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My fan stopped working at 7V?

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Gordon Airport

Registered
For some reason, one of my 120mm radiator fans has decided to stop working at 7V (which it has for a year or so). It' fine at 12, however, and it doesn't help if I start it at 12 and switch down to 7. I don't see any obvious obstructions or anything....Can anyone think what would cause this, or how to fix it?
 
this happens with some fans cuz they dont get the power they need to got started... i have a really small fan (50mm) that i have to spin with my finger to get it to start at 5v... i cant think of any way to fix it... is the 7v thing a switch or a variable pot? if its not the switch then you can probably just set it to run at just over 7v where it will start on boot and not have it be much louder... thats all i can think of and i dont know why it would suddenly stop working:D
 
Could a heavier load or even a lighter load on either the +5V or +12V cause the 7V to the fan to be less than it used to be?

I noticed that one of my PSUs never lets the voltage to its fan go below about 7.5V.
 
core - That would fit...Don't know what to do about it though...

CrashOveride - I've had fans like that; that's why I said that it still doesn't work when I start at 12 and switch (using a switch, more or less instantly...less really) down to 7.

Stooges: I did replace my PSU recently, but it did work before and it doesn't now. I've tried it on a few leads that all measure 7V between 12 and 5. I can't think of anything that's changed.

Hm, how do I go about taking it apart :)
 
oh sorry i misunderstood you the first time Gordon Airport...

i would try oiling it like star said and if that dosnt fix it then make an adjustable thingy instead of a switch so you can go down to hwere its stops:D

(or you could just get a new one:D)
 
star882 has the idea.

I maintenance all my fans, and most of them are many years old. In some fans, the oil they use thickens and makes the fan harder to start, spin slower, and/or overheat (can cause fan meltdown).

Simple dissasembly(being careful of the tiny clips), thourough cleaning, and re-oiling will make the fan run almost as good as new. I've found the 6-in-1 oil (think thats what it's called) works real well. This is the small tin of oil everyone's dad seems to have laying around ;)
 
Okay, I'll clean it up as soon as I can find some oil. That's a good link on maintainance, I've started to take fans apart before but didn't keep at it when I couldn't see the clip after the sticker was off. It didn't occur to me that that was a plug and not part of the housing...
I also re-tailed it, figuring my miserable soldering skills could be adding resistance. There are only so many Y-splitters I've found to cut up, does anyone have a product number for four pin molex's like that? (I've tried finding them on those massive on-line catalogs and gave up because of the sheer volume of connectors and their arcane specifications.)
 
Once you get to the clips, be carefull. They're kind of delicate and VERY easy to lose :)

They're usually a thin plastic washer with one side cut through. Takes a bit of practice to get good at easily removing them.
 
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