Case fans dying

[p0nd]

So i've had 2 case fans die in a row within a few months of each other.

How can I tell if this is a fluke, of if there's a problem with my mobo or PSU like bad voltage regulation?

PSU: Antec Earthwatts EA-500D (500 Watt)
MOBO: Asrock 870 Extreme3

should i try plugging the new fans i get directly to the psu rather than into the mobo? could this be a consequence of using speedfan to control my fan speeds?

any help would be nice, i don't know how to diagnose this stuff and google wasn't a great help.

 

[BoomerD]

How old are the fans?

Cheap fans are prone to dying pretty quickly.

 

[Tsavo]

How old are the fans?

Cheap fans are prone to dying pretty quickly.

This. My two + year old Core i5-750 is in a Cooler Master Storm Scout chassis. All the fans in that chassis are dead or dying. Even the Cooler Master 212p cooler's fan is giving up the ghost. All were purchased at the same time, and installed at the same time.

 

[p0nd]

I bought the fans in May when i built my tower so about 7 months. I would reckon the first died in September-ish and the second today.

edit: and the brands were Arctic Cooling and SilenX

 

[BoomerD]

I built my current build about this time last year with a Coolermaster HAF 932 case. Two of the case fans are connected to the board headers, two are connected to molex connectors from the PSU. All are still working fine, but they've all gotten a bit more noisy. It used to only be the "whoosh" of fan blades cutting through the air that could be heard. Nowadays, I'm starting to hear a bit more of a mechanical sound. I've never tried to isolate which fan/fans it actually is...COULD be my 3+ year old Corsair PSU that I'm hearing, or the Noctua fans on my CPU cooler.
It's still a bazillion times quieter than my old Aspire case with 6-80mm case fans...Still, all of those lasted for more than 7 years...they were just noisy as hell...it was like sitting next to a 747 getting ready for take off...

 

[Zap]

Does your case have dust filters?

Last fans I had die in the household were chock full of dust. They were cheap Yate Loons (not the good ones) and the motors must have become dust contaminated. First one gave up the ghost after about a half year. I cleaned the dust out of the remaining one and it lasted another half year.

 

[C1]

Ive had many fans of all types running now for years and years. Yes they need maintenance (inspection and cleaning every 2-3 months).

But fans becoming so contaminated and dying within such a short period is disturbing. Recommend that you inspect the wider living/working environment/habitat for excessive dust or it may well be YOU who will die too.

A possibility is that you are allowing too much chemtrail into the home/work environment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCbwwJCaH94

 

[VirtualLarry]

I tend to prefer to purchase ball- or dual-ball-bearing fans, when the fans don't come pre-installed in case and heatsinks and things. They are slightly noisier, initially, but last much, much longer, than sleeve-bearing fans. IMHO of course.