On 08/03/10 16:24, Wayne Stallwood wrote:
Personally I wouldn't use WD-40 without replacing the lubricant you wash out with something else, it may get the fan working quite well initially but WD-40 is more solvent than lubricant so it washes out what little is left and then evaporates itself, leaving a mostly dry bearing. Bike shops sell a spray lubricant for chains etc which works quite well...something lithium, graphite or ptfe based would do the trick. Just watch where you get it and try to contain it just to the fan bearings because it may be conductive.
I agree that getting rid of the existing lubricant without replacing it probably isn't wise. I'll see what I can find - I was going to go with just grease but maybe I'll try and find something a bit better.
Can you put a photo up somewhere of the fan in question...I do have old gfx cards etc kicking about so might have something that fits.
Not sure how well these will come out, but: http://www.more-solutions.co.uk/files/08032010323.JPG http://www.more-solutions.co.uk/files/08032010324.JPG
Whether you can run fanless depends on the GPU. Things like old low spec GF4's etc were happy enough without one most of the time....as were the northbridges on those mainboards Brett was taking about (unless you were overclocked). You can also buy aftermarket GFX Heatsink Fan units that are mostly universal..but you might end up spending more than a cheap replacement card would be.
It's an nvidia -based card, and I'm using the proprietary nVidia drivers.
How do I go about finding out the temperature that the card is running at?