fan has failed?

my computer starts up but it says "pc fan has failed" on a black screen..
and it tells me to hit f2 to keep going
usually i am able to compute
but recently, the computer just shuts down after 2 or 5 minutes
whats wrong?

 

You cpu or pc case fan has bitten the dust. You'll need to open up your system, identify where the fans are, start up the system to see which fan isn't spinning, and then buy and install a replacement fan.

 

Hi Smiley,

While you are looking to see if the fans are spining look through the blades on the Processor fan. If it's clogged with dirt that's your problem. I've seen them so clogged that the dirt has jammed the blades and stopped the fan. You can usually remove the 4 fan screws, remove the fan, clean it and the dirt from the heatsink. If you are experienced you might want to remove the heat sink, clean all and replace with new heat sink compound. Maybe!

 

I agree, you should see what my stand fan looked like before I cleaned it.:eek I'm a heavy smoker and I'm balding, not a good combo.

 

umm the top fan is spinning..when i tried unscrewing for the bottom fan.. i just heard a plunk. the fan came loose and fell somewhere inside my cpu...

 

nvm okay i removed the side panel..how do inoe which fan to replace and stuff?

 

That is not good news, As long as your CPU is working, we can help you. BTW, the CPU is the big boy on the block, not the whole machine.

 

wht u mean its not good news?

okay i know whats the problems.. so i gotta remove the fan on top of the heat sink or the one thats connected to the motherboard?

 

Same thing I think, you have to change the fan that's not working! Or the one that fell out. Either way, you have to install a fan. Can you take a pic of what it looks like?

 

here are the pics. the fan on the right is the one that doesnt spin.. im not sure about the one on the left..

 

Wow, I never seen a fan on a 45 degree angle on a CPU before.:confused The fan on the right is your case fan, just replace it with something similar. Less than $10 anywhere. Do either still spin?

 

That's a lot of dust on that CoolerMaster fan. A good cleaning with a vacuum certainly wouldn't hurt and may even cure the problem. I would get it fixed asap though, the whole reason for the fan is to keep your CPU from going into meltdown. Either that, or you really just want an excuse to buy a new PC.

 

WELL im holding it.. thats why its on an angle that fan was supposed to be connected to the vent.. i unscrewed it.. and im not sure which of those still spin.. do i have to replace them both?

 

I think augiedoggie is referring to the fan that's bolted on. It's twisted at an angle that's not average but appears to be built that way.

If it's not a financial burden I would. No use goofing around with it. Can you leave the case open and turn the computer on to see which one spins? If both, then you have other problems. If neither then you may have other problems as well. It would also be nice if you had a donor machine to test the fans on.

 

well the case fan costs under ten dollars.. how much does the other fan cost?

 

only the one on the right doesnt spin.

 

Ok, so if the two fans have the same connectors try swapping connections and see if the fault follows the fan or if it stays with the connection. If it follows the fan you know you've got your culprit.

 

BUT THE ONe on the right is connected to the motherboard.. and the other one is secrewed onto like a platform thing.. are they the same?

 

I'm just saying that you can use some deductive reasoning to ensure that you're going to try to replace the part that's actually wrong. You now know that you have one good working fan and the power to that fan is working. It's unlikely the the problem with the other fan is anything other than the fan has just died, but you can quickly check that. If you swap connections and that fan is still dead and the known good one spins then you have confirmed that it's the fan that has the problem and not a blown component on the motherboard. If the fan that you know is good doesn't power up and the one you thought was dead does then it's not a fan issue.

You'd be a little ticked to buy a new fan just to find out that the power to the fan was toast to begin with.

 

I've seen it in Dell and a few other desktops before. I've seen a lot of different weird configurations, including curved tunnels, for the CPU heatsink fan.rolleyes