Servicing Fan Motors - Which Oil To Use?

Soldato
Joined
11 Sep 2003
Posts
14,716
Location
London
Greetings! :)

Can someone suggest which oil I should buy to use on fan motors please!

I don't really have anything suitable in the house for this kinda thing apart from a bottle of Cod Liver Oil but that's probably too thick and I don't want my cat to start sniffing up my PC! :p

I've noticed how fans deteriorate over the years of active use, at first I thought this was mainly due to dust but having seen some Infrared Photography from an active computer I saw that the fan hubs/motors get pretty hot so I guess the oil dries out from the heat?

I've read a few people saying a few well placed drops of suitable oil can restore the fan to near new condition so wanna give it a go!

Thanks in advance for any pointers! :cool:
 
Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
2,168
Location
Netherlands
Sewing machine oil is the stuff you need. Should be available at any textile-type place.

Used some on my very noisy gfx card and it worked a treat :)

It's designed for high-speed moving parts so wont evaporate after a short time.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
11 Sep 2003
Posts
14,716
Location
London
Sewing machine oil is the stuff you need
Many thanks RevBillyG, I had a look online for that and noticed it was also suitable for use with Wahl hair clippers. . . which i own a set of and it jogged my memory about the clippers coming with a small bottle of oil, probably enough for 30-40 fans! :)

I thought you couldnt get to the fan motors??
I dunno?

If you peel back the label on a fan you get access to the hub where its possible to add a drop of oil! :cool:

servicingfanmotors.jpg


Seems to work well, now all I need to do is find a method to not damage the sticker when peeling it off and some way to get it stuck back properly? (or just leave the sticker off?)
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Dec 2008
Posts
2,692
Location
Burghead, Elgin
I'd just leave the sticker off Wayne, as it is the sticker on the backside of the fan right?

Also, it means if you ever need to oil them again you won't have to go through the trouble of removing the sticker to get access to the motor!

I think I need to oil one of my case fans, as it makes a strange noise everytime I power down my PC.
 
Back
Top Bottom