[SOLVED] Fan bearing broke(?)

[floww123]

So I opened my pc case today to clean the dust off with compressed air, everything went well until I turned my pc back on.
One of the fans (not sure which one) is super loud now, it makes the case shake, I opened it again to check if there was something in the way of the fans or something that the blades could've been hitting but nothing, a quick Google search told me that the fans could be damaged if you aim the air at them making them spin faster than what they can handle(?), thinking back, I remember doing that to one of the fans. Now, how do I diagnose the problem and what do I do to fix it? I'm almost sure I know which fan is making the loud noises but I still want to be sure, also is it okay to have my computer on? The loud sound is worrying

 

[Ralston18]

I think you discovered the problem:

"a quick Google search told me that the fans could be damaged if you aim the air at them making them spin faster "

Very likely that the air blasts and over-spinning the blades caused damage to the fan. Bearings, deformed a blade, caused some imbalance, etc..

If the fan is not working correctly then the fan is not doing its job which is to carry away heat. Heat is not good for computers/electronics and many other things in general.

Diagnosis:

Use a long cardboard tube or rolled up piece of paper as an earpiece to listen to the fan and ensure that the suspect fan is indeed the source of the noise. Do so carefully and do not hit or bump any other components while listening.

Fix:

For the most part all you can do is replace the fan.

 

[floww123]

I think you discovered the problem:

"a quick Google search told me that the fans could be damaged if you aim the air at them making them spin faster "

Very likely that the air blasts and over-spinning the blades caused damage to the fan. Bearings, deformed a blade, caused some imbalance, etc..

If the fan is not working correctly then the fan is not doing its job which is to carry away heat. Heat is not good for computers/electronics and many other things in general.

Diagnosis:

Use a long cardboard tube or rolled up piece of paper as an earpiece to listen to the fan and ensure that the suspect fan is indeed the source of the noise. Do so carefully and do not hit or bump any other components while listening.

Fix:

For the most part all you can do is replace the fan.

Hello,thanks for your reply, I left the pc on for a couple minutes while looking at the fans, it's the case fan, the one in the back, it slowed down then stopped moving, the thing is the noise didn't go away, also when checking the wires it looks like the fan is connected to the psu and can't be unplugged which is weird because I bought everything separately and assembled it myself, any idea on what I should do?

 

[Ralston18]

Not the fan in the PSU - correct?

A damaged fan can be noisy - energy is being applied to make the fan spin. Fan, for whatever reason, will not spin and that energy must go somewhere....

Unplug the system, open the case, and use a bright flashlight to re-trace the fan wiring.

Take a couple of photographs if necessary and post accordingly.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2173703/post-images-tomshardware-guide.html

 

[floww123]

Not the fan in the PSU - correct?

A damaged fan can be noisy - energy is being applied to make the fan spin. Fan, for whatever reason, will not spin and that energy must go somewhere....

Unplug the system, open the case, and use a bright flashlight to re-trace the fan wiring.

Take a couple of photographs if necessary and post accordingly.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2173703/post-images-tomshardware-guide.html

Not the fan in the PSU - correct?

A damaged fan can be noisy - energy is being applied to make the fan spin. Fan, for whatever reason, will not spin and that energy must go somewhere....

Unplug the system, open the case, and use a bright flashlight to re-trace the fan wiring.

Take a couple of photographs if necessary and post accordingly.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2173703/post-images-tomshardware-guide.html

wait this is weird, I booted my pc rn and the noise is gone, but when it was starting up I saw a screen that looked like bios stuff, I wasn't sitting by my computer so I wasn't able to read anything, what do you think it is?

 

[Ralston18]

Gremlins....

That said:

Maybe a piece of debris jammed the fan but came loose. Or the unit was hot, cooled down, something contracted and connectivity or movement was restored.

All you can do is to keep an careful eye on things. Be sure that all data is backed up and verified to be recoverable and readable.

And do write down the full systems specs for your pc. Just in case.....

 

[floww123]

Gremlins....

That said:

Maybe a piece of debris jammed the fan but came loose. Or the unit was hot, cooled down, something contracted and connectivity or movement was restored.

All you can do is to keep an careful eye on things. Be sure that all data is backed up and verified to be recoverable and readable.

And do write down the full systems specs for your pc. Just in case.....

The gremlins thing made me laugh, I'll restart my computer to see if it happens again and I'll report back, thank you so much for your help and sorry for bothering, I'll report back in a second

 

[floww123]

Gremlins....

That said:

Maybe a piece of debris jammed the fan but came loose. Or the unit was hot, cooled down, something contracted and connectivity or movement was restored.

All you can do is to keep an careful eye on things. Be sure that all data is backed up and verified to be recoverable and readable.

And do write down the full systems specs for your pc. Just in case.....

Nope, everything seems fine now, also what's the best way to check if the psu fan is working properly? My psu sits on the bottom of the case so I don't have line of sight to it

 

[Ralston18]

Maybe just a small ribbon of some sort hung in the air flow.

Color, material, and placement where you can quickly determine if air is moving and the "ribbon"is fluttering.

You have probably seen air conditioners with ribbons on the back...

However I would not tie anything to the fan/PSU.

Maybe tape the ribbon above the fan and allow the ribbon to hang down.

Keep it simple and easy in case time and circumstances require readjustment.

 

[floww123]

Maybe just a small ribbon of some sort hung in the air flow.

Color, material, and placement where you can quickly determine if air is moving and the "ribbon"is fluttering.

You have probably seen air conditioners with ribbons on the back...

However I would not tie anything to the fan/PSU.

Maybe tape the ribbon above the fan and allow the ribbon to hang down.

Keep it simple and easy in case time and circumstances require readjustment.

Okay so, the psu fan is working as intended, just like everything else it seems, I ran some games to try to stress my pc a little bit and no problems came up, it's strange that the noise was there and then it went away without me doing anything, I wonder what may have caused that, thanks for your help and time!