I've considered myself a hacker ever since I discovered, IMHO, the real meaning of the word (#7 from the Jargon File definition) back in my university days when I started reading alt.hackers.
I've hacked on a regular basis for most of my life, but have never bothered to share my hacks because:
- they're usually so obscure, I couldn't imagine anyone else finding any value in them
- I never wanted to share bad enough to figure out the hack required in order to post to alt.hackers
And so, now that I have something that I think might be useful to others and I have a medium through which I can share it, I present the, "Noisy Cooling Fan Hack."
I purchased the computer I'm using to write this post in October of 1999. It started life as a top-of-the-line PIII 450 w/128MB of memory, a DVD drive w/hardware decoder, and a 19" Trinitron monitor. As you can imagine (since I'm still using it), it's been through some upgrades. It's now a 1.4GHz Celeron (cool processor upgrade from PowerLeap), w/384MB of RAM, another hard-drive, a CD-burner and a whole swack of USB and Fire-wire peripherals. It still has the same motherboard, and the same monitor (which, I think is on its last legs), and, of course, the original power-supply.
Enter the noisy fan. A lot of times you can cure this problem just by vacuuming out the case and fan(s) - enough crud on a fan's blades can throw it off balance. Tried that on the weekend, but, just like The Cat, it came back (♪♬ the very next dayyyyy... ♪♬). So, yesterday, I opened 'er up again, to see what my hackerness could see. I've replaced a power-supply fan in the past (it was surprisingly easy), but didn't have a spare one around, so I thought some 3-in-1 oil might do the trick. N.B.: As tempting as it may be with that little straw and the propellant, DO NOT use WD-40. It's more of a cleaner than a lubricant, and will do more harm than good. The sources I've read on the 'Net actually recommend sewing machine oil for its high viscosity and the fact that it's made for high-speed applications.
Anyways, the next question was how the heck to get the oil where it needed to go. There's really no access to the hub without totally disassembling the power-supply as well as the fan itself, and they're really not made to be taken apart - figured I'd just end up breaking it. There's also no way to get the spout of the oil can through the grille on the power-supply housing and the guards on the fan - there's hardly enough room to get a toothpi<light-bulb-turns-on-over-my-head>ck through there.....Remember that demo in school where the teacher poured water along the string? There ya go...just stick that pick in the joint in the hub's housing, pour the oil onto it, and let gravity do its thing. Keep a paper towel or rag handy - you're probably going to get oil on the housing. It wasn't until I was re-assembling that I realized that the spot where the two wires enter the hub is probably the most direct route (duh...), so you might want to shoot some oil in there instead/as well. [I know, photos would be nice, but I didn't think of posting until after the 'puter was back in its cubbie-hole in the desk... :( ]
Voila! My PC hasn't been this quiet since....well, it's never actually been quiet - there's still the processor fan, the case fan, the two internal hard drives, the external drive...oh well, at least that annoying noise is gone.
(And you Mac people can just keep your, "Ohhhh....Myyyy Mac is soooo quiet....You really should get one...," comments to yourself....I really don't want to end up castrated, waiting for a spaceship, with a plastic bag over my head.... ;P )
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