[SOLVED] RTX 3070 fan lubing ?

[FranCal92]

Did anybody attempt to do fan relubing/manteinance?
I currently have a Palit RTX 3070 Gaming Pro (bought it in December), and I noticed the fans are getting a little more noisy.
For instance, the other day I pulled out the gpu from the case and spinned the fans by hand, and I noticed that they spin, but with some kind of "resistance", and now I'm a little bit worried. They do spin fine-ish, but I don't know if they should spin more freely...

This is the only information I could find about the fans: "Palit has installed three 95mm fans on the Palit Gaming Pro cooler which all spin in the same direction. The fans are branded as TurboFan 3.0 with dual ball bearings and this technology aids to reinforce fan stability. The new TurboFan 3.0 technology is also IP5X dust resistant and claims to lower the fan vibrations while prolonging the life expectancy of the fans. The fans also feature a 0-db Tech mode which turns off the fans when the system is idling or under a light load. Generally, we observed in our testing that the fans turn off below an operating temperature of 55o C. This keeps the graphics card quiet and also increases the life expectancy of the fans because they only spin when they have to."

 

[Furzumz]

Could you elaborate on the resistance?

It's common for some computer fans to have a slight "resistance" if you were to manually spin it or watch it come to a stop. And when its about to come to a stop you might see it rotate the opposite direction a little bit before it stops completely. Is that what you're referring to?

 

[FranCal92]

Could you elaborate on the resistance?

It's common for some computer fans to have a slight "resistance" if you were to manually spin it or watch it come to a stop. And when its about to come to a stop you might see it rotate the opposite direction a little bit before it stops completely. Is that what you're referring to?

Yes, that was exactly what I meant to say. I must say they look quite stiff compared to the pc case fans. Is it because of the "dual ball bearing" construction they have? Should I regrease them?

 

[Furzumz]

Yes, that was exactly what I meant to say. I must say they look quite stiff compared to the pc case fans. Is it because of the "dual ball bearing" construction they have? Should I regrease them?

Different fans can have different construction which can mean differences in the 'resistance' the fans have

I have a 2070 super that has a lot more of that resistance than my case fans for example

As far as whether you should grease it, that I'm not sure myself, I have 0 experience in that regard. It's possible the fans you have might not even be possible to lubicrate or lubricating them with something could possibly cause trouble. I know some fans you can potentially lubricate them but it depends on the fan

If it were me I'd leave it be and if the fan looks like its going out you can pick up new fans.

As far as the noise goes, the fans being slightly more noisy aren't necessarily signs of the fans failing . I've had fans over the years that got slightly nosier with time but they continued working for 6+ years without issue. If its a very substantial difference in noise or something that sounds very off it could be a indication of a fan problem but sometimes vibration can cause noise issues

 

[USAFRet]

lubing computer fans is almost never a good idea.
Especially on a device that is only a few months old.

Whatever you might put on there could interact with the existing lubrication. Make either gummier or more diluted.

 

[Jmi20]

Just wanna add to this, i broke many fans trying to take them apart to clean and lube the insides. Its not worth the risk.

many fans (mostly brushless i think) typically oscillate between some resistance and no resistance when you spin by hand, like when you spin it, it would feel tighter then loosen up, then tighter and loosen up again. I think its because of the magnets or something. So its kinda normal.

maybe its noisier cuz its spinning faster due to higher temps. Check your thermals.

 

[FranCal92]

Just wanna add to this, i broke many fans trying to take them apart to clean and lube the insides. Its not worth the risk.

many fans (mostly brushless i think) typically oscillate between some resistance and no resistance when you spin by hand, like when you spin it, it would feel tighter then loosen up, then tighter and loosen up again. I think its because of the magnets or something. So its kinda normal.

maybe its noisier cuz its spinning faster due to higher temps. Check your thermals.

Yeah, I figured gpu fans are more delicate than the case ones... I tried to take one apart from an old gpu and I destroyed it in 3 pieces, not worth the risk, as you said .

My thermals are really fine tbh, I must say this brand (Palit) turned out to be very solid, very well constructed.

I was a little bit worried because I use the pc a lot (mining, gaming, working) and the gpu is almost all day turned on, and the fans never stop spinning, the lowest rpm they get is 30% (around 1400 rpm). I might just do a dust cleanup after all.