To learn electronics in a very different and effective way, and gain access to Mr Carlson's personal designs and inventions, visit the Mr Carlson's Lab Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/MrCarlsonsLab

Considering the state of the fan, you might tell you friend to clean the computer out too.

„We fix the actual problem, we didn‘t replace it.“ That‘s what it‘s all about. 👍🏻👍🏻

I know this wasn't much of a challenge, probably even boring for you, but I'd love to see some ATX PSU repair guidelines from you in the future. On almost every forum, everytime someone asks about a failure or problem on an ATX PSU, the rest says «just toss it, it's too dangerous», «don't touch it», «it's not worth it», and so on. Thank you, as always.

So many things are unnecessarily thrown away, in this "disposable" age we live in. To me, it's very gratifying to repair something that otherwise would just be trashed. It's even satisfying to watch videos of other people repairing, restoring, even repurposing items. Thanks for sharing, Paul.

Mr. Carlson, to us “Sorry about the de-focusing there” AvE, at the camera “Focus, you f#@&!”

Paul definately knows how to keep his fans quiet.

The outer casing from a cheap plastic ballpoint pen works well for installing those split washers, just pull the ballpoint and ink-tube assembly out of the pen with pliers. You can even reassemble the pen when you're done.

"a bit of a current hog huh?" - i work on computer electronics and this quote belongs on my wall.

This is one of my favourite videos on this channel because it shows something I can actually be doing myself, especially fixing fans. I'd like to watch the whole thing including cut parts like cleaning and lubricating.

I’ve been following your videos for a few years Mr Carlson. They’re always fantastic and I have learned so much from you, but this goes well beyond most people’s expectations. Repairing a power supply fan down to the bearing instead of simply replacing the fan, or the entire power supply as most people would do, is the mark of a genuine electronics technician. Well done sir. We need more people like you in our profession.

I've done this hundreds of times on customer sites around the world. Some 1980s mainframes I worked on had up to 12 power supplies in each cabinet and there were two full sized boxer fans in each supply. Since I was usually on some remote base with no spare parts within a thousand miles I got used to repairing stopped fans by cleaning out the bushings and lubing them with a bit of shredder oil. That little bit of maintenance can make those machines run 24/7 for years past their MTBF dates.

Trait of a perfectionist, the same amount of care and thought given to a simple project as it if was as very complex one

I have a degree in electronics, and taught electronics for 13 years, worked in the field for 48 years, but I am either reminded of something I had forgotten, or learn something new every time I watch this type of video, especially Mr. Carlson's Lab! Thank you for all you do for us!

i love this guys trouble shooting methods , this is exactly how i was taught to fix / repair stuff way back in the "day" 60's to 70's use your senses first , listen , smell , touch then analyze and proceed to repair phase !! I just love this guys voice and methods , his video's are very good and he teaches very very well .. too bad others can't learn this way he does a fantastic job of instructing , I seem to learn something new with almost every video of his that I watch ..

Tally 1 for our environment! Every bit counts!

I love when you work on modern equipment. Like audio gear or modern radios. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Will watch the whole thing later. I love every video of yours, and i SUPER LOVE that you are expanding beyond your normal stuff!! I look forward to more!

I want to get a tee-shirt made stating: I Void Warranties! Thank you for showing this...people nowadays are way too throw-away...it's great that they can learn how to repair, reuse & recycle things that would normally get thrown away.

I had the exact same fan problem with a corsair psu. I replaced the original fan with a Noctua . I kept the original corsair fan and following your video brought it right back. You are the best.

When I left my first apartment I watched my landlord spring for a whole new HVAC system because the blower got loud. I brought the old squirrel cage blower with me and re-packed it with grease 30 years ago. I’ve been using it to ventilate rooms when remodeling ever since.

This is a pet peeve of mine: all of the devices that get scrapped simply because a fan is whining.

Mr. Carlson, I deeply respect your passion for reducing waste. It is one of the reasons I fix "old" stereos, appliances, and other products.

Your friend is a very fortunate person... Very kind of you too use your skills too help another in need... Plus, I love the fact you repaired this old fan, instead of replacing it with a new one... 😉👍 🌎 Blessings: James 🕊

Thank you for sharing this knowledge and teaching us about how this sort of repair can be done, along with the insight into tricks to keep things from blowing up and into how the machinery is built and works.

My power supply just started making this sound. Thanks for posting

Always love learning new things from you. Thanks so much

The details you show & work through make this video helpful. Thank you.

An excellent piece of 'Green' maintenance, Paul and a fine demonstration of how often a bit of high tech kit doesn't need high tech repairs - just logic and common sense. 5 stars. It reminded me of a time, about 20 years ago that a colleague asked for help as her computer sounded like there was a wasp trapped inside. Sure enough, when I powered it up in her office you'd have been hard put to hold a telephone conversation! It was a nice HP machine with a quick release latch on the lid. She was quite amazed when I leaned over, lifted the lid, glanced inside, made a quite gesture, closed it up and said 'That should fix it'. She powered it up and silence reigned. I'd been sneaky and palmed the little sticky label off the cpu heatsink fan (it was an extra one with an HP part number on it) which had slid sideways due to heat and centrifugal force. I quite enjoyed my Harry Potter reputation for a couple of days until I owned up - lol.

I usually check for bulged caps when I service a power supply. The most common result when a fan no longer cools the supply properly. I though I was the only one who "fixes" cooling fans. Nice to see I'm not alone.

Fix it and not replace it, I agree too. Would like to see more repair videos like this. Enjoyed this video very much. Now I know how to lub a power supply fan.

I think that's the simplest repair I've ever seen you do. Good health and long life to you!

I'm glad to see someone else repairing the fans. It's easy enough and I've done it with case fans, CPU fans, laptop fans, etc.

I've been in IT for 20+ years and have never known this could be done; you've shown an old dog a new trick! Much appreciated!!

Almost wish it had an electrical fault that took some probing, but hard to complain too much! Not many people can make just lubing up a fan entertaining like you. Thanks for sharing another excellent video with us, Mr. Carlson!

Just love the way you Work. Brilliant fix thank you for sharing Paul.

Great show! Thank you, sometimes the simple things you can repair are the most gratifying.

The idea that most dust is dead skin is a common myth, it's actually a pretty small percentage whereas most of what goes into dust is fabric fibers, pollen, soil, hair, sand, and other things depending on your local environment. There absolutely is dead skin in dust, but the amount is negligible. 🙂

Just FYI: BIC makes the best fan retaining clip "installation" system. They come in a variety of colors. If Money is no object then you can always splurge on the PILOT inverse extraction apparatus.

Full marks Paul - thank you. "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and/or Repair". Nicely done!

I’m so happy somebody made an in depth video about a cheap easily available remote sensor along with how to modify the various settings. Love the in depth videos, so fascinating.

Would like to hear more about your lubricant cocktail

We learned this trick in the late 1980s as the fans would get loud or stop working after 2 years or so and a new power supply cost a fortune back then. Good to show how it is done correctly.

Nice to see you do something down to earth. Great video, as are most of yours.

Nice video, simple fix! Many Corsair PSUs and some from seasonic & CM use identical Yate-Loon D12SH 12v-0.3A fans. Purple, blue, black colors but the same model. High air flow, quiet at lower speeds and no vibrations. I have a few of these lying in a drawer somewhere for DIY projects, Definitely one part to harvest from blown power supplies.

It seemed overkill for the trouble, but after realizing how easy it is to salvage it, I think your right, it's well worth the easy effort.

Hey Mr Carlson, great video! I've been fixing fans like this in my computer pretty much since I was a kid, because my hardware budget used to be tight. That's why I try buying fans with ball bearings instead of sleeve bearings, they survive for way longer and are easier to lubricate. Also, you might actually want to use PTFE / teflon grease instead of regular oil, because oil will usually dry up again pretty fast, depending on how warm it gets in there.

I had the same problem - lubricated fan bearings on a case fan and it's been working great (3 weeks on, 6+ hrs/day). Great work, thanks.

Truly impressive video! Your knowledge of electronics is astounding down to knowing how to get into a fan and lube up the bearings. Thanks so much for putting in the time it takes to make an informative video like this. Also thanks for keeping a piece of plastic out of the landfill. Nice to see in this age of replace the fan, replace a circuit board or just toss the power supply and get a new one.

"And when they ask how many videos should we post, they only answer more, more, more!" --Fortunate Lab by Carlson Clearwater Revival

Dead skin. Oh my. So much goodness with everything you touch. You are my reference. You and Xraytonyb are my go too for electronics. Why? Because you are careful and thoughtful. You remind me of a science teacher I wish I had. I was a cheeky brat back in the day. Science tempered my mischievous behavior. Unless we start talking about fun reactions, then I am all in. Some things never change. Your videos inspire me on the possibilities and what can be done. Your vintage restores are legendary. Please never do the KZfaq sensationalist mode many others do here. You are a professional. Thank you for your fixing and giving life to electronics small and large.

Done this for over 30 years, but never had an idea on filming an showing it, but thanks, you probably helped a lot of people, keep up your good work.

Awesome! I'm with you - fix it instead of replace it. I just fixed my kids computer power supply last night. A power regulator IC blew up. My kid ordered a new power supply and was going to recycle this one but I decided to give it a shot and repair it. Replaced the IC (learned some more about desoldering and soldering in the process which is a bonus!) and tested it. Works!! - so now he (or I) has a spare power supply. Thanks for making these videos. I learn something new every time.

I struggle to understand why anyone would thumbs down this? Shares in CORSAIR? Landfill investor? Weird. Paul, you consistently have the most superb educational delivery in any technical subject I have studied. Simple narrative, attention to detail and superb audio/visual skills. Thank you mate.

By the sound of that fan, I was sure the bearing was shot. Awesome work on a proper repair!

Great videos. The valve stuff is really interesting but this stuff is also very useful. Thanks.

The before and after was amazing. Good job!

Nice to hear “don’t take it apart as you may disturb the fault and it could go away” instead of that other idiotic comment “don’t turn it on, take it apart” from an unnamed KZfaqr. This is the difference between a real electronics technician who repairs equipment and a fake. So many great tips during this video. Just loved it when you slid the covering down on the croc clips at 17:36 to reduce the chance of shorting, the sign of a true professional.

Paul, could you tell us what the lubricants were, please?

Wholesome fix, nice work. The world needs more of you.

Agreed much better to fix than replace, great vid I didn’t know fans were serviceable

Hope you do more videos like this fixing weird little things they are great 👍

As a mechanic as well as a geek, my go to is actually gear oil. Thicker than most oils but still thin enough to flow around the shaft easier and haven't had an issue of it drying out over time.

Having relubricated many a fan myself, I have two comments to make: Usually, when a fan starts growling like this, the cheap sleeve bearing has worn enough that relubricating will only be a temporary fix. Typically I have gotten another few months to a year or two out of a fan by lubricating it, but they never last as long as the original (already too short) pre-service life. If it's easy to get to this can be worth it to prolong the life and minimize waste as noted here, but if the fan is a real pain to get out of whatever equipment it's in, it can still be worth it to replace it. When you replace the fan, use a high-quality unit with proper bearings in it; while this still means you have to junk the original cheap fan, from that point on it should be a "lifetime" part and you'll never have to replace it again, keeping the cooled device (and your new quality fan) in operation for a long time. A small amount of waste to make up for the manufacturer's shortcomings, but you can at least keep everything else in operation as long as you need. Secondly, the fan shown here was more serviceable than most; it included the rubber face seal (often omitted on the cheapest fans which just rely on the sticker, invariably resulting in all the lubricant leaking out even faster) as well as having a reusable plastic split ring for retaining the shaft. Many of the ones I've disassembled instead use a toothed "one way" ring to retain the fan, and they're effectively impossible to remove without bending/breaking the ring, making proper servicing a lost cause. In those cases either just put some lube on from the outside and move the fan along its shaft to work it in (which will probably work for a while, but not forever if the fan was cheap in the first place), or just replace the fan (once) with a quality unit and never worry about it again.

Great job at fixing the power supply fan Mr. Carlson! Thanks for sharing the video with us!💖👍😎JP

Finally a video of yours I can relate to lol.... jokes aside, been a faithful viewer of yours for YEARS and enjoyed this video just as much as your other ones!

Every engineer and student needs to watch this video! Meticulous work and pure dedication to details!

Very enjoyable. Nice delivery. Excellent explanations to why you do things in a specific way, and especially showing how to renew the item rather than adding it to a landfill. Thank you.

Great step-by-step video! I was able to fix mine in about 45 minutes. The fan rod was completely dry. A ,title lithium grease and light oil did the trick, no more noise! Thank you!

Also, I use sewing machine oil in all the PC fans that I fix when they go noisy. Sewing machine oil is designed for high RPM motors, costs pittance at a sewing store, you don't need much, couple of drops, so the bottle lasts forever too :)

Big thumbs up. 👍

Years ago I had a PSU with this fault, except that I knew nothing at the time and didn't even consider the possibility of it being fixable, so I just kept using it. Eventually it overheated and something blew up... It's amazing the attitude shift that can come from knowing that things can actually be fixed and that it is possible to learn how to fix things. Something I really only learned from excellent people like yourself here on KZfaq. There's no way I'd repeat that mistake again!

You sir are awesome! I had everything put together, flipped the power supply switch and nothing. Five minutes into your video and I realized I did not push the motherboard power button to start everything up. Power supply and computer now work great thanks to you!

"Never short a power supply" ...RIP the 8-bit Guy.

You are the electronics god! Always following your channel. Regards from Uruguay!

Thanks very much! I have just had the exact same problem in a CX650M, it has the same fan, so I followed the procedure exactly. I wasn't sure exactly what to use as the lubricant, so I used some liquid grease we have at work. So far so good, its much quieter now! Hopefully it will keep going for a while longer.

I just love that approach. Repair everything you can, only throw away(and salvage the parts if possible) if the fix cost significantly more in time and/or price. Good job!

Dust? that looks like drywall compound :D

All wires contain smoke, it’s just a matter of how and when you release that smoke 😁

Great diagnostic video on what can happens to a computer power supply. I had one die on me from not only dust but cat fur being sucked into the supply. People don't realize how much trouble dust and even fur can be to a computer supply. The dried up grease is a result of heat and dust getting into the fan. Thanks Paul as always another great video.

That was fun to watch Paul. You make everything seem so simple and easy.

Actually I thought that this video will be a next fan replacement tutorial. I'm glad I was wrong :)

Awesome as always Mr Carlson! Just tell us your 2 favorite lubes please. I cant believe I just typed that. LOL

Always nice to see repairs that don't contribute to the landfill problem. 👍

Excellent job! It is simple but you always have something to learn, it was also fun to watch. Thanks!

Excellent. could you please do a analysis of the power supplies quality of 12V supply under load with a oscilloscope,, basically a test of how accurate and clean the 12V and 5V rails are under load.

What is the blend of two lubricants please ?...cheers.

Excellent. I always try to lubricate noisy fans first. It works almost every time and, as you say, lasts for ages. 👍😊

I'm very impressed. I had known that normal fans wear out because the oil dries up but I had no idea how to actually replace that oil. Personally I'm in love with these enermax fans with enlobal or twister bearings because they use magnets to levitate the blades and thus they never really ever wear out or become noisy. Whenever I buy computer fans I always try to get that kind to avoid this issue from happening. As a small aside, if you go to newegg and go to the case fan section, you will notice one of the criteria selections on the left hand bar is "bearing type" and there are a huge variety something like 20 or 30 bearing types to choose from. I would love to do an in depth video about this because it's tough to figure out what all of them really are since they are all unique company names of bearing types. For instance there are a lot of "hydro dynamic" bearings which sounds fancy, but in reality they are just a simple journal bearing with additional oiling grooves cut in so that when the initial oil dries out, the spiral grooves can lift more out of the reservoir and into the bearing. I would love to order one of each type listed on the site or to somehow find out what each mystery bearing is since they all have special names from the company who makes them and many of them are the same kind with just different names from different companies. What I would especially like to know is which of all those types are actually truly magnetic levitation types like enermax makes so I could have some more companies to choose from. But for now I stick with enermax because I know what they are and they aren't even expensive, 12 dollars or so and they so vastly outperform most standard fans with these oiled bearings that dry out and become a nuisance. I feel like if everybody knew how good they were and how they didn't even cost any extra money, nobody would ever choose the normal oiled bearing style ever again. Oh yeah besides never wearing out and getting noisy, since the spinning fan blades literally hover and have no friction surfaces at all besides the air, they are especially quiet too. I know this is getting long but I know how Noctua is one of the premiere fan makers in the world and make very high end computer fans. Well I figured if they are so good they must have some kind of amazing bearing right? I did some research and emailed them and it turns out they are using a fairly standard oil journal bearing type, I believe they call it an SS02. They have some kind of long term oiling solution though that keeps them from drying out even after many years so I guess that's a bonus. In fact they told me they had never heard of one being used for so many years that it dried up and became noisy. And that really makes me wonder how long it would take because surely the oil will dry up at some point? Or surely somebody has gotten to that point already? Maybe not? I'm not sure who to believe, but it did surprise me that such a high end fan maker is still using this obsolete in my opinion bearing style when they could be using infinite life bearings that have zero friction and zero noise ever. It's funny I found this video because I just bought a used Seasonic PSU a few months ago (best brand by far for quality) and when it arrived the fan was noisy. I did what you pointed out most people do and just ordered a replacement and installed it. BUT I still do have the old worn out fan, along with some others from over the years that have gotten worn out and noisy inside my PC, and now that you've shown how to fix them I would love to give it a try sometime becasue like you I also hate throwing things away into the landfill when they can be easily fixed.

It was more like how to service a noisy fan

Something to consider when fixing fans is that there are 3 types of bearings now. The cheaper the power supply, the cheaper the manufacturer goes. Corsair did well here, but some have hydraulic ("fluid dynamic") bearings. The bearing actually holds a fluid rather than grease. Once the seal is broken the fluid leaks out, and the fan is toast. Just something to watch for.

That's a common issue as for PSU that lacks attention from its owner. One of the easiest fixes possible. Anyway it was actually quite satisfying to watch. That was a nice touch when you decided to use rubbing alcohol before putting sticker back. I respected that.

Nice work, nice and informative. Thanks for sharing.

What lubricants did you use? What types are acceptable and what should be avoided?

Have you considered supporting Louis Rossman and anything along the lines of Right to Repair? I know he's US based but still, you two could rule the world together. 😍 Love the channel, hoping to see what comes of that old automotive tester soon.

honestly the best powersuply fan repair video i ever seen .. thanks allot gr8

A big shout out for sharing your very professional expertise to all of us DIYers wanna be electonics hobbiests!

I always thought the bushings were ruined at that point! Now I can hardly wait to try this! THANK YOU!

It's always a great thing to save perfectly fine electronics from going to the landfill. Whisper quiet after your fix. Nice job. Thanks for sharing this video.

Outstanding job. I hung out with you till the end. Wow. I was looking for a video to show me how to replace the power supply on my PC and I stumbled on yours. It can't help me in my regard, but it was sure nice looking at you do this tedious work and fix your friend's power supply. My computer shuts down and restarts itself when the power supply is going bad. This one doesn't make any noise though and the computer is restarting itself and shutting down again after two years of installing it. I suppose it is the power supply going bad. Whenever I replace it, the shutting down and restarting itself stops. Thanks again. :)