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PC Cooling Fan Service
Cooling fans in PC do an important job; they keep the CPU, GPU and motherboard at acceptable temperature. Failed cooling may cause burn-out of processor chip, or at least random computer freezes and crashes. One of the affect of aging is decreased perfomance of fan
(Image source: http://www.funvblog.com/2011/07/20/funny-fail-pc-cooling-fan/)
- Fan becomes noisy once it is filled with dust. This requires comprehensive dust removal with blower at least once a year.
- Fan becomes slow, and may eventually stop once its lubrication is dried.
- In case of broken fins, it is better to replace with new fan.
(Image source: http://www.funvblog.com/2011/07/20/funny-fail-pc-cooling-fan/)
Cleaning the fans
First you need to find all fans, and its better to take them out, after plugging off the motherboards. Blowing air on installed fan may case it to rotate that would produce DC voltage at its terminals. In a PC you would essentially find fan on CPU and GPU. There might be one or two fans in the PC casing as well. Carefully plug them out and brush away the dirt and dust. After removing the fans use a blower or pressurized air container to clean the heat sink.
Lubrication
Remove the sticker at the back. Below the sticker you would see fan hinge and lock. Lubricate it with 'suitable' lubricant. I have experienced that common eye ointment is a very suitable lubricant in such a case. Reseal the sticker and plug it back. (notice that I have yet to remove the dirt sticking on fins)
A good information of PC cooling is also available at http://www.computerprocessor.net/Types/Cooling.html
A good information of PC cooling is also available at http://www.computerprocessor.net/Types/Cooling.html