Syzodia Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Not that lubing it slowed it down, just that lubing it is preventing it from making the sound that is indicating that it has gone bad. The lube didn't make anything better or worse it just covered up the symptom letting you know. Like putting black tape over a warning light. The warning light isn't the problem, and covering it up doesn't address the problem, just lets you ignore it. I dealt with fans a bit a while ago, and funny I don't remember everything I had learned when I did it, but basically the motor spins but there is connections with the magnets that wear out, or something along those lines. The motor spins but fails to transfer the movement to the fan's spindle and thus the blades. The clicking is basically the fan spindle rattling rather than spinning, or spinning slowly with no real power. Lemme just clarify something again: immediately Before lube (and dust clean-up): odd fan noise (temporary remedy being a light collision) - normal temps immediately After lube: higher temps - no odd fan noise. Key thing to note is the dust part as well. Not sure what could've caused this... If the fan is lubed and the dust is gone, then temps shouldn't be going up, right? (with same loads). Must be either something to do with airflow (internally - external conditions are unchanged; internally should be improved cuz of hte dust cleanup...) or the lube itself, i think, but idk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kruzil Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 (edited) Shouldn't this be in the Performance sub-forum not General? Edited July 26, 2014 by Kruzil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wahooo Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Lemme just clarify something again: immediately Before lube (and dust clean-up): odd fan noise (temporary remedy being a light collision) - normal temps immediately After lube: higher temps - no odd fan noise. Key thing to note is the dust part as well. Not sure what could've caused this... If the fan is lubed and the dust is gone, then temps shouldn't be going up, right? (with same loads). Must be either something to do with airflow (internally - external conditions are unchanged; internally should be improved cuz of hte dust cleanup...) or the lube itself, i think, but idk. So many variables, anyone giving PC maintenance advice over a forum is just guessing. Our guesses are based on experience so a PC tech that has worked on many different machines with many different owners and working conditions will have likely better advice. I have experienced fan failure and speaking to friends who have as well it is a general consensus that a noisy fan is a broken fan. The dusting and lube and whatever else you've done. I can't say without being there. Coincidence? Moved a connection or broke a connection with a heat sink? Something moved, got inside to mess with the airflow? Things I know. Dust is bad but can easily build up. Getting rid of the dust is not always as easy as it might be. Taking apart a lap top can be dangerous for that laptop if you don't have a proper work station and some experience. A fan that makes noise might not be broken, but I would replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzodia Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 So many variables, anyone giving PC maintenance advice over a forum is just guessing. Our guesses are based on experience so a PC tech that has worked on many different machines with many different owners and working conditions will have likely better advice. I have experienced fan failure and speaking to friends who have as well it is a general consensus that a noisy fan is a broken fan. The dusting and lube and whatever else you've done. I can't say without being there. Coincidence? Moved a connection or broke a connection with a heat sink? Something moved, got inside to mess with the airflow? Things I know. Dust is bad but can easily build up. Getting rid of the dust is not always as easy as it might be. Taking apart a lap top can be dangerous for that laptop if you don't have a proper work station and some experience. A fan that makes noise might not be broken, but I would replace it. It's true that you can only guess without knowing exactly what happened, step by step, but hypotheses are still something. As far as I know though, I'll also need to reapply the thermal pasting if I do choose to replace the fan, but, being a laptop, i'm not sure if I need to use a particular kind. However, I would love to simply have some way of setting my own FPS limit in-game, like capping it at 30FPS rather than 60. The difference is quite negligible to me, but with significantly less load (and heat). I've suggested that numerous times before but all that's coming back is "Use V-sync", which is NOT HELPFUL because i'm using it right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emonotony Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 (edited) It's true that you can only guess without knowing exactly what happened, step by step, but hypotheses are still something. As far as I know though, I'll also need to reapply the thermal pasting if I do choose to replace the fan, but, being a laptop, i'm not sure if I need to use a particular kind. It's entirely possible that the fan was chafing against the base, and the lube merely made it slide soundlessly while the fan's still off-center and dragging against the base instead of spinning freely. It's also likely your thermal paste has gone bad, which means messing around in the insides could have moved the heatsink just enough to cause higher temperatures. You need to completely disassemble the cooling unit, brush the heatsink with a toothbrush, replace the fan, clean the heatsink surfaces (and the top of the processor) with isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free rag, and then reapply thermal paste and reassemble. I'd suggest Arctic Cooling MX-4 as the thermal paste to use - it's high quality, non-conductive (safer for newbies) and non-curing (it won't go bad if you clean every other year like you should). Youtube has quite a few guides on how to do this, and also disassembly instructions for basically every laptop out there. Edited July 26, 2014 by emonotony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzodia Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) It's entirely possible that the fan was chafing against the base, and the lube merely made it slide soundlessly while the fan's still off-center and dragging against the base instead of spinning freely. It's also likely your thermal paste has gone bad, which means messing around in the insides could have moved the heatsink just enough to cause higher temperatures. You need to completely disassemble the cooling unit, brush the heatsink with a toothbrush, replace the fan, clean the heatsink surfaces (and the top of the processor) with isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free rag, and then reapply thermal paste and reassemble. I'd suggest Arctic Cooling MX-4 as the thermal paste to use - it's high quality, non-conductive (safer for newbies) and non-curing (it won't go bad if you clean every other year like you should). Youtube has quite a few guides on how to do this, and also disassembly instructions for basically every laptop out there. That would explain why it doesn't occur at higher speeds...Gee I really should replace it then. Just a few more questions though, if you don't mind: Any particular reason I should be using a toothbrush? (lol) Why do I need to clean the top of the processor as well as the heatsink surfaces? What concentrations of isopropanol should I be looking for? Roughly how many applications can I get out of one Arctic Cooling MX-4 ?. And thanks for the advice! Edited July 27, 2014 by Syzodia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emonotony Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) Because the fan on top of the heatsink causes dust to get packed against the heatsink, and it slowly causes it to develop a film that you can only remove by using abrasive techniques. You need a clean, new brush that doesn't damage the heatsink, and a simple toothbrush is really the easiest thing to find. I do want to clarify: You want to only use the toothbrush on the fan-facing side of the heatsink. The processor-facing side doesn't need it. The isopropyl alcohol is used to clean the old thermal paste off the processor and the processor-facing side of the heatsink (do be gentle) - you want 90% or higher concentration, and just isopropyl alcohol and water. The MX-4 should be enough for five to ten applications, and the tube survives for five years. It's possible the fan's just clogged with dust on the underside too. A through clean might yet save it. Edited July 27, 2014 by emonotony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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