80+ celsius) when i play games......shall i replace it or clean the heatsink???
ravi chhetri You can try cleaning the heat sink and applying new thermal paste. Here's a nice written tutorial: www.wikihow.com/Apply-Thermal-Paste
If it doesn't cool your processor, I would recommend replacing the cooler.
ElectronFun.com THANK U SIR
You're welcome :)
excellent video ,clear and detailed
Thank you very much! It's quite an old one, but I hope it may still be useful.
A tip, use a product called megapower # 10 its actually penetrates the molecules of the metal and virtually eliminates friction. My dad uses this in his old truck and now has somewhere around 450k miles on the motor. Everything I've ever put this stuff in perked up in a big way.
I didn't know that one - thanks! I just wish they made smaller containers.
thanks for narrating steps clearly! maybe you could use more light next time! good job!
I should definitely use more light. I'm trying to make every video better, but there is still so much to do. Thanks a lot for your comment :)
I did this just today. My fan is fried, I called my local tech support and they told me my mobo might be fried too. Thanks.
Do you think your motherboard is fried because you cleaned your fan?
nice and very detailed. now i know how to clean this little thing
Saved two coolermaster fans for me, and the enviroment.
Good job :)
Thoroughly Explained. Tks
I'm glad you like it :) Thank you for the comment!
Very informative and thorough job. Excellent. Thank you.
Thank you for watching, I'm glad you like my first video on RUclips :)
Great video, thank you! BTW the music is reminiscent of the STALKER games!
I wanted to add I now have 5 cooling fans in my latest/greatest PC build. My octocore system isn't even a year old and I was astounded by the dust built-up! I order some hoses and a dust tube blower that I'll hook up to a small pancake compressor. That ought to clean out most of the dust crap in my computer. Dust is the scourge of any computer user which can make your unit run hotter than it has to.
Oh yes, all PC fans attract so much dust, which can clog all vent holes up.
The idea wit a dust tube blower is very cool!
I could buy those aerosol cans but a six-pack of 12-oz cans of Dust-Off runs $20. Pretty expensive when one considers they are simply bottled compressed air! The smart move is using one's compressor which, for mere pennies of operation, will do the same exact job. But having said that - cleaning those spinning dust traps (namely, PC fans) by hand is the better way of cleaning them more effectively.
I couldn't agree more.
Hey Thanks Mate!!
Actually managed to take apart Antec 3 Tricool fit in my Antec 900 cabinet.
Good job :)
Really good tutorial, congrats!
+sandswalker Thank you so much :)
Awesome video, super clear, easy to follow. Nice OCD cleaning!
Hey Brother Thanks a lot for the pain you took to upload those helpful videos thanks a lot....may god bless you....
Thanks so much for your comment! You help me believe the videos are worth the effort.
Thank you very much sir. you are a great teacher. good luck
That's very good...Thanks for the detailed information with practical..!!!!!!!!!
Thanks a lot :)
you actually skip the teraing the fan apart, the important is you need to lubricate the bearing. first to clean out the dirt in bearing, you can use wd40 (and wd40 is not a lubricant, just a cleaning solution that may wash out dirt and rust) after that, the fan usually spin smooth now, but its not yet lubricated so you need a motor oil in liquid form (usually the motor oil you usually use in a sewing machine not the sticky gooey ones you use in a turbine engine) and then in final part, put a motor grease on the bearing this will help your bearing lubricated for a long time.
that's it you successfully repaired your box fans. you dont need to disassemble it completely, there's a chance that you can break the lock/washer if you do that and make the fan completely useless.
As far as I remember, my fan didn't have a bearing. There are at least two types of fans on the market: brushless and ball bearing fans.
Bearings are usually sealed, so the chances of finding dirt inside are rather slim - I wouldn't bother to remove the old grease and re-lubricate them.
Thanks for the instruction...I will be trying this out soon. Fan is running very slow.
Thanks for watching and good luck :)
That little plastic washer that you removed from the center shaft seemed to nearly fall off of your blower shaft. I'm having trouble removing my washer. Your video was great, but glossed over a difficult part of this disassembly.
Very helpfull, saving some $
Thanks :)
I would like to see how you took it out of the computer body
Also I have another fan in my computer and don't know how to take it out to clean
great. keep posting these videos for us geeks to learn fixing most of day to day comp glitches. vishG
Thanks for your kind words :)
Very Good but all depending on how much one values their time a new fan is cheaper.
However I suspect doing this to cheap fan most likely significantly improves the noise output.
thank you man .. it was a great help and solved an annoying problem
thanks! clear instructions and easy to follow.
first time cleaning a fan this way. worked like a charm :)
may i use WD40 instead of grease? i know its not a lubircant, but i don't have anything greasy at hand
Thanks for your comment! You could use WD40, but only temporarily. As you mentioned, it is not a lubricant.
Thanks. I can disassemble things, but have problem to put them back together. Sometimes, it does not work like it did before. That's why I just clean the outside.
I understand your problem, but I'm afraid cleaning the outside won't help much.
If the fan isn't in too bad of shape, you can get away with putting a few drops of 3-in-1 oil or similar after removing the seal. But the dust is still inside.
*Great video! Everything is simple and understandable! I like computer hardware too ;-)*
Perfect. Everything in place.
Thank you!
This was very helpful, thank you.
NialasDubh Thank you :)
The amount of cotton pads he used, not even folding them to use the inside, one could almost buy a new fan.
I dismantled my fan after watching this video. Unfortunately, I accidentally shot out my plastic washer and couldn't find it.