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Question

Fan makes grinding noise lately

by May 18, 2014 3:12AM PDT

My fan makes this grinding noise lately. I've had this a long time ago, but I fixed it somehow by pressing on the middle part. There was a click and it was all fixed. Now when I touch the fan a bit the noise disappears and I won't hear it again until the next boot. For now I'm basically removing the panel of my PC every time I startup to fix that noise. Does anyone know what to do with this?

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3 Posts
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Answer
Not a lot
by May 18, 2014 3:28AM PDT

of detail here but from my experience, the only way to fix that is a new fan. If it's the processor cooling fan you better be doing that post haste before you fry the cpu .

For now I'd be leaving that cover off so I could keep an eye on things.
Pay small now or pay big later...
Digger

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Luckily it's not the CPU fan
by tychobono May 18, 2014 6:10AM PDT

A new fan doesn't cost too much right? How do I know what kind of fan I need to buy? I only know the brand is aerocool.

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Answer
You replace the fan to fix it
by May 18, 2014 7:12AM PDT

Bearings wear out, lubricants collect dirt, etc. I've been able to temporarily alleviate this a bit on some but it's only until a replacement can be found. You remove the fan and look for a circular plastic sticker on the case side of the bearing and peel it off. You dribble some Tri-Flow or light lubricant into the recess of housing and lay the fan down so it can seep in by gravity. You clean around where the sticker was and replace it with a piece of duct tape. Clean the blades of dust, put the fan back in and fire it up. It should quiet for a while but the noise will return. This is because the clearance between the shaft and bushing has increased and will wobble a bit. Good luck.

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