Ron Farrer wrote:
>
> Matt Burke (spraints@andromeda.68k.org) wrote:
>
> > I have an SX164 Alpha machine, and I'm pretty sure that the CPU fan is
> > going bad. I've had the machine for 2 1/2 years now, and the CPU fan has
> > been making noise, on and off, for the past few months. The noise is
> > less frequent now, but the computer doesn't stay up for much longer than
> > 30-60 minutes at a time anymore, which seems to either be a
> > circulation/temperature problem or, after searching through the
> > archives, a problem with the CPU fan not spinning fast enough anymore.
>
> Shutdown the system, then take the case off. While carefully watching
> the fan (for visable speed changes) turn the system on. Watch the fan,
> does it "look" like it stays at the same speed (I know, this can be
> hard). Or if you have a temp probe to stick in there you can go that
> route. ;-)
It's too bad that basic home repair tools don't included a strobe light.
That would make it a lot easier to figure out how fast the fan was
spinning and whether it changed.
I haven't noticed any changes in the fan speed. When I stuck a plain old
wall thermometer in there, it came up with about 94 degrees F after
about 20 minutes of uptime. (The humidity was 50%, according to the
humidity gauge at the bottom of the thermometer.) Outside of the
computer, it is cooler and more humid. Oh yeah, and I've been running
with my case off for a month or two now. That was before the machine
started "not staying up". Around that time, I heard what sounded light a
very faint MB alarm, which prompted me to take the cover off and leave
it off. I haven't heard the "alarm"-ish sound at all recently.
> Basically what I want to know is: Does the fan stop completely? or
> noticably slow down? and are you sure it was the cpu fan making noises
> (i.e. not the power supply fan, or another case fan). Also, by
> "doesn't stay up" do you mean it locks up, powers off or something else?
"Doesn't stay up" means that it seems to power down in that the monitor
goes into power save mode and the modem hangs up (if I'm dialed in
somewhere). If I were to sit and look at the inside of the computer when
it did this, I wouldn't notice any change since the fans and drives stay
on until I hit the power switch.
The way that I decided the CPU fan was having problems was by, when I
heard a grinding noise, I took a pencil and used the eraser to stop the
CPU fan from moving. The noise stopped (and I'm pretty sure my machine
went down in the manner described above).
Matt
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