Rattling Fan

Hello again dear community! As the title says I have an annoying problem: THIS fan rattles in a specific range of RPMs and I don't know what to do about it. It's a good fan and I don't want to throw it since it's dead silent in all the other RPM ranges (when it's idle and when it's going full tilt it's silent). Do you think that using something like WD40 to clean the bearing (from the outside because I don't want to break it trying to disassemble it) and put some new grease on it will work? The fan is in the rear so has not been hit with that much dust. Only the really really small particles that get stuck on the blades. I'll appreciate your suggestions and answers, thanks in advance!

I have a rattling fan. Have you noticed that you can pull the blades a little from the motor?
I think the rattling has something to do with that. I put little magnets in front of the fan to weight it down and it's been fixed.

edit: I just glued a quarter where my magnets were, the same great result but now I can use my magnets for their intender purpose :slight_smile:
PS: Coolermaster Masterfans are Scheiße!

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I've checked and doesen't seem that the fan is hitting the frame with the blades. When the fan was new there were no rattling at all.

Oops, accidently hit reply.

I've had this problem with one of my CM 200mm fans.

  • On back, exhaust side, rub your finger across the center to see if there is a rubber hub cap under the sticker. If there is then peel back the sticker and check if a precision flat head can lift the cap.
  • If it can I recommend stopping here temporarily as you will need to buy lubricant. I personally use Singer All Purpose Machine Oil, if anyone has other suggestions I'd love to hear success stories.
  • Here you can spray WD-40 directly into the well as its likely the lubricant it shipped with has dried out. Remember that WD-40 is a cleaner, not a lubricant.
  • Spin it with your hand to get any gunk to float to the top, I like to use a q-tip to make sure everything is out.
  • Put two to three drops of oil in.
  • Place the hub back on and apply the sticker.

After that it should be working.

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Luckly you hit reply lol I'll wait for some more answers and I'm going to try what you said

Me too facing the same isue

I did his fix a few weeks ago, but his fix is more thorough. A few drops of oil and no more rattle.
Next time it rattles, I will probably replace the fans.

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oh no, in my case the sound doesn't come from the blades hitting anything, it comes from the blades being pulled away from the frame and returning to their place and bouncing (probably due to vibration)

took me months of rearranging fans and tweaking speeds and crying myself to sleep until I figured it out

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I'm sorry man but I don't get what you mean to say. My fan looks stable, nothing looks like is being pulled or pushed while turning.

i'll record a video, give me several minutes to explain


The second one is heavier thanks to the coin and less bouncy, it no longer rattles
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Thanks a lot for the video, I really appreciate it. I don't know if mine does that but I'm going to test once I turn off the PC. Unfortunately my fan does not have a flat piece of plastic on the hub so I don't know how to weight it down eventually.

I would just pull it apart and oil it. As above, WD-40 won't lubricate. So many people swear by that stuff and I swear at it. I use Liquid Wrench lubricant and it is some seriously amazing stuff! The little retaining clip can be hard to remove and easy to lose, but I have fans without the clip that still run fine, and much better now that they are lubricated. If you are seriously that worried then you could try to find an old fan to play with first but I really wouldn't over think it.

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Yeah, I know the WD40 is only for cleaning and I've even said it in the OP. Well I know I don't have to overthink it but I don't want to waste money ruining a fan that's working (even if it's a bit noisy).