Rattling Fan 2.0

It seems my GPU fan is rattling when my PC is running trivial programs like email, internet, and Word. When I play Fallout 4 the rattle goes away. As this doesn't make sense I removed the the fan cover while my PC was on to be certain that's where the noise was coming from. It was. I couldn't see any wobble in the fan and I powered down my machine watching the fan. All looks good. Fan spins fine without power. I keep it clean, cleaning it at least once every other month.

What could cause this? Is there a solution besides buying a new fan? Apparently BBoBBo had the same problem starting about the same time making me think there may be some sort for update causing an issue.

I've read that clicking noise in the GPU area can be the laptop switching from iGPU to dGPU but my machine should be configured for max performance, all dGPU.

 

It would be helpful to know which machine you have.

 

Oops. I'm running a Sager NP9150.

 

Sounds like it's slightly misaligned or lacking grease. At low rpm that may be an issue, whereas high rpm can stabilise it by centrifugal force alone. Try checking the type on the sticker; if it's a ball-/ or sleeve-bearing you can pull off the plastic fan blade and add some vaseline to the axle. For a maglev type this will not work, so you'd need a replacement or, possibly, merely bend the axle straight again.

 

I have the maglev type of fan. For this machine (NP9150) the axle is steel and doesn't seem bent nor can I think of anyway it could have become so. My only thought is one of the quadrants of the maglev fan base isn't firing properly. I could see how that might cause a wobble. I'm not sure how to test that other than buying a new fan. I was thinking about the one l linked below. It looks the same and it states that it fits a Clevo P150EM (same as a sager NP9150). Thoughts?

http://www.amazon.com/Eathtek-Clevo..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0SS9Z9R7RBFF2K7Y8PVX

 

A defective coil makes sense. Re-soldering the contacts could help then. Bit odd there's no visible wobble, but since 1,000 rpm is 'barely running' (at 17x/sec.) perhaps it shouldn't be that surprising.

That replacement will work and is also quite powerful. It's not a maglev, so it might be a bit noisier than the old fan ... well ... except in its current state, of course .

 

Unfortunately there is nothing visibly wrong so the only solution I can come up with is to replace the fan.

Couple questions. How do you now this is not a maglev fan, is it because it's made by A-Power and they don't make maglev fans? It appears they are the only ones making fans now so that fan is my only option. The only thing I can change is who I buy it from. My second question is do I need thermal paste for this replacement (GPU fan on a NP9150)? Some sellers are including it. The only place they could add it would be between the case and the fan. Seems strange but I don't want to pull out the old fan and realize I'm unprepared to put in the new one.

Thanks!

 

Clairvoyance ... (and the part nr. is listed on their site, designating it as 'sleeve-type' ).

You don't really need to replace the thermal paste unless you had to remove the heatsink first in order to swap the fan. But if so; search this forum and youtube for guides (there's tons). It is always good to do so once a year on a gaming/cad system anyway. Except if loud fans don't bother you, of course.

 

Most notebooks require the whole heatsink to be removed to get to the fan, clevo/sager see sense and don't force you to in this chassis however

 

Careful with that clairvoyance. It can be tricky to use sometimes. Apparently at least some of the Power-A fans that are labeled "sleeve" bearings are actually maglev. This one I ordered from amazon is a Power-A and a maglev type.

Before installing it I wanted to compare it to my old fan. The new one has a bit of grease between the fan and the base where the two touch. My old fan had a build up of black gunk there that I cleaned off after it started to make noise.

Does anyone know anything about the grease used in maglev fans? I don't want to have to buy a CPU fan because I didn't take the time to grease it

 

Mind that all fan types have magnets, that's how electric motors work:

Spoiler: fan blades (sacrificed)

Spoiler: 2x sleeve type fan, 1x maglev

 

MIND BLOWN! Thanks for that clarification and the pictures.

You're correct it is a sleeve type fan. I think it needs some grease. Anmatheextreme recommended a teflon based grease called Tri-Flow. I think I'll give that a try.

I think I'll also take apart the motor to a broken window fan now that you've got me curious.