I got the following enquiry from Ed deBolt:
"I want to lube my MBP fans but when I take the laptop apart and peel back the sticker on the fan then there is fixed aluminum cap which does not seem to want to come off. I haven't forced it yet so maybe it will come off but don't want to mangle it.
Do you have any knowledge of the Apple Macbook Pro Fans?"
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Your forum to discuss noisy computer fans and what to do about them!
*NEW* FanLube - Silicone Oil for lubricating noisy computer fans.
Don't throw away the computer - oil the fan! Easy!
See our main site at www.Noisy-Computer-Fans.co.uk
Don't throw away the computer - oil the fan! Easy!
See our main site at www.Noisy-Computer-Fans.co.uk
About Me
- Chris Callaghan
- United Kingdom
- A degree in Biochemistry, 35 years as an Industrial Chemist, recent research in silicone formulation - all a good background for dealing with a laptop fan that sounded like a cement mixer... Result? FanLube!
3 comments:
Hi Ed.
No I don't have a great deal of experience on Macs, but I don't think this is important - fans are made by speciality manufacturers and sold by the million for a few cents each to the assemblers. Even with a Mac, I don't think that the name on the case always tells you a lot about who assembled it and where most of the components came from...
Laptop fans are often made to a particular design to fit the intricate shape of that specific model - especially if the fan itself is just part of a little 'windtunnel' assembly that connects directly to the heatsink. (That particular design makes it possible for distributors to keep a monopoly on the fans needed for a particular model, and thereby make it impossible for you to buy a cheap replacement.)
When you expose the fan, what is the name printed on the label? Usually they will have a company name such as 'Delphi' or 'SEI'. If you do a Search you can often turn up useful info on the manufacturer and also something about the type of fan. What is useful to know is whether you have a sleeve bearing or a ball-bearing assembly. The latter are sold as 'sealed-for-life' assemblies - which would be OK if they were perfectly quiet and had the performance life they are supposed to have! It is more difficult to introduce extra lubrication to these but not impossible.
By the way, you didn't say exactly why you want to lube your fans...?
Ed Replied:
My left fan was making some whacking noises a month ago. I sprayed some silicon toward the top of the spindle from the outside. The blades are spring loaded toward the upside and I pushed the blades down to compress the spring and sprayed some silicon+oil spray in there. It helped but now the light whacking noise is returning and figure its only going to get worse.
The label on the fan says Delta electronics model KDB04508HA.
DC Brushless. Their website doesn't list this model. Unfortunately I am not sure if it's sleeve or sealed bearing. Perhaps you have a reference handy.
Ed
I followed your link and had a browse around the Delta site. I couldn't find that KDB model either, and note that they proudly include Apple amongst their valued partners. I looked into series KFB and KHB fans and they were both ball-bearing. Also their section on cooling products gave specs for fans with ball-bearings. So you may be out of luck. As I have said on the website, ball-bearing assemblies are usually sealed for life.
However, ball-bearings are noted for working perfectly right up to the moment when they suddenly don't work at all - as opposed to sleeve bearings that crunch and grind to tell you about the lack of lubrication for a long time in advance. So maybe your problem isn't actually the main ball-bearing assembly?
However, I was intrigued by a couple of things that you wrote....
You discovered that the fans are spring-loaded and can be pushed down. (Grand - that's exactly the sort of tinkering I carry out before things need to be really mended!) Also, when you did apply some lube there was a temporary improvement. To me, that suggests that you could do better with the proper lubrication...
Sure, I'm in business to sell FanLube, but I intend to do it with honest advice. So I hope you follow my logic that if some lube was good, a different lube could be better? I'm not sure what you used, but a spray of any kind is by definition a mixture of very light and volatile components that can be delivered easily but then don't last long for this time of application (prolonged, high-speed). And that is exacerbated by the solvents used to carry the lube components - which will help to penetrate and remove the original lubricant. So no aerosol lubes under any circumstances!
We have blended several silicones in formulating FanLube to have several complementary properties. Firstly a viscous, non-volatile liquid to lubricate and last in high-speed bearings - but also with the ability to 'creep', which is to penetrate bearings by forming stable micro-layers that migrate by capillary action into the tightest joints. It's up to you whether you follow my logic...
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