p6831fx fans stopped working

I was playing WoW and the system just shut off. I started it up and it shut off again pretty fast, so I wondered if it was a heat issue and then noticed that neither of my cpu or gpu fans worked. Shot the vents with some compressed air and a little dust came out, but the fans still don't work. I'm monitoring the temps with Speedfan, and the temps just shoot up to red.

Is it just coincidental that both fans went out at the same time, or could some other component be the issue?

I don't think it's a software issue, as the fans don't spin up on bootup. I don't remember if they did or not when the fans were working, but I read here that they're supposed to. Is there some software way to force the fans on to check to see if maybe it's a software issue? I am using WinXP.

My next move is to disassemble the system and put some external power to the fans to see if they work, but thought I would get some input here first.

 

As others have discovered here lately the fans have almost 0 torque so any dust that wedges itself into the fan will pretty much shut them down.

I recommend a partial disassembly and a good swapping with qtips to see what is clogging up the fans (before you burn up the motors)

Should just be dust though

 

I don't think that's the case. I blew it out with compressed air and not much dust came out. I had given it a good dusting before, and seen lots of dust come out. I took off the back cover and tried nudging the fan, but that didn't work.

 

Maybe it got stuck in the motor...when you blew the compressed air on it.

 

I'm not talking about dust that you can blow out of the unit. I'm talking about dust that has been "spun up" inside the fan so it wraps around its shaft.

Its espeically a horrible problem if you have pets as the hair and dander will suck up into your fans in a heartbeat, but it can happen with normal dust as well.

But hey if its not dust then you just have a slagged system and it sucks. Maybe you can find an external solution taht will keep your rig going. Before dismissing the idea why dont you check it out first before you take your rig apart completely

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=370130&page=2
(its amazing what you can find in your fans with a bit of probing)

 

I would try the above. I found a fan but it may not work.

http://www.laptoprepairco.com/itemdetails/itemdetails.asp?ref=1122&category=fan

 

thats definitely not worth $69.99... You should open up the whole beast and take a better look + qtip.

 

I appreciate the suggestion. I don't see any little dust bunnies (like in the photo in that post you linked) caught between the blades. Like I said, I took off the back cover that gives access to the CPU and have a clear view of the CPU fan. I haven't cracked open the case so I can't see the GPU fan that clearly. I'll try and poke around the shaft of the CPU fan with a wet q-tip, or can you actually remove the fan 'hub' to give access to its internal?