Cooler Master fan makes an awful noise and stops??

[jamisonfawkes]

I'm not really all that tech saavy, so bear with me, but my Cooler Master CPU fan just started making a lot of noise one night. I figured it was because it's gotten dusty, but it got worse after I took off the side panel to clean it out. Now, not only does it make a terrible noise, but it just completely stops spinning at random frequently. I'm not really sure how, but is there any way I can remove it to clean out the bearings?? I'd want to clean the heatsink too, but I think the problem lies within the bearings because whenever I flick the fan to give it a quick spin, it rattles a bit. I'd really rather fix it myself instead of buying something.

 

[RealBeast]

I would turn the computer off and remove the HSF fan and examine it outside of the computer.

Usually those are a sealed type of bearing, not like wheel bearings on cars that you can remove, lube, and repack. But hey, you can give it a try with a little WD40 since your other option is to spend money. Just insure that it is spinning freely and still turns at an adequate speed so you don't have thermal issues. If the fan is not usable you can always just buy a new fan for a few bucks to attach in its place -- you don't need a whole new unit.