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3 fans dead..... why?

T

Thors1982

Junior Member
About 18 months ago I bought a HTPC case. And put my old computer in it. (AMD 2100+ with a radeon 9800pro)

I recently found out 3 fans (2 case fans and the northbridge fan) were dead because it started cutting off on me.

What could cause that many fans to die (2 are only 18 months old... however the northbridge is much older.

What should I do to fix this, just replace the fans?
Could it be I need a more powerful power supply? (i can give specs and gear inside if need be)
 
Are you running all of the fans off of the motherboard? You could be exceeding its limits for fan power, than can burn out the motherboard pins rather than the fans.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Are you running all of the fans off of the motherboard? You could be exceeding its limits for fan power, than can burn out the motherboard pins rather than the fans.
Click to expand...


Not a chance. One standard case sooler wastes arround 0,100 - 0,250 amps of power at a 12Volt current. Thats nothing for the mobo.

The most relevant factor for fan death can be the type of the bearing point. Ball bearing fans last much longer then the sleeve bearing fans. Also ball bearing fans will never stop instead they will vibrate and make noice. The sleave bearing fans will just lock up and overheat untill the bearing point melts in place.

Heat is also a relevant factor. More heat-less lifetime.

Also the dust can lower the lifetime. You should check and clean the fans from dust once in 2-6 months depending of the ammount of dust inside the room. But do it gently without causing damage to the rotor or the bearing point of the fan.


 
What fans (make, model, size, etc) were they? I've had fans die on me in the past, and I simply attributed it to cheap fans. That's why I went away from trying to do the UV fan thing in my case, and I get Delta Triple Blade, Sanyo Denki, or possibly Nidec fans (if I need a lot of fans, as they are cheaper). I've never had one of those fans die on me without reason.
 
Ball bearing fans can be damaged by dropping...It dings the tiny balls.

Powered fans can be run up to very high speed with compressed air...This can damage bearings.

Blowing cleaning air into the back side of fans can drive dirt/grit in and lubricant out...This is poor practice.
 
there is only 1 fan plugged into the motherboard... so thats not it 🙂

The fans may be cheap they came with the case but they are thermaltakes.... I thought they would be fine. Also the case isn't spotless but its really not bad at all.

Airflow may be a problem if "Allgamer" is right, because it is a small HTPC case with lots in it. I attempted to wrap wires out of the way.... but powersupply cables just seem to be everywhere 😛 Also I still say there is not much dust inside.

All the fans inside:
(1 died) 2 60 mm Thermaltake - both blowing out
(died) 1 80 mm Thermaltake - intake
1 60 mm (came with a AMD heatsink)
(died) 1 40 mm (came with asus motherboard on northbridge)
 
i'll say it's a combination of dust problem + airflow problem

i know i had that problem in my case, after i fixed the airflow, no more premature fan deaths
 
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