Running fans upside down isn't great for their health!

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Running fans upside down isn't great for their health!

Sat Nov 08, 2014 2:22 pm

So I was sitting at my computer today. And I have four 120mm fans at the top which blow air out the top through a 480mm radiator.

Like in this picture:
Image


Because of their orientation to blow air upwards the fan blade and its motor hang down from the fan housing and this can cause stress on the fan. Over time it comes loose and may start making weird sounds.

Which is what has occurred on my system. One of the four fans in the top is now making this really annoying rattling. I've ordered a replacement fan which is coming tomorrow. Thanks Amazon! :D

I made this thread just to illustrate the problem of running fans for a long time upside down. They work best when on their side or when blowing down. So if you're building a system and don't want to replace fans every year like it seems I'm going to do you can always flip them the other way round and use the top as an intake.
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Re: Running fans upside down isn't great for their health!

Sat Nov 08, 2014 4:40 pm

Using the top fan as an intake would cause a lot of dust to come on the inside, wouldn't it? I currently have 2 fans blowing out on the top, should I keep them that way or flip them and put the wind out on the bottom?

I have a dust filter on the bottom, but not on the top so dust might become a problem for me over time, or?
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Re: Running fans upside down isn't great for their health!

Sat Nov 08, 2014 5:48 pm

On my case it has a filter on the top which is removable for cleaning. So for me it's no problem. For you though, yeah it would suck dust in.

Personally I'm just gonna keep running my tops as exhausts and replace fans that die, they aren't very expensive. Since you don't have a filter I'd recommend you keep your top like they are now as exhausts and just replace fans that fail.
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Re: Running fans upside down isn't great for their health!

Sun Nov 09, 2014 8:01 pm

Well shit, same thing's happening to my fan. Guess what, it's pointed down aswell.
I don't think I can just flip it around either. I'm not sure. There's no way I could connect it elsewhere.
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