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TIL a weird trick for fixing a stuck laptop fan that actually worked
Had a Dell Latitude from 2019 in the shop yesterday, fan was making a grinding noise and wouldn't spin up. I tried blowing it out with air, no luck. On a hunch, I put a single drop of light machine oil on the fan's center spindle, let it sit for 10 minutes, and powered it on. The noise stopped and temps dropped back to normal. Has anyone else tried this fix, or is it just a lucky one-time thing?
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rubyw832mo ago
Wait, you put oil inside a laptop?
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reed.eva2mo ago
Yeah, the "oil in a laptop" thing. A friend of mine tried that cooling pad trick with mineral oil and it totally fried his motherboard. I mean, it was a huge mess and he lost everything on the drive. Some ideas just need to stay on the internet.
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the_robert2mo ago
People see those crazy videos and think it's a good idea... mineral oil doesn't conduct electricity, sure, but it's still a thick liquid. It gets everywhere, traps dust, and ruins any thermal paste or pads. Your friend's story is the perfect example of why you don't pour cooking oil logic into a thousand dollar machine. Some hacks are just for views, not for real life.
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