Computer fan noticibly loud

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
With the unusually hot weather in my locale, I've noticed that after my computer is on for about a half an hour, I can hear the fan in the back if the tower with intermittent revving. It's 85°F (30°C) where the computer is. I checked the innards temps with Speccy. The CPU temp is 50°C, the motherboard is 56°C and the HD is 28°C. Should I run my system in such warm weather? Are those acceptable temps?
 

Those numbers are quite high....122 and 132 F, on your CPU and Motherboard. That's not much lower than the temp inside a car sitting in the sun on a hot day. Heat is the number one cause of failure in Any kind of electronics. 85 degrees is rather hot for inside your house...do you have AC, and is it working? At the bare minimum, you might want to position a small fan near your case, and blow more air across it. Most of these PC's use a rather small fan to begin with, and they barely move enough air to suffice in a room with temps in the low 70's.
 
Go to where yo hear the fan, use your house vacuum hose, vacuum all vent holes
debodun said:
With the unusually hot weather in my locale, I've noticed that after my computer is on for about a half an hour, I can hear the fan in the back if the tower with intermittent revving. It's 85°F (30°C) where the computer is. I checked the innards temps with Speccy. The CPU temp is 50°C, the motherboard is 56°C and the HD is 28°C. Should I run my system in such warm weather? Are those acceptable temps?
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It's unbelievable how dirty the fan blades get just like a ceiling fan. Shut the computer down. Open it up and clean the blades. They are probably carrying a heavy load of accumulated sticky lint. A vacuum alone won't do the trick. I just did mine not too long ago.
 
Most people don't know how to do this, or they have doubts about doing it, This does help!
Camper6 said:
It's unbelievable how dirty the fan blades get just like a ceiling fan. Shut the computer down. Open it up and clean the blades. They are probably carrying a heavy load of accumulated sticky lint. A vacuum alone won't do the trick. I just did mine not too long ago.
Click to expand...
 
Most people don't know how to do this, or they have doubts about doing it, I've myself have a lot of screws lost just from opening the case up to change a processor . This does help!
Camper6 said:
It's unbelievable how dirty the fan blades get just like a ceiling fan. Shut the computer down. Open it up and clean the blades. They are probably carrying a heavy load of accumulated sticky lint. A vacuum alone won't do the trick. I just did mine not too long ago.
Click to expand...
 
debodun said:
I looked inside and the fans are encased (see attached photo). I tried vacuuming the intake vents and the out vent, but after 20 minutes, the fan whines.
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It sounds like the fan, itself, might be going bad....if, after 20 minutes, it starts to get noisy, that is a good sign that the fan bearings may be going bad. That's an easy fix, and fans are not expensive. If you have a couple of basic tools, its a 5 minute job. The case fans come in various sizes...40, 60, 80, 120mm, etc., so you just need to determine the correct size, then a few minutes with a screwdriver, and everything is back to normal. Even a computer shop shouldn't charge much for such a repair....certainly cheaper than letting the motherboard overheat, and needing to buy a whole new computer.

I open my case twice a year, and give everything a good cleaning...dust buildup and heat are probably the most common causes for failure.
 
Butterfly said:
When my old computer started doing that, it was getting ready to up and die. If you haven't already, I'd back up anything you have on your hard drive that you want to save, just in case.
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I totally agree with Butterfly about this !
Even though it sounds like it is going to be something relatively simple to fix; it is better to be prepared for the worst, just in case.
That way, if something goes wrong, and the old computer dies before you can get it fixed, at least you have a backup of everything on there that is important, and can restore it once the computer is up and running again.
 
john19485 said:
Go to where yo hear the fan, use your house vacuum hose, vacuum all vent holes
Click to expand...

NO NO never ever do this a normal house Vacuum can great lots od static electricity and can affect meny delicate parts in a pc, there are special little vacuums made for this purpose from Computer shops...can also blow out the vent with special compressed air also available from Computer shop, if use this method hold the fan with the tip of a pencil or something similar to stop it from spinning (Backwards)butback to main question sound to me like the fan bearings are on the way out???
 
Get a new fan and change it. Fans don’t last forever.
If you can’t do this on your own, go to a place that does it.
They should be able to give you a quote.
 
I don't trust the only fairly nearby computer shop. The last time I went there I wanted them to fix my external HD. When I went back to pick it up, the tech handed it to me in pieces and said they couldn't fix it.
 
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debodun said:
I don't trust he only fairly nearby computer shop. The last time I went there I wanted them to fix my external HD. When I went back to pick it up, the tech handed it to me in pieces and said they couldn't fix it.
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What type of back alley computer shop are you going to?
I can’t think of any shop doing that. That’s complete incompetence.
Dont you have a Staples or Future Shop anywhere?
They are large franchised stores with competent employees.
If they can’t fix it they won’t first take it apart and if the ruin it themselves , it would be replaced.
 
I use a shop vac. , best thing I've use, when I tear a laptop apart or desktop then I use compressed air, my first computer was the press board one IBM
kburra said:
NO NO never ever do this a normal house Vacuum can great lots od static electricity and can affect meny delicate parts in a pc, there are special little vacuums made for this purpose from Computer shops...can also blow out the vent with special compressed air also available from Computer shop, if use this method hold the fan with the tip of a pencil or something similar to stop it from spinning (Backwards)butback to main question sound to me like the fan bearings are on the way out???
Click to expand...
 
debodun said:
I don't trust he only fairly nearby computer shop. The last time I went there I wanted them to fix my external HD. When I went back to pick it up, the tech handed it to me in pieces and said they couldn't fix it.
Click to expand...

Try and find a student from a local college who is
studying computers, he/she will fix for you for a
few $$$$.

Mike.
 
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