Rear fan stopped working

[Lord Athlon]

Hi all

Ok so the rear fan (120mm i think)on my PC stopped working.All my connections are correct and my video card fan , CPU fan and PS fan are all working.The thing is , when i unplugged and replugged everything to see if it was a loose connection or something , the CPU fan didn't start immmediately after.It took a while before going on again and strangely enough , it only worked after i plugged the firewire cable ( we i think it's firewire , it's IE 99 something) into the MOBO (habitually this cable is never plugged but i tried it because i was out of options lol).Technically this shouldn't have anything to do with the CPU fan so i'm wondering if my PS isn't the problem here ? Also , when i start the PC , the rear fan move very very very slowly and then stop immediately after.It was doing the same thing with the CPU fan before it started working again but the rear fan seems FUBAR permanently.I'm still running the PC right now but with no side panel and there is no danger as my temps are OK but i know that i'm not going to be able to run like that all the time lol.

What do you guys think the problem could be ? If i ask it's because i don't want to spend on a PS if the problem is only the fan or vice versa.I bought the PC in 2004 and it worked 100 % fine until now.I'm not exactly a noob (but i'm no expert either) but i'm a bit puzzled by this.Btw sorry for my english , i know it's not perfect .

Those are my specs :

Athlon 64 3200 +
Asus K8V SE Deluxe Mobo
350w Antec Power Supply (that came with the Sonata case)
1 gig Corsair Ram
Geforce 6800 GT 256mb
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
1 X Seagate 250 gig SATA hard drive
1 X Pioneer DVD Burner
And yeah i know that it's an old dinosaur of PC but i'm waiting for the Peryn processors before upgrading .I still need this old goat until then though.

Thanks in advance

 

[cozumel]

Are you addressed as 'your worship' seeing how you are a lord?

Get an air-duster first and blow out any rubbish that may have accumulated inside the fans and at the same time you can clean out the rest of the internals the same way. Also try swapping out the troublesome fan with another to see if that is the cause.

 

[Lord Athlon]

Originally posted by: cozumel
Are you addressed as 'your worship' seeing how you are a lord?

Get an air-duster first and blow out any rubbish that may have accumulated inside the fans and at the same time you can clean out the rest of the internals the same way. Also try swapping out the troublesome fan with another to see if that is the cause.

Done that.
I clean my PC every month so dust accumulation ain't the problem otherwise i would have known it .I will go buy a new fan tomorrow and see if hopefully it's only the fan that is borked.If not then it's either my PS or my mobo.The PS wouldn't be a problem since i would this :
http://www.ncix.com/products/i...nufacture=COOLERMASTER

If it's the mobo then i'm in trouble because i sure as hell am not going buy another AGP mobo because it would be pointless.I'm not spending more than 50 $ for either a PSU or a fan and that's it .Hopefully a 15 $ fan will solve the problem........

 

[cozumel]

Can't you swap with fan from the front of the case before buying one? Or borrow one from a friend?

 

[robisbell]

too weak of a PSU.

 

[cozumel]

Originally posted by: robisbell
too weak of a PSU.

Yeah probably. It'll have lost power over the last 3-4 years that's for sure.

Just thought we should look at other possibilities first...

 

[cubby1223]

A 350W psu is fine for that system, *certainly* more than enough to power a few fans. Without the cpu and gpu under load, the 350w is plenty more than is required to power the computer and the fan. Heck, I've seen a 200W psu power a Pentium 4 system with a GeForce 6800 video card! And it was stable. When I saw it I convinced him to buy a new power supply, which he did, but doesn't change the fact that it ran perfectly before.

The simpler explanation is that fans go bad over time. They have moving parts that collect enough dust & dirt inside, there is too much friction for the fan to spin. Fans are cheap. Buy a new one, hook it up, and see what happens.

 

[corkyg]

Agree with Cubby. Fans simply go bad. Confirm the diagnosis by switching your rear fan with a different one. That will tell you if the mobo plug is OK. Always keep a spare fan or two in your tool kit.

 

[Lord Athlon]

The mobo plug is OK because if i try the CPU fan in the PSU fan plug then it works (3 pins)

As for the PSU , well i never had any problem with it and it was enough to power my system.I only have 1 HDD and 1 DVD burner aside from my video and sound cards so i don't think that there is too much load.However someone said that PSU lose power over time so maybe mine is starting to loose juice and cannot power my whole setup anymore ?? I wasn't aware that PSUs aged like humans lol........

 

[cozumel]

M'Lord.

You're a little bit vague in your response or maybe I am not understanding properly. But since 3 of us have now asked same question...

Have you swapped out the suspect fan with a known good case fan and plugged in to the same mobo header to check for correct operation?

Edit: Everything ages and loses efficiency...except me...I just get better and better

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: Lord Athlon
The mobo plug is OK because if i try the CPU fan in the PSU fan plug then it works (3 pins)

OK - then the solution is easy. Replace the bad fan.

 

[Lord Athlon]

To cozumel : No i haven't done that because i have no other fan at my disposition right now.

And there is a new plot twist to the story : The fan just started working again tonight lol !!!!
Now i'm even more confused as to what the problem is.It may be the PSU but i experience no other problems , no BSOD , no random reboots ect and all my other parts and fans are working perfectly.I even played a bit of BF2 last night with an external fan pointed toward my open case and had no issue at all.If i had a PSU problem , i would have other problems correct ?

Do bad fans have an habit of doing that ? By that i mean stopping working for a while and then coming back to life ?

 

[drebo]

Not normally, no they don't.

It's a bad fan and will need replacing, either now or in the very near future. The sooner the better, obviously.

 

[Lord Athlon]

Well , the fan still work today but it slowdown sometimes and it make a noise , almost as if the fan is farting or something.

I will go buy a new one this afternoon as i'm almost certian that the faqn alone is the problem now.

 

[cozumel]

Originally posted by: Lord Athlon
Well , the fan still work today but it slowdown sometimes and it make a noise , almost as if the fan is farting or something.

Well they are meant to make a wind just not of flatulating type.

If it's the cpu fan your replacing try and get a ball-bearing type as they are designed to operate while being subjected to high temps from the cpu. Sleeve type fans fail when the temps get too high but are quieter and only meant for areas of your case where the temps are cooler. (Horses for courses etc)

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: Lord Athlon
Do bad fans have an habit of doing that ? By that i mean stopping working for a while and then coming back to life ?

YES!


For the last time, replace the fan.

 

[bruceb]

Fan bearings do die. It is a given. Only a matter of time.
Also a decent fan is fairly cheap .. under $20 - $30 at worst.
All you need to know if it runs on 110VAC or on 5 or 12VDC
and how many CFM you want it to flow. And the physical size
for mounting purposes.

 

[cozumel]

If you compare two 1200rpm fans, one with sleeve and one with ball bearing, the sleeve bearing fan will actually outlive the ball bearing fan at 30c. The life of the sleeve bearing fan reduce significantly if the temperature is above 50 degrees, which is why most cooler fans used at high temperatures are ball bearing.

Here is a link to a pdf document with more info on the pros and cons of sleave and ball-bearing fans. Take note of what happens to sleave at high temps (above 45c). Sleave fans are great performing and quiet fans in instances where high temperature is not a factor.

Basically, imho, you should always carefully choose the most appropriate component for the job in hand including choice of fan. They cost about the same and both types are readily available.