Dead Fan? Do This

BWX · Oct 21, 2003, 03:32 AM

One of my 92mm case fans started vibrating and making noise- When the PC was off and I spun the fan w/ my finger, I could feel the drag and it only sun for a second, then would stop- I thought it was just another dead fan.

I was gonna throw it away, but read this thread and decided to try to fix it. Here's what I did- and it worked.

I took it apart and cleaned out the bushing- it says "bearing" on the sticker. It's no bearing, it's definitely a bushing and nothing more. But this is just a cheap fan that came with the case. Maybe a more expensive fan would actually have bearings, and this process might not work, but I imagine it wouldn't be too much different if you could actually get it apart. At least you could lube it if it didn't have that small hole on the back of the fan that allows you to lube it more easily.

It came apart fairly easily by just pushing evenly on the fan blades until it slid right off.

This is what it looked like before I took the bushing out to clean it- I just used some needle nosed pliers to take the little circle clip off, then the bushing slid right off.

The bushing and circle clip....

The spindle the bearing rides on...

I just cleaned it out with some Q-tips and used some bearing oil to lube it- there was a stray little copper wire inside the bushing that was causing the drag- it came form the winds of wire on the motor I imagine- there was also one of my girlfriend hairs in there-- not good for smooth bushing action.

I just reinstalled it in the body (below) and it works better than any fan I have- Actually spins more freely than new- Must be I used better bearing lube...

I already purchased a fan to replace this- but I couldn't throw it away before I tried to fix it- I tried to lube it without taking it apart- it was a losing battle, no way could I get to the inside of the bushing and clean it out w/o taking it apart.. I will probably throw away allot fewer fans from now on. Give it a try before you throw a good case fan away. I got the Trinity bearing oil at a Hobby shop where they sell pro-racing remote control cars.

Oct 21, 2003, 03:32 AM	#1
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	Dead Fan? Do This One of my 92mm case fans started vibrating and making noise- When the PC was off and I spun the fan w/ my finger, I could feel the drag and it only sun for a second, then would stop- I thought it was just another dead fan. I was gonna throw it away, but read this thread and decided to try to fix it. Here's what I did- and it worked. I took it apart and cleaned out the bushing- it says "bearing" on the sticker. It's no bearing, it's definitely a bushing and nothing more. But this is just a cheap fan that came with the case. Maybe a more expensive fan would actually have bearings, and this process might not work, but I imagine it wouldn't be too much different if you could actually get it apart. At least you could lube it if it didn't have that small hole on the back of the fan that allows you to lube it more easily. It came apart fairly easily by just pushing evenly on the fan blades until it slid right off. This is what it looked like before I took the bushing out to clean it- I just used some needle nosed pliers to take the little circle clip off, then the bushing slid right off. The bushing and circle clip.... The spindle the bearing rides on... I just cleaned it out with some Q-tips and used some bearing oil to lube it- there was a stray little copper wire inside the bushing that was causing the drag- it came form the winds of wire on the motor I imagine- there was also one of my girlfriend hairs in there-- not good for smooth bushing action. I just reinstalled it in the body (below) and it works better than any fan I have- Actually spins more freely than new- Must be I used better bearing lube... I already purchased a fan to replace this- but I couldn't throw it away before I tried to fix it- I tried to lube it without taking it apart- it was a losing battle, no way could I get to the inside of the bushing and clean it out w/o taking it apart.. I will probably throw away allot fewer fans from now on. Give it a try before you throw a good case fan away. I got the Trinity bearing oil at a Hobby shop where they sell pro-racing remote control cars. __________________