How To: Maintaining Your PC

How to oil a fan?

a.> You need to get access to the motor side of the fan, which will be covered with a sticker.

b.> Unscrew the finger guards on the back of your PSU, get off the that metal finger guard.

c.> Now, carefully peel back the sticker, if you damage it, no problems, you can replace it with a tape.



d.> Small fans often seal the bearing with nothing but the sticker, larger ones should have a little round plastic cap under the sticker.

e.> The fan on this image, has a rubber cap, so it's easy to remove it.



f.> You can now, see the bearing inside; this example has a ball bearing.

g.> You know what to do now... oil it.



What kind of oil? Any type of light oil should be okay, something like this or any other sewing machine oil, or technical oils, used for bicycles, anything.

Source: link.

WARNING: Bla bla, but I don't assume responsability, if you screw up, destroy your fans, only to that if you really know what you need to do, and you feel yourself capable of doing. I can't be hold responsable if you damage anything, and of course unplug your system before doing the procedure.

Guys, what I'd like to see in this sticky is short how-to's for performing standard maintenance tasks.

For getting dust out of your box, you can buy the usual spray cans at about ~$3.00 a pop, or if you happen to have an air compressor, or even an airbrush compressor, you can usually blow away harmful dust.

If you have a powerful compressor, try to make sure you dont get too close to internal parts, you don't want to destroy or bend them, use your judgment. Dust collects a lot on the fans, apparently its ok to make them spin backwards.

If your air intake uses a filter (recommended) make sure to clean/replace it regularly. Some types can be washed off with water, just make sure its completely dry before you put it back in.

nice necro. it's ok to make fans spin backwards, as long as they are not powered on at the time! a soft brush is great for loosening dust without damaging anything. madhyena's english has improved since sep last year

Use cable ties as much as possible. They greatly improve air flow and makes everything nice and tidy for when you want to replace or clean a part.

i llke to use twist-ties as they are easy to remove & then reattach. cable ties need to be cut & replaced with a new one. the only danger of twist ties is that they have metal in them so keep them away from mobo, hdd circuit boards, graphics board, etc to prevent shorts. cable ties are safer for noobs to use