Great!
I hope more and more people see this and save themselves a lot of money. Especially with video cards. So often i read that the fan on their video card died and they couldnt find a replacement or the replacement cost so much. Quite often the video card fan can be repaired like you did yours. I know that i have repaired quite a few video card fans and some of these video cards cost $200, $300, and more, yet they have fans that wear out pretty fast.
Now there is a fix. I dont like to say that all fans can be repaired but i can say that i have repaired dozens of fans and i havent come across one that i couldnt repair, but i am sure there are some out there, especially the situation where the fan has been running and noisy for a long time in that condition. There is always the chance that the fan is just too far gone already. Sooner or later that will happen as my method is meant to work when a fan just recently becomes noisy, not when its simply too far gone.
Its nice to hear from people who try this and get their video card and other fans back running as they should!

I should point out, and i think i did in my original post, but if not, you can get powdered graphite at any auto parts store, most hardware stores and most big box stores. I dont suggest getting the liquid graphite as i find it too watery, get the powdered graphite because it has the highest concentration of graphite and its the graphite that works long term, not the oil, oil only works on a short term basis and eventually dissipates with heat.
Be careful not to overpay, the places i have mentioned are the places that sell it for just a couple dollars. Sooner or later the computer stores might start selling it but they might up the price, so go to the auto stores and get it cheap.

This is another matter altogether, but i have heard that you can go to auto stores and buy thermal grease real cheap as well. I havent tried that so i cant say anything about it one way or the other, just that i have heard people say that it works just fine on cpu's and such.

Hi Nork,

another update. Back on 8/31, I updated that I had to clean the clay out the fan and i was buying dry graphite. I cleaned and applied oil/graphite the next day. It seemed fine until 9/11 when I heard the fan again so I cleaned it better with a cotton swab and a few drops of oil. I did it twice. When clean I applied the dry graphite to three small drops of oil from a needle oil applicator and mixed it with a paper clip. It is definitely quieter than before and cooler too.

Great! I hope it works out for you and i hope that the clay is out of the fan workings.

I just put a very very small amount of oil in between the blades or wherever i feel the best spot is, sometimes its right near the coil. The point is that you want some oil and graphite to get in between the plastic and metal and sink down deep. I dont know the terminology of the parts, lol. Then i just "puff" in the graphite. The word "puff" is used because when you squeeze on the graphite powder it indeed comes out in a puff. Its a bit hard to control, thats why i mentioned in my original post to be careful, especially if the graphite gets on your clothes. To get graphite off anything but clothes use varsol or turpentine. To get graphite off clothes use the commercial products that you apply to spots on your clothes, that is your best chance, that i know of, to get the stain out.

Great Tut... NIce ..

Hey Nork,
I think using pencil "lead" was a really bad idea. The fan made noise again on 13-Dec-2009 so I cleaned the fan assembly, rotor and stator and reapplied oil/graphite again. This fix lasted 4 months. Maybe it will last longer after this time since each time I clean, I remove more clay. My fan vents were clogged up after 4months too. I'm thrilled to have a process to clean & revive my cooling system without spending money.

ya, the pencil lead is totally different from the graphite powder with the powder being much more refined so that its very slippery.
One nice thing is that i have used this method on a few fans on a few $300 and $400 video cards that were out of warranty. Saves a ton of money and keeps the cards out of the landfills. Whenever i do things i try and save, repair, re-use, whatever method i can employ to keep things out of the landfills. Furniture is SO easy to stain or paint, especially stain, and can so easily be made to look nice again. Its just that some people just dont realize they can do it, and cheaply too.
But thats another thread, lol.
On with the graphite powder!!
You know, i am getting emails from around the world on this graphite trick. Its really amazing how many people have read this and how many have taken the time to let me know they tried it, and, of course, it worked for them.
thanks

I need to change out my danger den hs for my 295gtx in the next few days. Before I measured the fan db @ 39db while at 100%. Before I change out my water loop ill try graphite with the stock fan and see what happens.

I've been repairing all types of fans for years, so after reading all of the success stories, I was eager to try this out for myself. I went and bought some Victor Graphite Lubricant; for more information, here's a link to it on Amazon:
amazon.com/gp/product/B003T2A970
although I got mine locally at an auto parts store.

I put a drop of 30 weight mineral oil and an equal amount of this graphite powder into two different ball bearing type CPU fans and they spin ok, but they now make a scratchy sort of sound, as though I had added sand to the oil. I've let them run for at least 1/2 hour and it hasn't improved. Is this the wrong type of graphite? Any other recommendations?

Thanks

Yes! Thanks for then info! The fan of my auntie's pc is like super noisy. Thanks!

I'm not sure about exactly what kind of graphite should be used but I would use a much lighter weight of oil. 30W engine oil is too thick, IMHO. I think you should use a light machine oil or 3-in-one oil or similar.

The CPU fan in my HP HDX18 starting chattering yesterday. According to the service manual, replacement requires removal of practically everything from the case, including the system board.

Do you have any suggestions for lubricating or otherwise helping it *without* removing it from the case?

Thanks!

Worked great! Been looking for a solution for a long while! Thanks

Tjpab - glad it worked. It will work with about 99% of fans. I have repaired some fans that almost wouldnt even turn. I have had some video cards mailed to me, repaired them and sent them back, one all the way to Great Britain!

DanielWilson - Sorry, im not here a lot and i didnt see your post. Some fans can be repaired without them leaving the case. The trick is getting at the round sticker, lifting it up and getting a wee bit of oil and a fair amount of powdered graphite in that hole you see after lifting the sticker. If you can do that while the fan is in the machine then all the better. If not you will have to take it out to repair it. In the case of a notebook theses fans are not that hard to get to but in most cases it does involve talking off the back cover of the notebook.


Best to pm me with any problems regarding fans so i can answer right away and then you can post the results here so others will see.

If a person goes to an automotive story and gets graphite powder and uses a small amount of any light oil and does it as per my instructions then its almost a guarantee your fan will be quiet once again.
I have to say that i have likely repaired close to 50 fans myself by now and i can only guess how many people have read this and done their own repairs. No matter what anyone says i know it works 99% of the time.
thanks

Any specific kind of oil? Would air tool oil work or is it too thin?

Air tool oil would probably work since I think its primary function is a carrier for the graphite. Automatic transmission oil probably would also work.

Hi,
I wanted to try this on my graphicscard fan, when I unmounted the fan from the metal cooler and peeled off the stickers, I noticed there wasn't any hole or seal covering a hole. The backside of the fan just shows plastic and near the sides a few openings where you can see parts of the internal circuit board.
So here I am wondering on how to open up this fan, as there doesn't seem to be a way to reach the motor (at first sight).

Thx for your advice