Silicone spray on fan?

[apojoga]

Hopefully this will be charitably viewed under "there are no stupid questions"...

I saw somewhere on the forum "silicone spray" being mentioned in the context of the fan. Is this something that can be done to make the fan run "smoother"? I have a can of MANNOL silicone spray lying around.

Or did I completely misunderstand? Thanks in advance.

[Thinkpad4by3]

Yep, thats tue stuff you want. Just make sure it is 100% silicome because some silicone spray is petroleum based and can cause problems with certaon things.

[thinkpadcollection]

I hope not, you know how the fan is constructed, would had to flood the fan to reach deep into shaft bearing is way under the motor rotor. Also silicone is not a lube either. Get the fan off the heatsink and lift the fan off the housing and give the fan shaft bit of dab of engine oil or suitable and reassemble. Otherwise get another good heatsink assembly.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

[TankPad]

Are we talking about doing this with the fan in place? If so,I wouldn't do this either.

The likelihood of the it getting on the axle shaft is very slim and in the process, you'll get it all over the inside of the fan housing, possibly giving dust something to stick to.
I prefer to remove the fan and where possible (not all fans simply lift off the axle), drop some oil on the shaft and clean out the housing while its open. Your computer will thank you.

[Hans Gruber]

This is a regular topic on the desktop performance PC forums. They suggest using high speed sewing machine oil. The can costs $3-5.

[shawross]

A well delivered droplet of oil can aid a noisy fan bearing. But I would say if you have a noisy bearing or a fan not running smoothly then it is time to replace the fan at the next opportunity. YMMV