PCA Forums

Well, nothing wrong with the build, but my old Antec P180 case had an issue with the bottom fan. While removing the old mobo and other components, I noticed that the bottom fan was not working. When I put my hand inside to manually turn the fan, it would not move and required probably about 1/4 lb of force to make it spin using my finger. So I removed it from the case, and sure enough, there was an issue with the fan. The issue is: I'm surprised that it did not cause a fire since it was still plugged in but not functioning.

Here is a pic of the case:


Any of you guys ever had this issue with a fan that was very very very stiff to turn? The desktop was mostly on 24/7 except when I went on a vacation then it would be powered off. I was surprised that it does not have any electrical burning smell, or even worse - catch fire.

Oh, I've run into many seized fans. Never caused a fire that I'm aware of.

I've seen seized fans. I've never heard of one catching fire.

OK thanks. That is good to know.

If you're replacing fans, I'd highly recommend Noctua brand fans. They're an Austrian brand known for moving lots of air but generating less noise. Since I have a full rack of crap at home, I usually replace the stock crap fans with Noctua ones so as to cut down on fan noise.

https://noctua.at/

Another vote for Noctua I have them in my workstation and gaming rig.

I replaced the stock fan on my Cooler Master H212 with a Noctua. I wished I'd had it on there from the beginning. It was so quiet.

Reminds me - I need to order a Noctua 120mm for my file server. I had to stick a 120mm fan behind the HDD bay to keep the new WD Blacks cool, otherwise they overheat. Not much airflow in the original case design (it's a re-purposed Dell desktop).

I don't notice it much since it's in the office closet, but when I open the closet door it's sure noticeable.

This is the one I buy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00650P2ZC

I'm glad you posted that link to Amazon. I have a duplicate case as the one above (it was given to me), and I noticed the fan on the top is starting to make a little noise. The fan comes with a small micro switch with 3 speed settings: low, medium, and fast. I have them set at the lowest setting, but it looks like this fan is controlled by the BIOS because it's a 4 pin?

On a modern mobo, the mobo is going to manage the fan speeds. All that switch is going to do is reduce the range.