Situation: I have an 80mm case fan that is clogged with dust in/around the motor. The fan has become much harder to rotate manually and sometimes stops altogether when powered.
Question: Can a case fan be disassembled and cleaned/refurbished?
Facts: It is not a power problem and it is not an issue that can be solved with compressed air. Obviously I could throw it away and just buy a new one, but what would be the fun in that?
63 Answers
Both are basically the same describing how to take the fan apart, clean it, and re-lubricate it.
Compressed air works if the dust isn't inside the motor area, which will likely mean you need to re-lubricate it also.
I haven't tried the suggestions yet but the trickiest part seems to be in getting the fan-blade piece off of the motor assembly.
I was able to take the fan apart as per link #1, clean it with water, and re-lubricate it. I also sprayed off some excess dust. After about 10-15 minutes, I saved $9 and have a near mint highly operational fan again. So I made $36/hour for a quarter of an hour.
You may have to get a replacement. Replacement fans are cheap and easy to replace. You can get one from your local computer accessory store.
First off, I find it hard to believe that a member with over 800 rep points would be a asking a question as simple as 'My case fan is dusty, what can I do?'
It's a case fan, use compressed air and move on. If it's still overly dirty afterwards just remove it and run the blades under the faucet for a couple sec, then finish it off with a wet wipe or something. And No, water will not hurt that fan. The motor and wiring are well protected. Just make sure the blades are 100% dry before you plug it in and have it fling water all over your other components (the ones that water will hurt). Don't worry about greasing the ball bearings in those things as you're more likely to damage the damper pulling it apart than performing anything useful.
If after all this you find that the fan is still spinning slow/stopping, then it's a power distribution issue. Either you have too many things plugged in tapping your PSU, or a loose connection in the molex daisy-chain (if you're set up that way).
In the end- it's a 5 dollar fan.
5
