Safe to unplug case fans while system is running?

[KillrBuckeye]

I just switched to a new case, and I suspect the new case fans are a bit noisier than my old ones. I was planning on disconnecting the fans, one at a time (there are 3 of them) to see what changes it makes to the noise. Is it safe to do this while the system is running as long as I'm careful? 2 of the case fans are connected to headers on the mobo, while another is connected to a 4-pin molex from the PSU.

 

[jhanby]

It should be okay, as long as you leave the CPU fan running. If your careful, a few seconds wont harm anything.

 

[Th3 F4ll3n P1mp]

I always unplug and replug my fans while the system is running. Nothing gone wrong yet...

 

[Drinkyoghurt]

nothing wrong with doing that, frankly , I just did it 4 times today to clean them out but I didn't want to stop crunching SETI

I have done this TONS of times, your safe bud

 

[WarriorII]

It depends, on what I am not sure.

I have found, that in Windows, if you unplug something it may give a power spike to the system & shut it down.

I linux, this does not happen in my experience.

I find that going into the BIOS and staying there & doing what "tinkering" you need can be done without any problems.

But that's what I have found.

 

[pejsaboy]

I've never had problems with unplugging case fans, although All of mine are on a fan controller powered from a molex. I haven't used a mobo header to date

CPU fan excepted, of course...

 

[nd4spdbh2]

It depends, on what I am not sure.

I have found, that in Windows, if you unplug something it may give a power spike to the system & shut it down.

I linux, this does not happen in my experience.

I find that going into the BIOS and staying there & doing what "tinkering" you need can be done without any problems.

But that's what I have found.

LOL wtf that makes ZERO sence, unplugging a fan from a mobo will not cause any problems or shutdown windows.... unplugging your main hard drive will

 

[HDCHOPPER]

yes you can do it

it's best to have a med to heavy app up while doing so just to handle the spikes ( if one happens )

 

[NoodleGTS]

It's absolutely fine, I do it all the time. Case fans are okay, CPU fan shouldn't be stopped for more than a few seconds. I do it sometimes to try and isolate what is making the most noise in my system.

 

[JCD37]

My experience with them says: NO!
I shorted out a PSU while pulling out a fan...
Better use a fan controller (borrow one from a friend if u don't have one)

 

[KillrBuckeye]

I was able to do this without any problems. I successfully identified the source of the tonal noise (exhaust fan) and reduced its speed using a Zalman FanMate.

 

[Omsion]

I've done this in the past w/o issues as well.

 

[Jayws]

I was messing around with my fans a few days ago and while sliding a unit back into my case the red power wire got caught and cut. The system just turned off cold. I soldiered the wire back together and booted it back up just fine but it's just my habit as well as preference to turn my machine off before messing with anything.

 

[Drinkyoghurt]

My experience with them says: NO!
I shorted out a PSU while pulling out a fan...
Better use a fan controller (borrow one from a friend if u don't have one)

lol, how did you do that?

I even shorted my mobo(without knowing, put the amperage meter in paralell and shorted some stuff) and it all still kept running(no degradation from what i've seen)

if you have a crappy psu, then yes if you short it it might blow, but I cannot see how pulling a fan would short your system

 

[Sam__]

Yeah... you shouldnt get power spikes either if you have a good PSU.

 

[JCD37]

lol, how did you do that?

I even shorted my mobo(without knowing, put the amperage meter in paralell and shorted some stuff) and it all still kept running(no degradation from what i've seen)

if you have a crappy psu, then yes if you short it it might blow, but I cannot see how pulling a fan would short your system

When I pulled out the connector for the fan I think I touched smthing between the pins, cuz it made a big spark and next thing I know the system wouldn't get power anymore...I was using a really cheap PSU at that time (no-name PSU) so maybe that's the reason...

But hell, the electric spark was looking cool

 

[scornedlodas]

power spike

LOL wtf that makes ZERO sence, unplugging a fan from a mobo will not cause any problems or shutdown windows.... unplugging your main hard drive will

This is not true i to have experinced this problem, It's actually to complete bad for you system however doing this process repeatedly can cause a system malfunction i know from ecperince. It was actually with my first gaming rig, I was cleaning my fans posted in the bios and was being supper carful not to touch anything but my fan plugs using needle tiped twezers. But after unplugging my out take fan on the back of my case "AC Infinity AXIAL 1238, Muffin Cooling Fan, 115V AC 120mm by 120mm by 38mm High Speed" the system volts spiked by 15 then the the system crashed it worked fine after i reasembled it all till i forgot and did it again 4 months later and crashed the whole system. it cost $34.99 plus tax to order new ram because my ram died in the process.

 

[Nebulous]

This is not true i to have experinced this problem, It's actually to complete bad for you system however doing this process repeatedly can cause a system malfunction i know from ecperince. It was actually with my first gaming rig, I was cleaning my fans posted in the bios and was being supper carful not to touch anything but my fan plugs using needle tiped twezers. But after unplugging my out take fan on the back of my case "AC Infinity AXIAL 1238, Muffin Cooling Fan, 115V AC 120mm by 120mm by 38mm High Speed" the system volts spiked by 15 then the the system crashed it worked fine after i reasembled it all till i forgot and did it again 4 months later and crashed the whole system. it cost $34.99 plus tax to order new ram because my ram died in the process.

Holy "Return from the dead" thread Batman!

 

[Robert17]

Wonder if we could get a new emoji for Zombie threading?

 

[trents]

I've never had an issue unplugging fans but when connecting them hot I have had restarts. It probably depends on a lot of things like the ability of the motherboard to regulate voltage and the power draw of the fan or fans.