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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside?
(I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? |
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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
micky,
Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? Theoretically ? Yes. Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. Consider this: When a fan rotates by itself it pushes itself *into* the 'puter ('cuz its blowing hot air out). When you put a vacuum cleaner to the outside of he case you're effectivily pulling its blades *outof* the 'puter. Which the fan is not really accustomed to ... Also, most fans rotate rather lazily (otherwise they make *lots* of noise), and when applying the right (or wrong :-) ) vacuum cleaner you can probably spin them up above what they are designed to. In short: its not so much that the blades will be ripped off (not much chance of that), but that the fans bearings will become damaged, possibly causing the fan to scew, getting wedged against a non-rotating part and refuse to rotate anymore. But also consider that those companies are mostly American, which tend to warn users for the most obvious things (like putting a sticker on knifes warning the user that the sharp edges might indeed be sharp), in an attempt to indemnify themselves in case some numbscull thinks its a good idea to use an industrial-strength suction device to "clean up" those fans. :-) Regards, Rudy Wieser -- Origional message: micky schreef in berichtnieuws ... Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? (I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? |
#3
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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
micky wrote:
Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? (I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? Your local computer store must love you. "Well, I just got this new fan from you on Tuesday. I was minding my own business, vacuuming the rug or something, and the blades just flew off the fan!!! I want my money back." ******* To be semi-serious for a moment, even cleaning a fan with a rag with solvent (isopropyl) on it, *can ruin the bearing*. I've done it. Some bearings on fans, have an internal spring to return the blade to home position. If you tug on the hub hard enough, you can dislodge the spring. You need to treat the thing like Royalty, if you're going to clean it. That means a little bit of solvent (to act as a dust magnet). Hold the fan blade from the back, so none of your pressure is transferred to the hub. And so on. To do a good job, in some cases you might want to remove the four mounting devices (screws or clips), and work on it outside the computer. Dells tend to be a little special, because they have a high-power (100CFM) fan as a blower on the CPU heatsink. And it doubles as a case ventilation fan. So Dell tries to do everything with the one fan. When the thermistor says the case is too hot, that five-wire fan can really speed up. And then it sounds like a vacuum cleaner. For one of those, you wouldn't think of being lazy and taking shortcuts. If you needed to clean it, you'd disassemble the shroud and take it outside the PC and work on it. While there are so-called "exact replacements" for fans like that (with the five pin connector), only one or two companies source them, so you could easily no longer have a source for them. Whereas a lot of other computer designs, any old replacement case fan would do. Your Optiplex might not be that bad, but before you become "abusive" with the fan, check on the Internet and see if a replacement fan for the 755 is even available. Paul |
#4
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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
On Mon, 23 Jan 2017 04:37:03 -0500, micky
wrote: Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? (I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? Almost impossible with a vacuum cleaner, but possible with a blower. A fan is a generator. If you spin it fast enough you can generate enough electricity to damage something. I use a leaf blower to clean my PC once a year, but I put clips on all the fans first so they won't turn. It has nothing to do with "bending the fan". []'s -- Don't be evil - Google 2004 We have a new policy - Google 2012 |
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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
On 1/23/2017 1:37 AM, micky wrote:
Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? (I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? I think the case fan is rarely the problem. I buy all my computers at garage sales. I've never, ever had a case fan that had a dirt problem. I've had MANY CPU fans 100% blocked with cat hair. If you think you've got dust, take it apart and blow it out with compressed air, concentrating on the CPU fan. You don't want it to spin. I stick a toothpick into it while I'm blowing on it. Yes, you can damage stuff if you use 200PSI. Don't do that. Just barely enough is plenty. |
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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
On 1/23/2017 4:37 AM, micky wrote:
Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? (I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? Theoretically, yes. Practically, no. I've cleaned computers, including their fans, with compressed gas, brushes and vacuums since PCs came into being and have yet to have a casualty and we're talking about literally hundreds of units if you include all of the smart terminals we used at my last job. If you were to have a fan die after a cleaning then it is far more likely that it was defective to begin with than that you damaged it. IMHO fans get ignored far too much (including by me) and people seem to do nothing with them until they totally die, possibly causing more severe problems, or at least until they start to sound like a threshing machine. I try to make a point of listening to my various fan-equipped equipment at least occasionally and running temperature-monitoring software on those that are amenable. With five serious PCs, a notebook, and a NAS box there a lot of fans that could go bad. |
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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
mike on Mon, 23 Jan 2017 04:20:19 -0800 typed in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.general the following: On 1/23/2017 1:37 AM, micky wrote: Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? (I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? I think the case fan is rarely the problem. I buy all my computers at garage sales. I've never, ever had a case fan that had a dirt problem. I've had MANY CPU fans 100% blocked with cat hair. If you think you've got dust, take it apart and blow it out with compressed air, Use the canned stuff. Don't take it into the shop and blow it out with air from the 120 psi line - with or without the inline oiler. -- pyotr filipivich Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing? |
#8
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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
micky on 2017/01/23 wrote:
Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? (I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? Fans should not be rotated (except by hand to check for bearing wear) other than under their own power. Spinning the fan not powered will generate a reverse magetic field that induces current that it may not be designed to handle. Use an ear swab (a long stemmed one if needed) to block the fan from spinning when you suck or pass air through it. Your computer fan is not a simple transformer but has electronics inside, like to generate a pulse to let the computer know the RPM of the fan. The fan also was designed for a maximum RPM simply because they are not that well balanced. You sucking or blowing air through the fan could result in it spinning at far greater RPM than designed to handle. You might get away with driving at slow speed with an out-of-round, separated ply, or unbalanced tire but what happens when you take it on the highway? Many fans have the blade hub simply pressed onto the spindle. There may be an indent in the spindle into which nubs in the fan will press in but sometimes it is just friction holding the hub onto the spindle. You sucking on the hub and blades could pull the hub out and cause it to whack against its cage, protector grid, or case. When doing a build, I always salivate on getting Noctua fans but they are just too pricey. Never use a non-computer vaccum to clean anything electronic unless you can guarantee that the vacuum (no part of it) touches the electronics. The air rushing into the nozzle and hose generate static electricity. There are computer vacuums but they have a price premium. And, no, I'm not talking about those cheap 1-battery keyboard dusters the size of a big Sharpie marker which aren't static protected, anyway. You already know about taking anti-static precautions when working inside your computer so why oblivious to using a vacuum there? Yes, you might be thinking you would only use the vacuum on the outside of the closed case but static shocks to the case have to go somewhere. While the case is (well, should be) grounded, high-voltage often tends to go where it wants instead of where directed. I've seen where a static shock to the case would power it off. That meant the surge somehow affected the logic on the mobo to cause it to power off the PSU. Don't use a household vacuum to clean your computer. Take it outside (when not raining or snowing) and use compressed air to blow out the dust. That uses more concentrated pressure than your vacuum can produce through its large hose and you also have better control. Since crud often builds up on fan blades (the velocity of the dirty air causes the crud, especially cigarette smoke and cooking oil), you'll want to use a cotton swab to wipe the blades. That will also get rid of imbalance due to the impacted crud. You can try to blow off the fans but canned air often won't have the pressure needed to blow off the stuck-on crud. You don't want to use excessive pressure, like from a compressor (which might be oiled), so just use canned air and ear swabs on the fan blades. Of course, when you take it outside (or, if you're lucky, under a vent hood) to blow out the fans, you might as well as blow out the heat sink on the CPU and GPU, through the PSU (both directions, and remember to block the fans from spinning), and everywhere else inside. Considering that users rarely blow the dust, lint, pet hair, and other crud from out of the computers or they have a particularly dusty or linty environment, you might need several cans of compressed air. I blow mine out at least once per year but usually twice (spring and fall). I have lots of carpet (would prefer hardwood floors), pets, and like the windows open during the non-winter months, and my old furnace sucks at filtering (I have to replace the fiberglass filter by disassembling a curved frame instead of buying pre-made replaceable flat ones). Where in the instructions for your vacuum cleaner does it say that its use is appropriate to clean out computers, TVs, or other electronics? Do you use your lawn mower to trim your hedges? |
#9
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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
micky wrote:
Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? (I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? Spinning a fan at 26,000 rpm is not good for the fan. They tend to violently explode. (Don't ask how I know this.) Always hold the blades or stick something in to hold the blades in place. |
#10
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Damage a case fan by vacuuming air vents from the outside?
On 01/23/2017 01:37 AM, micky wrote:
Can you damage a case fan by vacuuming the air vents from the outside? (I have a Dell Optiplex 775 with the original fan. ) It seems more than safe to me, but I happened to read the manual for a Noctua fan and it says not to use a vacuum cleaner or it may apply "excessive force to the fan". I find that hard to believe. I've pushed on the vanes of other 3, 4, and 5" fans and they don't bend at all with the kind of force vacuum cleaners exert. In fact I think they would be hard to break. Are Noctua fans more fragile than others? Hi Micky, A "fan" is also know as a "reservable generator". If you cause it to spin, you will create a current. This can damage any electronics on the fan's controller and/or damage anything the fan is plugged into. When I blow out fans, I will grab a blade to keep it from spinning -T I learned the above the hard way and yes I did know better. |
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