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Computer Help and Support

RC

(25,592 posts)

4. Be careful about using the compressed air to spin the fans.

Reply to Phillip McCleod (Reply #3)

Sat May 18, 2013, 03:56 PM

May 2013

It is easy to over do it and damage the motor. The rotor (inside fan blade hub) is a permanent magnet. The stator are coils of wire. The current through the coils is controlled by an IC. Spinning the fan with compressed air, turns the motor into a generator. Spin the fan fast enough and it could generate a voltage in excess of the breakdown voltage of the IC.
And then there are the bearings to consider, also.

Just use short bursts on the fan. Short bursts are better to break the dust loose anyway.

Just because the fan runs afterward does not mean it will not come back to haunt you later, if you spin it at turbine speeds.

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Helpful tips on dusting inside PC case? [View all] gvstn May 2013 OP

Don't the "grills" pop off? Wash them and put them back. Nt. Warren Stupidity May 2013 #1

Thanks gvstn May 2013 #2

at work.. at a computer repair shop.. we use.. Phillip McCleod May 2013 #3

Be careful about using the compressed air to spin the fans. RC May 2013 #4

yeh i could have emphasized that more.. Phillip McCleod May 2013 #5

Thanks for the detailed instructions. gvstn May 2013 #6

I take the heat sink Go Vols May 2013 #7