Any ideas on how to clean properly the PC fans, they kinda starting to grind.
Thanks

You can get one of those PC compressed air dusters. They work nice. They don't get off the deep dust but they got off the majority.

And you can always wipe the blades off with a damp towel.

Just be careful to unplug everything and make sure you have grounded yourself.

Use a vacuum cleaner, I do, and it works a treat. No point in blowing dust around your room.

I recently pulled a fan out my case and canned aired it as well as I could. Then after that I peeled back the sticker to get to its little circuit board (couldn't see the motor, the board blocked it) and I sprayed in some Duratrax Powershot in there. When I hooked it all back up it still worked.

I remember not so long ago the idea of using a vacuum cleaner popped up.

2 coms down w/ same problem.

Perhaps he removed the fan, like I did.

I always use a full size vacuum cleaner and never ever had any problems. It's no different than having air blowing onto your equipment, except that the airflow direction is reversed. It also gets rid of the dust to where it won't return. Blowing is bad, especially if you suffer from dust allergy. I do recommend loosening the dust first by using a paint brush before vacuuming it up. Of course, I am not going to contradict Storm's post, which is based on well known phenomena (air moving over a non-conductive surface can cause static to build up, but not when your equipment is earthed). Also, when your vacuum cleaner has a hose, then there is no electromagnetic field anywhere near your components (except that all current flow is accompanied by an electromagnetic field, so escape is impossible ). Suffice to say I will continue to use a vacuum cleaner whenever I clean my equipment. After several years, I've yet to encounter any problems from doing this :=).

Full sized Vac is much different than what I was refering to in that thread. I was talking about micro-vacs, because they produe an EM field which is strong enough to damage some components. A full sized vac is different sice the motor is not being placed inside the case and near sensitive components.

Thx for the tips guys, one more question, how do you stop the grinding?
As for you guys who use the air can on the fans, consider other methods scince the air can has high power, and when you blow directly on the fan, it makes the fan spin at a greater speed than it was intented to, so it might screw up the ball beraings inside..

have you ever oiled your fans i do them with sewing machine oil every two months. recently my housemates pc started to make noises so i removed the fans and peeled back the stickers placed a few drops of oil into it. they are now running fine if you want to double your fans lifespan do that before you put them in. also use a painters brush to clean the blades. only my $0.02

Nic,

I think I am going to give the Vacum cleaner a shot next time I need to clean my fans

Thanks

Vacuum cleaner here...just take off the head and hold the tube dead-level at the fan and it works great for mine...never had a problem...

Ahhhhhhhhh, you learn something new ever POST.

I'd never thought of oiling the fan.

Why is that aerosol air so dear? You can buy spraypaint, CRC, etc for a third if the price of what is virtually an empty can...

The mysteries of life...

Oiling most of those fans does nothing but make it easier for dust to stick to the fan. Most of them have sealed bearings. This means they are packed so they cannot be oiled or greased.
Also, whatever you do, never use a penetrating oil such as WD-40 or Liquid Wrench. This will break down the grease in the bearings.

I have used sewing machine oil on all mine and my friends fans for ages, and because of how fine the oil is i can usually speed up the fan and stop it from grinding. you can just peel back the stickers and see either a small hole or a black plug. just drop some oil into the hole or remove the black plug then add some oil. replace the plug and sticker. one thing to remember is that although you have oiled your fan it might not have reached the bearings yet. turn it upside down(sticker up) and run the blades around for about 2 minutes. allowing the oil to run into the bearings then hey presto you just oiled your fans.

I clean them almost the same way. I use wd-40 to break down the already existing oil and use distilled water to rinse out the fans and add new oil.

I do this about every other month and also make sure that your running the fans at the default voltage. I know many of you might have fan controllers but the problem with those is that fans are more sensitive to break down at lower RPMs then they are designed for. If you want your fans to sound quiet buy dampening material or scoop design fans that are able to run at lower RPMs but still move the same amount of air like Sunon

nice to see someone knows how to clean there pc. maybe i am about to ask a stupid question but what does distilled water do?.

Distilled water is free of any minerals. Water in itself in pure molecular form is non conductive, distilled water is that (afaik) and therefore won't cause any 'buildup' on the electrical components.
I think in theory you could submerge your mobo in pure water and nothing would happen, but the problem occurs when water contacts impurities such as dust and then becomes conductive, and that = bad.