Question burning oil inside my laptop.

[Jake Joris]

hello, 2 days ago i oiled my laptop fan, but the oil spilled around. The fan is made from copper and it heats up. So now after 10 min my laptop was on, my room smells like burn oil. I opened the laptop twice and tried to clean the oil using isopropyl alcohol. There is no oil left but it still smells terribly when it heats up. What should i do?

 

[jay32267]

I don't think there's much you can do to eliminate the "source".....which is the oil in the laptop you can't get to....but I also think that if you haven't had any other problems yet....you probably won't.

 

[rubix_1011]

Most PC fans do not require oiling...and likely would be detrimental if you oiled them.

What made you decide to oil the fan? Many of these fans are ceramic or magnetic bearings and oiling them actually is very bad for operation and longevity.

 

[Jake Joris]

the fan was vibrating so i decided to oil it, and that helped.

 

[rubix_1011]

A vibrating fan could be due to dust buildup on the fan blades, something wrapped around the spindle or something else. By introducing oil, it will collect dust and cause the fan to wear faster and potentially seize at some point. So not only have you introduced a terrible smell into the room, you've also likely sent your fan on a path that will ultimately result in failure at some point in the future, most likely well before the usual failure window.

PC components are not like automotive or heavy machinery components - you don't just oil them for longevity. Most of them are designed to never require anything more than being cleaned by bursts of canned/compressed air and cleared of any debris.

 

[Jake Joris]

there was not dust, i took the fan apart cleaned it but the fan was still vibrating. so i oiled it, and now it runs perfectly.

 

[rubix_1011]

OK, sounds like you have it all covered.

 

[cats_Paw]

Honestly?
Cant you just get a new fan?

If you have a fan in a laptop that:
A) already had issues
and
B) you oiled and it spilled around.

I would presume that:

A) It will have issues again.
B) There is more oil inside the fan that will keep spilling around (in rather small quantities) due to centrifugal forces.

I would not want that in my laptop, A or B.

 

[Jake Joris]

i have a thinkpad x61s and fans are quite rare. There is no visible oil anywhere, but when the laptop heats up i have to open my room windows because the smell is awful. The oil was spilled inside the chassis not on the fan.

 

[rubix_1011]

I just conceded in this thread. Seems like Jake Joris already has the answers he wants, so there isn't a need to actually seek assistance, here.