Laptop fan problems continue, homemade moving parts lubricant?

[Marcos]

Wish i could simply replace the fan but the part that the fan is contained in/is part of costs something like £80.

The fan has been chugging along and lately occasionally scrapes somewhere making a fairly loud noise.

I took it apart, blasted it with air, examined it. Not sure really, i think the last thing i can try is to somehow lubricate it as the noises it makes sounds like its dried up and not running smoothly. It still runs, it still cools.

Unless someone can think of a better solution

Oh, also, any shops that would have silicon grease that i can run into? Or something, if not, can i use something household?

[CluelesPasty]

Try Maplin, they will have silicon grease. Or you could spray with wd40 or dribble in some light machine oil.

[autopilot]

Olive oil. Fairy Liquid.

[viet cong zombi]

Don't listen to dangerous, use a big greeny instead. Go for a good jog until the tendrils of phlegm are almost life-threatening and then the chugg up a nice lump on to the fan.
High-quality mineral oil for bikes is probably the same thing it came with, see if someone's got some oil from a shaving kit. I know Dell has complete engineering instructions for how to service laptops online, but it's a all day mission organising screws and bits immaculately. hard work for even a really experienced systems fiddler.
see if the noise changes if you push the the cap of the fan blades down a millimetre or pull it up with a pen 1 mm. How come you can dismantle the fan but can't replace it? If you can get the fan blades off you should be able to glue whole new thing in place perhaps?

[Marcos]

Originally Posted by CluelesPasty

Try Maplin, they will have silicon grease. Or you could spray with wd40 or dribble in some light machine oil.

This link says WD40 is a nono:

http://insight.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/...2135514,00.htm

Originally Posted by dangerous_dom

Olive oil. Fairy Liquid.

Serious?

Originally Posted by viet cong zombi

Don't listen to dangerous, use a big greeny instead. Go for a good jog until the tendrils of phlegm are almost life-threatening and then the chugg up a nice lump on to the fan.
High-quality mineral oil for bikes is probably the same thing it came with, see if someone's got some oil from a shaving kit. I know Dell has complete engineering instructions for how to service laptops online, but it's a all day mission organising screws and bits immaculately. hard work for even a really experienced systems fiddler.
see if the noise changes if you push the the cap of the fan blades down a millimetre or pull it up with a pen 1 mm. How come you can dismantle the fan but can't replace it? If you can get the fan blades off you should be able to glue whole new thing in place perhaps?

I'll try tesco tonight for some sort of lubricant, and then halfords tomorrow

I have been able to take the blade part of the fan off, it looks pretty simple. But the base is stuck onto the heatsink component which is quite large and looks custom.

I'd say its about 40mm, and obviously not a standard desktop fan design, its that other carassel type fan. No idea where to get a replacement

[autopilot]

Originally Posted by Marcos

Serious?

Well, not too sure about the Fairy Liquid thinking about it now. But it is a great lubricant for many situations. Especially moving plastic parts.

Olive oil will probably be good though. Don't do it if your not sure though. You might need something thats ok of electrical cicuits, i think olive oil is ok. But please make sure

[viet cong zombi]

I don't know if olive oil would be as durable as mineral oil like castrol gtx or something. the information of what to use is probably online though.
inside a fan thos there is a small round doughnut shaped circuit board with a capacitor and a couple of resistors, the little poll that the fan turns round is fixed to the main base and goes through the middle of the circuit board and there's some magnets somewhere in there as well.
Take apart a couple of fans from some old systems to get a feeling of how easy it is too too unglue and refit everything, it may well be doable.
I think probably the magnets are fitted around the central poll and there's two bits of metal stuck inside the fan cap.
experiment with loads of things to try and lift or lower the position of the fans on the pivot, hopefully some grease will do it, probably try some fan troubleshooting tips and tricks/FAQs and support forums from laptops. good luck

[viet cong zombi]

Obviously grease it before trying anything drastic.

[Marcos]

Originally Posted by viet cong zombi

Obviously grease it before trying anything drastic.

I'll report back tomorrow, thanks for tips

[5cupa]

i normally use clipper oil. got a big bottle from boots for like £3

[Timmy!!!]

Do not use WD40, it will do more damage to the fan. The viscosity of WD40 is all wrong, you need quite a thick oil to properly lubricate spinning objects. I would recommend the 3in1 oil that you can buy in a tin, its great stuff.

Make sure that you get an oil that does not change (much) viscosity with temperature change - seeing as it is in a laptop it will probably get pretty hot and therefore thinner.

[Butcher]

3 in 1 or a similar light mineral oil. I use silicone grease myself and it seems to work. Fairy is a nono, will dry out and make it worse. Olive oil would work, but it'll probably go rancid.

[Marcos]

Ok, I went with grease, since the fan's shaft is easy to access as it pulls out, it isnt a problem applying the grease.

It seems to have quietened the louder more recent noise, but its still croaking along a bit. I mean, if the noise was normal i wouldnt be bothered by it, but because i know this laptop was once silent it does bother me since i know this isnt right.

Here are photos i took while i applied the grease:

http://www.marcosmoreno.org/forums/images/laptopfan/

The fan's height is 8mm at the blades/outer edge, and about a total of 11mm max overall height. It has a strange design whereby the blades are offset, you can see it in the photos

Reckon i could just fix another fan in there? Seems a bit of a mission to get this one out in the first place, looks glued or something to the top of the heatsink. No evidence of a screw.

[Marcos]

Here is a vid clip with sound:

http://www.marcosmoreno.org/forums/i...n/MVI_3556.AVI

Ignore the loud clunks,