[drcarl]

My iMac 17" fan is making a repetitious sound that is very annoying. I am hoping that it is just a dust problem on the fan. I plan to go buy some compressed air at Costco tomorrow and spray it into the top vents.

My questions are:
1. Is there a particular place that I should spray the air in?

2. Should I shutdown/unplug the iMac before spraying the air?

3. Is this likely to solve my problem? It just developed today.

Thanks!

[drcarl]

Any opinions out there before I shoot compressed air into the vents?

[bstieritz]

Originally posted by drcarl:
Any opinions out there before I shoot compressed air into the vents?

drcarl,

I wish I had some advice for you, doc.

The only little tidbit I can provide you with is some useful information . . . call it a sort of "public service announcement" . . . concerning those cans of compressed air that everyone (including myself) love to use to "clean" our computers. According to this month's PC MAGAZINE they recommend keeping those compressed air products as far away from your computer as possible.

Apparently, typical canned-air cleaning products create an electrically charged stream of air that actually attracts more dust to your system! You shoot that can into your computer vents and you might end up inviting more dust-bunnies to move in before you know it.

Good luck, doc


cheers,
brian

[Odinn Zero Five]

I was thinking, instead of spreading the dust around inside the casing....

why not use a vaccumm hose attachment to suck it out?

Just an idea.

[bstieritz]

Originally posted by Odinn Zero Five:
I was thinking, instead of spreading the dust around inside the casing....

why not use a vaccumm hose attachment to suck it out?

Just an idea.

damn . . . that just might work

You rock, Odinn! And, welcome to macnn . . . we need more common sense thinkers like yourself.


cheers,
brian

[drcarl]

Well, I was too impatient to wait for a reply and sprayed my iMac (Shut it down first). The fan sound is still there and now it seems I may get more dust. Any way, thanks bstieritz and Odinn for your help. The Mac community rocks!

Does any one have an explanation or solution to this irritating noise. To be fair, the spin of the harddrive is louder than the fan. Kind of sounds like the clicking sound you get when riding a 10-speed bicycle when you coast down a hill without pedaling.

[drcarl]

Today, my fan is much quieter than before. Maybe the canned air worked by disrupting some dust but then it took some time for the fan to shake it all off? Hopefully, the charged particles from the compressed air won't have much of an effect on how quickly the fan picks up more dust. Guess time will tell.

[euphras]

Normally dust on a fans impeller doesn�t give any Sound. Maybe the bearing of the fan dies...