View Single Post
Old 09-15-2010, 11:03 AM   #32
Flint
Snowflake
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Dystopia
Posts: 13,136
Quote:
Originally Posted by Flint View Post
  1. an air compressor works even better...but: DON'T SPIN THE FANS (you'll wear the bearings out)
Quote:
Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce View Post
Really? I don't know much about computers, but quite a bit about bearings, and I'm curious how you came up with that?
My reasoning was that: in order to move the amount of air that a PC fan is designed to move, it moves at the RPM it is designed to operate at. It is designed to spin at that RPM for a reasonable lifetime (number of revolutions). If you accelerate the RPM of the device x1000 by blowing an air compressor directly into the fan, it stands to reason that you are exceeding the RPM it is designed to operate at, as well as "adding years to its life" by burning through a bazillion of the revolutions the manufacturer designed it to complete before failure.

Therefore, if using an air compressor to blow out a PC, stick a pencil or something in the fan to hold it in place so you don't wear out the device unnecessarily. Maybe you can use a more correct mechanical terminology to describe why that is.
__________________
******************
There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio
Flint is offline   Reply With Quote