[transisto]

The fan had an annoying noise so I decided to have a look and remove dust with compressed air.

Now they're much worst, the bearing is loose and giggle from side to side.

I only touched the core/blades merely to stop it from spinning while I was dedusting.
The only thing I can think of why this happened is that an air jet went underneath the core and moved something in the wrong place.

This is what they now sound like.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdtYGeQ41cM[/ame]

Your thoughts ?

 

[crunkosaur]

Did u let the fan blades spin at all when using the compressed air? I have burnt bearings before by letting the fans spin free when using the compressed air. They make a noise like what you are describing.

 

[transisto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crunkosaur Did u let the fan blades spin at all when using the compressed air? I have burnt bearings before by letting the fans spin free when using the compressed air.

I did not let the fan blades spin much, I was aware of the issue and did not make it spin fast for fun. (I would do small burst of air and stop it in between)

 

[cloppy007]

Sorry, get a replacement heatsink and fan. Arctic Cooling, Zalman, Thermalright.

 

[transisto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cloppy007;15294366
Sorry, get a replacement heatsink and fan. Arctic Cooling, Zalman, Thermalright.

Why sorry ? No, I will not void my warranty and pay 40$ on an aftermarket cooler. I will fix it myself or RMA.

I might as well move it in a closet (ventilated), endure the noise and wait for it to explode before I RMA it.

 

[NguyenAdam]

Many manufacturers warranties are not voided if you put an aftermarket heatsink on it. Anyways, you will be much happier with an Arctic Cooling heatsink. It does a much better job and is extremely quiet.

 

[MKHunt]

If you have people over, you can crank up the fan speed and ask them to sit in an upright position and fasten their seatbelts.

I would contact the manufacturer (Sapphire?) and see what can be done. Just explain that you were dusting as it's something I believe they encourage.

 

[transisto]

Must I concur this is normal behavior and there is nothing to be done about it ?

I care more about the WHY than the final fate of these cards, These GPUs are for mining, noise not being a concern, these are the best cooler I can find. No way I'm going to pay ~30-40$ for a sub-par cooler.

 

[Blameless]

I usually just blast dust out with no concern of the fan blades spinning. I don't think I've ever broken a ball bearing fan this way, and certainly not a blower (and I've had a lot of both).

Regardless, those fans are likely done. Replace them if possible, if not, replace the cooler.

A used reference style cooler should not be more than 15-20 dollars. Might be able to find the fans cheaper. Pull one off the heatsink and get the numbers off the bottom, and the location of the mounting holes.

 

[AgentHydra]

Sapphire won't let you remove the heatsink without voiding your warranty, so try to get them to repair it first.

If they won't help you then there are plenty of options for aftermarket coolers, which will be alot quieter than your 5870 was before it got messed up. And if you don't want to shell out the money then remove the stock fan and zip-tie some fans on like a boss.

 

[transisto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MKHunt I would contact the manufacturer (Sapphire?) and see what can be done. Just explain that you were dusting as it's something I believe they encourage.

I wish they could advance the fan to be replaced, I have a few dozen 5850 are about 1/4 need fan replacement after ~3 months.

 

[transisto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgentHydra;15300282
...zip-tie some fans on like a boss.

Gimme a few sec, will post pics.

 

[iCrap]

what do you expect from running your cards nonstop full fan 24/7 for months at full load? And sapphire voids the warranty if you take off the fan... so just rma it.

 

[transisto]

It ran around 33% max,
As most fan have 50 000 hrs + MTBF, 7 month is merely 10% away to a normal failure rate.

 

[Blameless]

Yeah, these fans should be good for at least 2-3 years at 100%.

 

[Vlasov_581]

grease

 

[transisto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vlasov_581 grease

U serious ? Always thought we had to use light oil, have you ever done such a thing on a blower fan ?

 

[transisto]

This home-made supercharger fixed the vibration surprisingly well.
Still ~15% louder than new but 5x quieter than when broken.

It seems to speed-up faster too, I might have gained a few HP.

 

[Segovax]

I always have my computer off and hold the fans still when I blow stuff out. Never had a problem.

 

[denial_]

I recently went into the exact same problem with my fan, with the exact same card. However mine started to do that on its own. I asked for an RMA and as a response they told me I have to ship the card to them (a third party warranty company contracted by Sapphire), and they then ship the card to Asia and I also have to pay 45 more dollars for than. Maybe they just want to discourage people from RMA.

Anyway, I decided to fix the grinding noise on my own, and bought another cooler. I found a refurbished Accelero Xtreme 5870 for 26$

, put that cooler on the card and then noise was gone, temps was 30c lower, and I'm a happy man again

.

Note: I live in Canada, and I heard that the US service is different so you should contact them first.