[andrewanimation]

Hello,

My computer has been louder than usual recently, and I thought it was a hard drive because it sounds like the chirping of a hard drive when it's very busy, but when I went to get the hard drive's serial number, I found that the noise was clearly coming from somewhere else. From this ASUS thing:

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...mation/fan.jpg

I'm not sure what it is. Can I get any recommendations for how to quiet the fan a bit? I proved the noise is coming from there because sticking a soft eraser into the left fan causes the noise to stop for a bit. It's very very loud. It's mostly continuous, but it fluctuates sometimes. When it calms down for a second, it's like ahh..relief. Then starts up again. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Thank you

[Krlll]

Nice pic.
The fan is the cooling fan for your graphics card.
See if you can possibly remove any dust that has gotten into it.Either by using a can of compressed air or if you are more adventurous by taking it apart and giving it a good clean.

It may be that the fan is on the way out and will have to be replaced but hopefully it is just dust.
I have in the past given noisy fans a new lease of life by taking them out,removing the sticker and spraying a tiny amount of oil(WD40) into the mechanism.I got another 6 months out of a noisy North Bridge fan by doing this.

[andrewanimation]

Thanks. :)
I'll try to get a can of compressed air ASAP and blow into the fan. I have a can of oil which I use on my bedroom door hinges when they get squeaky, but I'd like to avoid trying to take the fan out, if possible.

Right now I have a thin eraser stick (for mechanical erasers) lodged into the fan to keep it still, as it was just too annoying. I hope my graphics card will be okay with just the rightside fan (and every other fan on the machine) until I can find a can of air. I was thinking I might find that in Wal-mart, but please let me know of any other location I'm supposed to expect to find that in.
I shut my computer off every single night, so it only has to run 15 hrs straight at a time.

Thanks

[Krlll]

I wouldnt advise running it with the fan jammed.
It is bad for the graphics card to have less airflow and bad for the fans motor to be jammed like that.

[andrewanimation]

Okay, I took the eraser out again. Maybe I'll only use that method occasionally and temporarily.
Thanks

[Gazmondo]

Yeah, there is a chance you might permanently damage the fan you've jammed.

If you clean it out and still find there is a problem, stick a 3rd party VGA cooler on it, that is, if you have the knowledge...

[alex]

.....and if you don't have the knowledge, come here. We'll help you gain it.

[Gazmondo]

nicely finished off there Alex

[andrewanimation]

I just got a can of compressed air but I read up on it first, to make sure it's safe to use, and it sounds pretty scary, such as one site saying that spraying it into a computer fan can cause damage or 'back voltage.'

What's the proper way to clean the fan with compressed air?

And if I get a can of UM40 oil, how do I use that on it, exactly?

Again, here's the photo of my graphics card:
http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...mation/fan.jpg

Thanks

[Krlll]

To be honest im not sure what they mean by "back voltage" perhaps they are referring to cleaning the fan while it is running and making the fan spin in the opposite direction it is supposed to?

To use the oil you will you will have to remove the entire fan mounting from the graphics card then remove the noisy fan,flip it over and more than likely there will be a small sticker on the back to stop dust getting into the motor.
Remove the sticker and get some oil into the mechanism,rather that spraying it in I would advise you to use a cue tip I think americans call it and jsut dab some oil in there.
Do not use the oil you mentioned you use for hinges it is too heavy.
I use WD40.