Cpu Cooler Fan Not Running

On my rig, the CPU cooler fan run all the time. A friend of mine, reported that his appears not to run at all.

Should this fan run 100% of the time?? I am think it should. His PC, is about ten years old and I doubt
there is even a chance it could be set in the BIOS.

It is a German Noiseblocker fan, which I also had and had to replace because it went bad.

I would appreciate your opinions, please.

 

Without knowing the specific model number, we cannot tell. But typically, CPU fans always spin. They usually spin at slow speeds when the CPU is cool, and ramp up to faster speeds as the CPU heat up.

So if his is 10 years old, my first guess would be the fan itself has fail. A slight flick of the blades would show if the bearings have seized. But even if they spin, that does not mean it is still good.

The fan needs to be tested, or another cooler swapped in to see what happens. Sadly, it could be the motherboard too.

If the motherboard's CMOS battery has died (very possible if never replaced), by default the CPU fan should still spin.

 

Digerati, thank you for your expertise. How could he test the fan? If the CMOS battery is dead, would he not lose all of his setting and his clock lose time as well? I will duckduckgo how to test a case fan but I think you are right, after a decade of use the CPU cooler fan is more than likely kaput.

 

Sometimes a fan will stick due to a dust build-up or a slight corrosive spot on the bearings. A slight bump with a non-metallic probe, like a pencil or even a pocket comb, in the normal direction of rotation, will start the fan.

If this does not start the fan then further checks still need to be made to see if the fan
is actually supposed to be running. Watching the fan while putting a load on the cpu you should see it kick in and ramp up the speed.

 

Hear, is one way to check to see if the case fan is functioning.



I am going to suggest that my friend plugs the CPU cooler fan onto another three pin fan port
on the mamaboard, which is currently supporting a working fan. That should determine whether
the fan has failed or not.

 

Plug it into a different fan header or, if he has a spare PSU, it can be tested with it. I use a PSU Tester to trick the PSU into thinking it is connected to a motherboard, then test fans and drive motors that way.

If the CMOS battery is dead, he may lose all those settings - but if only weak, maybe not. Either way, that should not prevent the fan from spinning.

 

Imandy, good advice. I will forward that to him. The fan is a three pin and thus its speed is fixed
and not variable. In fact, I have an Arctic F12 Pro PWM and it has never adjusted it speed. It would
have to go on a four pin header, if I am right, unless the latest mamaboard allow for speed control in
the BIOS.

 

Digerati, I got one of those PSU testers as well. Good tool to have around. I will pass on your advice. It should determine if the CPU cooler fan is working or not.

 

Keep us posted.

 

I will report back to you. He is an over-the-road trucker, so he is out of town a lot.

Thanks for all of your helf!

 

To both of you-

I'm looking at the page with the psu tester showing. I see the list of adapters showing. Do either of you use any of these or have you ran into an occasion when you wished you had one of the adapters. Some seem to be actually good to have around.

 

Why not download 'Speccy' and be guided by the temperatures indicated.
Have just had to change two CPU coolers due to failing fans...6 years old.
https://speccy.en.softonic.com/download

 

No, I have never needed an adapter.