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clean a computer system fan

How to clean a computer system fan

 

Cleaning a computer system fan, whether it is a CPU fan, case fan, or power supply fan, requires some care and the right product. Below, are the steps and suggestions for cleaning the fans within your computer to help keep your computer running cool and efficiently.

Caution: While inside the computer, make sure it's off and that you're familiar with ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD) and its potential dangers.

Caution: When cleaning a PC fan, it is best to make sure the fins of the fan do not spin. Keep the fins in place while using canned air or the vacuum/duster. This will help prevent damage to the fan and make it easier to remove the dust from the fan.

Clean fans with compressed air

First option for cleaning computer fans, or any computer part in general, is by using canned air designed for electronics. This type of canned air is designed to be static free, helping prevent damage to computer components. Static can be hazardous to computers, causing damage and failure. Using canned air made for cleaning electronics is the safest approach, as well as the cheapest.

Tip: When using compressed air try to position the computer in a way that helps the dust and dirt escape the computer and not just move somewhere else in the case.

Clean with electronic vacuum

The second option is using a small electronic vacuum or electronic duster. These devices are designed to reduce the chance of static generation or discharge, helping protect electronics like canned air for electronics.

Caution: Use caution when using a vacuum that plugs into the wall. These vacuums generate ESD, which could damage your computer. Whenever using these types of vacuums, remove the fan from the computer.

Damp cloth

If the computer you're working on is in around a smoker, the fan may look like the picture shown in the picture on this page. In this situation, it's usually best to moisten a cloth with water and rub the fan down. We also highly recommend removing the fan from the computer when using a damp cloth.

Steps in cleaning

Once you've decided what you're going to use to clean the fans open the computer case and locate the fan you wish to clean. In most situations, you're going to need to remove the fan so that both sides of the fan can be cleaned. If the CPU fan is connected on top of a passive heat sink, it must be removed to access the dust on both sides of the fan and dust in the passive heat sink.

 

 

Once the fan has been disconnected from the computer holding the fins of the fan in place with your fingers or placing your finger in-between the blades either blow the dust away using the compressed air or suck up any dust using an electronic vacuum.

Fan

A hardware device that keeps the overall computer or a computer device cool by circulating air to or from the computer or component. In the picture to the right, is an example of a fan on a heatsink.

How to remove a computer CPU fan

Removing a computer processor fan from the computer is a relatively simple process and may be necessary to clean the fan or to replace a bad or noisy fan. Below, are the steps required for removing most computer processor heat sink fans.

Caution: While inside the computer, make sure it's off and that you're familiar with ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD) and its potential dangers.

Removing any covering

Before removing the heatsink from the processor make sure the processor is visible. If any duct or ventilation system is above the CPU it must be removed fist. In the below picture, is an example of a processor duct system in an OEM Dell XPS computer. The fan for this computer's processor and the duct will not be visible until this is removed from the computer.

In the case of this computer, the duct system can be removed by pressing in on the clips and pulling the duct away from the case and the processor. After the duct has been removed the computer processor and the heat sink should be visible.

Disconnect the fan

Before disconnecting the heat sink fan from the computer it must be disconnected from the motherboard or its power source. A two, three, or four pin power cable should be connecting the fan to the computer motherboard. Locate where this cable is connected and disconnect it by grabbing on the connector end and pulling up on the connector.

Caution: If the connector is accessible, do not pull the wire by the cable. Instead, disconnect the cable by pulling on the connector end. Pulling on the wires may loosen them from the connector.

Unclip the heat sink from the processor

After the wire fan has been disconnected from the computer locate the clip holding the fan to the processor. In the picture to the right, is an example of what this clip may look like. In this example, inserting a screw driver into the small hole and gently pressing down and away from the processor will unlatch the heat sink.

Tip: With some computers the fan may also be screwed into the heat sink. If you see screws on the heat sink and you only wish to remove the fan, unscrew any screws and disconnect the fan instead of unlatching the heatsink. All of the below steps can be skipped if the fan was able to be removed this way.

After the clip holding the heat sink in place has been unlatched the heat sink can be pulled away from the processor.

Caution: Do not pull hard, the heat sink should be able to be removed with very little upward force. In some situations the Thermal compound or thermal pad that allows the heat to be transferred to the heat sink may have a strong hold preventing the heat sink from being removed from the processor. This can almost always be overcome by gently twisting the heat sink while pulling up.

CPU

Alternatively referred to as the brain of the computer, processor, central processor, or microprocessor, the CPU (pronounced as C-P-U) was first developed at Intel with the help of Ted Hoff in the early 1970's and is short for Central Processing Unit. The computer CPU is responsible for handling all instructions it receives from hardware and software running on the computer.

In the below picture, is an example of what the top and bottom of an Intel Pentium processor looks like. The processor is placed and secured into a compatible CPU socket found on the motherboard, and because of the heat it produces it is covered with a heat sink to help keep it cool and running smoothly.

As can be seen by the above picture, the CPU chip is usually in the shape of a square or rectangle and will have one notched corner to help place the chip into the computer properly. On the bottom of the chip are hundreds of connector pins that plug into each of the corresponding holes on the socket. Today, most CPU's resemble the picture shown above; however, Intel and AMD have also experimented with slot processors that were much larger and slid into a slot on the motherboard. Also, over the years there have been dozens of different types of sockets on motherboards, each socket only supports so many different processors, and each has its own pin layout.
In the CPU, the primary components are the ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) that performs mathematical, logical, and decision operations and the CU (Control Unit) that directs all of the processors operations. Over the history of computer processors, the speed (clock speed) and capabilities of the processor have dramatically improved. For example, the first microprocessor was the Intel 4004 that was released November 15, 1971 and had 2,300 transistors and performed 60,000 operations per second. The Intel Pentium Processor shown on this page has 3,300,000 transistors and performs around 188,000,000 instructions per second.

Note: Many new computer users may improperly call their computer and even sometimes their monitor a CPU. When referring to your computer or monitor it is proper to refer to them as either computer or monitor and not CPU.

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