Can anyone recommend a fan grease ?

[jsfitz54]

Try a turbine oil, like these with zoom spout: http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=zoom oil&tag=tec06d-20

Appliance part supply houses usually carry this as well.
Heating and plumbing supply houses.

 

[MrGenius]

I have 6 sleeve bearing fans that I've run continuous 24/7/365 for over 13 years now. And I've never lubed a single one of them. The metal used for sleeve bearings is typically oil-impregnated bronze. And technically doesn't "require" additional lubrication during its lifetime. I've killed a sleeve bearing fan or 2 electronically, but I've never had one run long enough to kill the bearing. We'll see how that goes...

I'm a professional mechanic, among other things. So I pretty much know all there is to know about oil, grease, bearings of all types, lubrication theory in general, etc., etc., etc.. I needs no wiki on this one.

 

[Athlonite]

I have 6 sleeve bearing fans that I've run continuous 24/7/365 for over 13 years now. And I've never lubed a single one of them. The metal used for sleeve bearings is typically oil-impregnated bronze. And technically doesn't "require" additional lubrication during its lifetime. I've killed a sleeve bearing fan or 2 electronically, but I've never had one run long enough to kill the bearing. We'll see how that goes...

I'm a professional mechanic, among other things. So I pretty much know all there is to know about oil, grease, bearings of all types, lubrication theory in general, etc., etc., etc.. I needs no wiki on this one.

And yet I've had four die from drying out not including 2 on a couple of less than 12 month old HIS Radeon HD5770 GPU's, alot depends on who makes the fan HIS chose to use cheap nasty non standard size junk from china so replacing them was a bit of a mission

 

[natr0n]

Sleeve bearings are awesome for maintenance. I'm using the most usual synthetic motor oil (for the car). Works great. But any technical oil for machines will do the trick, just make sure it's thick enough, otherwise you'll have it all over the fan due to centrifugal forces...

yeah, this was meant for sleeve bearings. I used them for about a week with the auto type grease and had no issues they ran same rpm.

As for ball bearings I will take everyone's recommendations on oils.

Most of all my fans are sleeve based.

 

[Liquid Cool]

3-n-1 has a special blend oil for '1/4 hp motors and above', I use the stuff when I rebuild old LakeWood box fans. It works especially well on pc fans. Highly recommend it...cheap and gets the job done.

 

[Breew]

Have use the 3n1 blue. Its 30 weight NON detergent motor oil. Works good and doesn't gum up the works. Don't need much but found a small bottle of rotron fan oil <silicone oil> and never went back. I have fans running that are 8+ years old on that stuff and they haven't lost any rpm's or make any noise. Cant find it any more or would get another tiny bottle.

 

[Solarsails]

Graphite powder or Graphite grease

Graphite is a fairly good lubricant for very specific cases. The problem with graphite as a lubricant is that it can cause very fast friction type abrasion when used on materials that aren't specifically coated to protect from this abrasion. Plastics and certain metals can suffer massive accelerated wear from the use of graphite as a lubricant. Graphite is best used on parts of a system that aren't in motion constantly or in motion infrequently, such as hinges, padlocks, etc. Using graphite on the axle of a fan moving at thousands of RPMs is actually not a recommended application for graphite powder.

Information is one of those things that has no expiration date. Information is timeless. I never could understand why some people make a big deal out of replying to older threads. I've run a BBS since the late 1980s and there is no difference in replying to older threads, at all. Personally I think its some sort of retentive personality trait that causes people to loose their marbles when someone replies to an older thread; they will delete threads or lock them and I ask to what end? Why? Its one of those things that makes absolutely no logical sense. So perhaps someone could enlighten me with regard to what is the big deal to replying to an old thread.

 

[Caring1]

Personally I think its some sort of retentive personality trait that causes people to loose their marbles when someone replies to an older thread
So perhaps someone could enlighten me with regard to what is the big deal to replying to an old thread.

Personally I think it takes a retentive person to reply to a 5 year old thread thinking their reply will still be relevant, especially on a Tech site!

 

[newtekie1]

As for ball bearings I will take everyone's recommendations on oils.

I recommend automatic transmission fluid or motor oil. I've rebuilt countless fans using 5w-30 or auto trans fluid and never had one fail again after.

 

[xman2007]

I love reading the start of a new thread to get half way through and realise it's a 5 year old necro thread and the best part is the new member was replying directly to a previous post, how they stumble upon these quite random yet specific threads is beyond me, bravo

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Grease wont get inside the bearing where its needed like oil can. Recommend using either sewing oil or '3in1' oil

Yeah. Id like to educate & correct my past self... '3in1' oil is not a good oil for fans. It eventually gums them up f**kin scrub. get gud

 

[AsRock]

Still using super lube, the fans have been in daily use.

Can anyone recommend a fan grease ?

I have a large collection of fans basically. I take apart,wash and clean old fans, oil and save for using on whatever. I don't like using sewing oil anymore. I want to use grease. Can someone recommend what they use ?

www.techpowerup.com

 

[John Naylor]

We use Phanteks PH-140SPs ... as to why ?

1. Take Noctua fan off a Noctua cooler and replace it with one of those and CPU temps drop 6C at same rpm

Phanteks PH-F140(XP, SP, SP_LED) Fans: Testing - Phanteks PH-F140 (XP, SP, SP_LED) Case Fan Review - Page 3

2. Finished 1st in Fan Roundup at Silentpcreview.com

First 140 mm Fan Roundup: Noctua, Phanteks, Xigmatek

140 mm fans from Noctua, Phanteks, and Xigmatek battle in our latest fan roundup with one emerging as a clear winner in both thermal performance and acoustics. May 21, 2013 by Lawrence Lee Last month we staged an epic shoot-out among some popular 120 mm fans. Some great sounding fans emerged but...

silentpcreview.com

3, Most of the time, the fans shut off as fan curver doesn't trigger thm to rurn on ... when gaming of stress testing, they will run 450 - 650 rpm and remain completelely inaudible at max OC

"The Phanteks PH-F140HP/TS is the clear winner in every respect. It edged out the new Noctuas every step of the way, delivering the best overall results of any fan we’ve tested thus far. To top it off, it had cleanest, smoothest sound of all the new fans in this roundup. If we had to start from scratch, this might be our new reference model. "

No as to the topic .... these cans typically seel for $13 - $15 ... but when newegg has a special, they cost about $10 and we buy em by the dozen. For $10 a pop, it's not worth the time yo take fan apart.

If you do use a lubricant, there is no "one size fits all" alternative. For ball bearing fans, use a light oil... for sleeve bearings, generally a heavier oil should be used... sewing machine oil is a good"compromise" option. Another option that you may have readily available in the office if the poil supplied for paper shredders