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Posted by trancaholic on Mar-04-2002 06:39:

A wasp in my computer

I'm having a bit of a problem with my six months old graphics adapter - or rather with the fan attached to it. When the machine has been on for a little while, the damn thing start making noises, a bit like a wasp trapped in a matchbox, or a mouse (unsuccesfully) trying to start its old motorbike.
Just about the most anoying sound in the world, and I'm on the brink of returning it to where I bought it if it wasn't for the fact that I'd be without a working computer for weeks. So I thought I might be succesful in applying a drop of oil to the noisy bastard instead, but I don't know if that might destroy something in the inner workings of the fan?
Just about the worst thing imaginable would be a ruined graphics adapter, that I can't get fixed by Asus because it's been greased in oil on purpose. So I would love to hear if anybody have experiences with this kind of thing?

Posted by ABTsportsline on Mar-04-2002 06:43:

i agree with you AGAIN.

LoL. no, i've never heard of that before, but i know how those damn danish wasps can be

-ABT-

Posted by nrjizer on Mar-04-2002 07:48:

the only thing that makes noise in a computer is the fan (unless you have one of those clunky old hardrives that clicks as it loads stuff)

its likely dust. If you dont clean dust out of your pc every once and a while, it will build up, screwing up chips and clogging fans (making them noisy in the process). Theres a 90% chance this is your problem. Go out to any computer shop and get a can of compressed air. Open up your case, and use it to blow dust off your chips/fans. I do this every month or so. This also helps keep heat down and makes your pc last longer because all the chips arent coated in crap (bad for em!).

The only other thing it could be is your fan vibrating up against something, or your fan blade is a bit screwed and the blades scrape along the side of the fan. If your half decent with a screwdriver, you can screw off the little fan and put some thin rubber washers between it and the card. If you think the blade is scraping the side, just try nudging it back into position.

Just dont blame me if you screw something up

Oh, and do NOT put any oil of any kind on your fan! All computer fans are ball bearings, oil wont help it very much, and it probably will screw up your card.

Posted by trancaholic on Mar-06-2002 09:32:

nrjizer: Thanks for the detailed advice. I will try to get hold of a can of compressed air tomorrow, although I fear the "what's he talking about"-look I've encountered in previous discussions with shop assistants in the computer shops around here.

ABT: You're a madman!

Posted by biznology on Mar-06-2002 14:37:

you have a rich, powerful and old white guy from circa 40s era America in your computer? i know its a bad joke...late/

Posted by ck1121 on Mar-06-2002 15:06:

the fan attached to your grpahics adapter is most likely slightly off-center... I know it's extremely annoying... I have a pentium II 300 in the other room and the fan attached to the cpu went off center and made a constant buzzing sound... well as you know those aren't exactly expensive anymore so I just unplugged the damn fan and it's been running for the last year without a cpu fan heheh... but there isn't much you can do short of replacing the fan sorry... if you really need the grpahics card you could spend a couple bucks on a 12 volt fan and mount it somewhere near the card to ventilate it.... or just get a new card.. hehe

Posted by trancaholic on Mar-11-2002 19:30:

quote:
Originally posted by ck1121
...or just get a new card.. hehe

Nah, the card cost me the equivalent of $500 so I'm expecting a little more than 6 months of duty from it.

I did manage to get hold of some of that compressed air (and it's actually kind of funny to spray around), although - as predicted - the local computer shops didn't know what I was talking about. Thank God for independent electronics shops run by old excentric geezers. Well, to cut a long story short, me, my newly acquired air and a couple of home made rubber washers (what is it with availability of gadgets in this town) managed to fix it.

Thank you so much nrjizer!

Posted by Rostros on Mar-11-2002 21:54:

i think BIN LADEN IS HIDING IN YOUR PC

Posted by sothis on Mar-12-2002 16:41:

quote:
Nah, the card cost me the equivalent of $500 so I'm expecting a little more than 6 months of duty from it.

youd be surprised.

i built a brand new computer in august, and 6 months later, already had select pieces of the hardware ass out.