Weird, annoying fan issues.

[Toilet Duck]

I recently got around to building a new comp, but some kinda... odd.. .issues are cropping up.

Antec SLK-3500 (I think? Maybe it's 3000.. ARGH. It's the standard mid-sized, 2 120mm fan ports case with a removable HD cage and rails to put yer DVD/CD etc. on for easy removal. I can't remember the exact designation because I have a strikingly similar case for my old comp. The major differences are that the old one didn't have the removable HD thing, and the new one's side panel has some vent-like port low on the side and another circular one they dubbed "CPU vent" higher up).

DFI-Ultra D Mobo

1 "stock" Antec 120mm Tricool fan - Rear (assuming it's Tricool due to the, uh, three speed settings white toggle thingie)

1 generic Antec 120mm fan - Front (currently removed)

1 ultra generic Antec 82mm case fan - CPU (More on that later)

As you can see, my fans are a little... quirky. Well, I suppose first thing's first. I had/have a Panaflo 92mm I intended to mount on the XP-90 inside this comp. However, whenever I mounted it/plugged it into the CPU fan 3 pin connector, it just wasn't spinning. Well, not fast enough. I mean, it would "lock up" and sorta jitter quite often, and only tapping it gently would get it to spin. Brand new fan, by the way. I tried switching it to the mobo's "Fan 2" 3 pin connector that's conveniently located next to the CPU one. Same issues. I went into BIOS and set it to run fans at full speed if the temperatures broke some ridiculously low amount, like 35 celsius. It still refuses to spin at anything resembling acceptable speeds.. so slow, in fact, that BIOS reported it as turning "0 RPM" at all times when connected to either of the two connectors.

Annoyed and marginally worried, I rummaged through the Box of Comp Crap and located an 82mm case fan (4 pin connector) that would fit on the heatsink. Plugged it in and things have been pretty peachy. Not "too" loud, runs full speed all the time, keeps temps sub 40c no matter what I'm doing, and 31ish idle (i.e. nVidia nTune's Monitor is saying my CPU is 29c and my System 35c... although I've always been suspicious of it). Nontheless, I'd like a more... errr.... trustworthy and well-built fan.

Now, on to the front panel fan. It's currently removed, while also being brand new. Why? Because, after plugging it into the "Fan 4" connector low on the motherboard, the thing would do nothing but run at full speed. It wasn't screaming or anything, but it was getting pretty loud. Of course, this was a generic Antec 120mm, not a variable speed one like I'm about to get to, but I was under the impression I'd be able to adjust it's speed via bios or something. However, only CPU fan/Fan 2/Chipset Fan are listed in bios... blargh.

Finally, the stock rear fan. I don't know how old this case is, or how long it was sitting in some warehouse somewhere, but the fan seems to have gone sour. The variable speed white... dangling thing works fine, as I can switch speeds on a whip and tell that it's working. The problem is that, after a seemingly random period of use, the fan will begin to "roar". Now, it's not a painfully loud roar. I'd compare it to, uh... say, when the Raptor inside this thing decides to start working. Only, this is permanent. Lowering the speed settings has no effect. I checked the mounting/power cables to see if anything was making the rattling, and everything is snug. Oddly enough, when I touched the center of the fan, it could be "pushed" back in (or, rather, back towards the rear of the case) maybe 1/2 of an inch, and felt sorta floaty. Pushing it back in also caused the roaring to cease.. However, this morning I awoke , noticed my chipset fan or something else was making quite a bit of noise, popped the side of the case off and poof, the fan wasn't even spinning. Touched it, and it went back to it's regularly scheduled duties. I upped the speed to medium just to be safe for the time being.

So, long spiel aside, that's that. I have a rear fan that seems to be dying, a case fan as my CPU fan, and no front panel fan because the one I have is too freakin' loud. So, now for the questions: What.. uh.. is going on? Am I just unlucky? Could something have happened to my BIOS/Mobo that would cause the CPU Fan/Fan 2 to stop sending juice to fans? Is my rear fan dying, or is it just being quirky? Do they make a variable speed fan that connects to a 3 pin connector?

The Panaflo thing really bothers me. I've heard people mention they were quite good fans, but having one not really spin up on two seperate mobo ports indicates to me either A) fan control stuff was fried by me plugging in the mobo incorrectly once (albeit every other facet of the comp is 100% peachy) or B) I just got a bad fan. The front fan is just an issue of getting one that isn't going to be obviously loud and perhaps has adjustable speed... and the rear one just seems to be a case of old-fan-dying-syndrome.

Anywho, any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[wwparrish]

"I went into BIOS and set it to run fans at full speed if the temperatures broke some ridiculously low amount, like 35 celsius. It still refuses to spin at anything resembling acceptable speeds.. so slow, in fact, that BIOS reported it as turning "0 RPM" at all times when connected to either of the two connectors. "

" and 31ish idle (i.e. nVidia nTune's Monitor is saying my CPU is 29c and my System 35c... "

You system is running very cool, my best guess, and thats all it is, is that the 35C setting was not low enough to kick in the the "full speed" of the panaflow and it was still not getting enough voltage to start. Try 25C or disable the variable fan speed control in the bios is possible. This is just to check out the theory. It appears it will be a bit tricky to find the temp setting that would make the panaflow happy during normal operation.

 

[wwparrish]

On your other fans, sounds like some lubrication is in order. They could be gonners but a lot of times the lubrication has dried out. Peel up one side of the sticker up that is on the fan (feel first, you should feel in the middle where the hole for the fan shaft and thrust bearing are under the sitcker) , you should see the little metal or fiber washer and end of fan shaft, tilt the case or lay the fan on a table so this internal metal bits are pointing up as much as possible and put ONE drop of any motor oil (10W-30, 30w, etc) on the washer/shaft and rotate the fans blades some, let it sit for a minute to let the oil soak in before running the fan full speed. try not to get oil on the hub where the sticker was stuck down, as that will make it hard to restick it back, use some rubber cement or any handy glue to put the sticker back. It needs to be stuck back as it acts as a dust cover. DO NOT use 3 in 1 oil or other low quality light oil, they evaporate and you will be right back where you started in a week. You can also cut the hole out of the sticker with an exacto knife and cover it with a sticky "price dot" you can get a walmart etc . or even just a piece of tape.


Its worth a try. I have about a 75% success rate. If after this it still makes noise, doesnt run right its pretty much just worn out and is junk.

 

[Toilet Duck]

Problems solved. CPU fan wasn't reporting RPM because I apparently bought the Panaflo 92mm case fan, not the CPU fan. 2 wires on the 3 pin connector instead of 3. Rear fan went quiet after I moved the case around a little / gently pushed down on the back of it / left it set at medium speed. Front panel fan was roaring because the Fan 4/5 connectors on a Ultra-D are not temperature controlled, so it was being forced to go 2000RPM (eep).

So, get a Panaflo CPU fan, keep a wary eye on the rear fan, and either A) Ask if you guys know of a brand of 120mm with a looong 3 pin wire or perhaps some form of wire extension, or B) Get an Antec TriCool like on the back of the case, figure out some way to route the 4 pin connector down (I think I have a free one tucked away under the floppy drive).

Anywho, thanks for the help. My stupidity knows very, very few bounds.