Fans could generate electricity and damage motherboard ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Skybuck Flying
  • Start date Start date
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Skybuck Flying

Hello,

I just saw a dutch technician mention the following possibility of damaging
a motherboard when cleaning the PC of dust and I wonder if there is any
thruth in it, in short the technician writes the following:

"Be carefull not to make the fans spin real fast because then they could
start generating electricity and damage the motherboard ?!"

How much thruth is in that sentence ?! Should motherboards be equiped with
fan-back-surge protectors ?

Bye,
Skybuck.
 
John said:
Zero. None.

John
Click to expand...
The fan itself might croak, the internally generated voltage might
toast the control IC, but it wont blow the motherboard.
 
Ghostrider said:
Well...the technician probably meant generating static
electricity.
Click to expand...

Probably not. An electric motor can act as a generator as well.

Tom Lake
 
Hello,

I just saw a dutch technician mention the following possibility of damaging
a motherboard when cleaning the PC of dust and I wonder if there is any
thruth in it, in short the technician writes the following:

"Be carefull not to make the fans spin real fast because then they could
start generating electricity and damage the motherboard ?!"

How much thruth is in that sentence ?! Should motherboards be equiped with
fan-back-surge protectors ?

Bye,
Skybuck.
Click to expand...

Clearly, that nitwit must be your older brother. It's got to be a genetic
thing.

Seriously, dude - do you ever think about what you're writing, or do you find
yourself constantly drifting off while your fingers are still working the
keyboard?
 
Clearly, that nitwit must be your older brother. It's got to be a genetic
thing.

Seriously, dude - do you ever think about what you're writing, or do you find
yourself constantly drifting off while your fingers are still working the
keyboard?
Click to expand...

Drifting off implies he had a handle on it in the first place. I
sincerely doubt it.

G²
 
Paul Hovnanian P.E. said:
Yes, yes. Fans are very dangerous. Take them all out of your PC
immediately.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that advice! I tried it and now instead of a chilly 70 deg C
my system runs
at a nice, toasty 250 deg C. Much nicer! Plus, I can read by the red glow
of the CPU!

Tom L
 
The fan itself might croak, the internally generated voltage might
toast the control IC, but it wont blow the motherboard.
Click to expand...

I recently did due diligence and researched before cleaning my
daughter's laptop out with compressed air and at least 3 web sites I
went to made a point that you should pin the laptop's cooling fan with a
toothpick so it won't spin to prevent damage to the fan.
I found that strange at the time, since I have been blowing out my
desktops with air for years without any precautions and no failed fans.
 
TVeblen said:
I recently did due diligence and researched before cleaning my
daughter's laptop out with compressed air and at least 3 web sites I
went to made a point that you should pin the laptop's cooling fan
with a toothpick so it won't spin to prevent damage to the fan.
I found that strange at the time, since I have been blowing out my
desktops with air for years without any precautions and no failed
fans.
Click to expand...

Same here, I have always taken a pleasure at hearing the increasing pitch as
the fan blades spin up against the current of compressed air.

Jon
 
I recently did due diligence and researched before cleaning my
daughter's laptop out with compressed air and at least 3 web sites I
went to made a point that you should pin the laptop's cooling fan with a
toothpick so it won't spin to prevent damage to the fan.
I found that strange at the time, since I have been blowing out my
desktops with air for years without any precautions and no failed fans.
Click to expand...

The laptop cooling fans are a lot smaller and flimsier. I could
imagine spinning them too fast with compressed air.
 
Well...the technician probably meant generating static
electricity. Depends on a lot of different factors, such
as speed of fan rotation, composition of the fan blades,
size and type of particulate matter being blown around,
atmospherics, nearby kitty cat and/or fur and/or dander,
and so on. Everything is usually OK so long as fan does
not decide to become a Windhurst Machine.

GR







- Show quoted text -
Click to expand...

Don't forget, Skybuck.
The fan rotation is only relevant if you consider your location as
either being north or south of the Equator.
Fans don't generate static electricity if you're exactly on the
Equator.

See how easy it is to invent drivel, Skybuck.
Hell, you're an amateur.
 
Same here, I have always taken a pleasure at hearing the increasing pitch as
the fan blades spin up against the current of compressed air.

Jon
Click to expand...
You should hear mine. Sounds like a jet.
I use my portable nail gun compressor. 100 psi. I can clean it out in
seconds from across the room!
 
Hello,

I just saw a dutch technician mention the following possibility of damaging
a motherboard when cleaning the PC of dust and I wonder if there is any
thruth in it, in short the technician writes the following:

"Be carefull not to make the fans spin real fast because then they could
start generating electricity and damage the motherboard ?!"

How much thruth is in that sentence ?! Should motherboards be equiped with
fan-back-surge protectors ?

Bye,
Skybuck.
Click to expand...

No one has yet mentioned the fan bearings being driven so fast that they
become damaged. It is easy to destroy a ball bearing with a compressed
air hose, especially if you are cleaning the bearing with a solvent at
the time you over spin it.

Wilby
 
No one has yet mentioned the fan bearings being driven so fast that they
become damaged. It is easy to destroy a ball bearing with a compressed
air hose, especially if you are cleaning the bearing with a solvent at
the time you over spin it.

Wilby
Click to expand...
Yes, thank Christ no one has mentioned that.
 
Skybuck said:
Hello,

I just saw a dutch technician mention the following possibility of damaging
a motherboard when cleaning the PC of dust and I wonder if there is any
thruth in it, in short the technician writes the following:

"Be carefull not to make the fans spin real fast because then they could
start generating electricity and damage the motherboard ?!"

How much thruth is in that sentence ?! Should motherboards be equiped with
fan-back-surge protectors ?

Bye,
Skybuck.
Click to expand...
Connect a light bulb to the outer edges of the fan with wire to disperse
the energy, but make certain to place the lamp outside of the case, of
course, to disperse the heat. Works for me, although I am not in the
same exact location as you are -- this could make a really big
difference according to my technician who honed his skills in Area 51,
NV. Please post your results.

Thank you.

Don
 
In alt.comp.periphs.mainboard.asus Skybuck Flying said:
Hello,
Click to expand...
I just saw a dutch technician mention the following possibility of damaging
a motherboard when cleaning the PC of dust and I wonder if there is any
thruth in it, in short the technician writes the following:
Click to expand...
"Be carefull not to make the fans spin real fast because then they could
start generating electricity and damage the motherboard ?!"
Click to expand...
How much thruth is in that sentence ?! Should motherboards be equiped with
fan-back-surge protectors ?
Click to expand...
Bye,
Skybuck.
Click to expand...

First, the idea is somewhat sound, as the type of motor used in a
fan can indeed serve as generator. However the electronics do not
support this. You can, again in theory, kill a fan this way.

On the more practical side, a brief test with a Papst (quality-)fan
gave me around 0.15V AC without load, so I guess mechanical damage
to the fan is more likely than damaging the mainboard. And pulling
off your arm with the vaccuum slipstream needed to produce
dangerous voltages ;-)

Arno
 
Hello,

I just saw a dutch technician mention the following possibility of damaging
a motherboard when cleaning the PC of dust and I wonder if there is any
thruth in it, in short the technician writes the following:

"Be carefull not to make the fans spin real fast because then they could
start generating electricity and damage the motherboard ?!"

How much thruth is in that sentence ?!
Click to expand...

Very true.
Should motherboards be equiped with
fan-back-surge protectors ?
Click to expand...

Not yours.
 
Should motherboards be equiped with fan-back-surge protectors ?

How many more surge protectors do we need? :)

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