Today I opened the case for the first time, and I cleaned around a bit. I didn't have compressed air, so I just cleaned the most obvious parts with one of those special tissues that don't leave little pieces (dry).

Anyway, I didn't unplug anything, but I did remove the fan box and tried to clean it inside. After discovering that the fan itself was innaccessible, I closed the box and put it back on the socket.

I somewhat cleaned the little Intel fan without removing it, and closed everything. I plugged everything back, sat back, took a deep breath and turned the PC on.

Right away, I heard a small clicking noise coming from the tower, but I was not sure if it was the fan. After a minute, it stopped making that noise. The fan itself was working, and I instantly noticed it wasn't making so much noise as before.

But the BIOS gave me a "CPU Fan Error! Press F1 to resume" message.

I pressed F1, and went into my OS without problems. But I was a bit worried about the message. I restarted again, and again the message was there, but everything seemed to work fine.

Then I had the idea of turning on the Hardware Sensor applet in GNOME, and got a nasty surprise, the temperature was 110C! Right away, the computer shut down.

So I unplugged everything, opened the case, and while the main fan was fine, the Intel fan was very hot (but not enough to burn much at the touch). I didn't see anything melted, so I just left the case open and let it cool off.

Right now, I'm not sure what I should do. I still have to wait an hour to call a tech guy, but meanwhile maybe someone knows what I did wrong.

I'm on my old laptop now, I'm not sure I want to try to turn on the computer again.

did you plug the fan back in? and to the correct socket?

as for the 'clicking noise', sounds like something catching the fan blade, most likely the power cord/wire

I didn't unplug the fan. I just removed the box and kept it close to the case.

I'm going to check it out again now, to see if I see anything loose.

I did see a black and red cable with a white head unplugged (not in the fan box, though), and I can't remember if it was that way when I opened the case.

As I said, I didn't willingly unplug anything, as I just swept some dirt away and nothing more.

I should have waited until I was fully recovered before doing this... -__-

as long as you know (take note if need be) of what wires your unplug, your best removing the fans to clean them, especially the processor fan. as its more the heatsink that needs cleaning rather than the fan

You can try booting with the case open to check if all fans are spinning. If they are, everything is probably ok. Some parts inside your PC can get quite hot, especially the GPU and CPU. Temperatures of 60~70 degrees celsius are not uncommon in these areas, which is quite hot to touch with your bare hands, but does not instantly burn your skin.

As for the hardware sensor you used: have you successfully used it before? If I just start some random hardware monitoring app without properly configuring it first, I always get a few nonsense readings (even had one of -127 degrees Celsius on an old P2)

if you took the heatsink off the CPU, you might have also made the thermal grease less effective

Guys, after my last message I came back to see if anything was loose. I pressed some of the plugged stuff, just in case they had been pulled by mistake.

Then I plugged everything but left the case open, and all fans are working fine. I don't get the CPU Fan Error message at boot time, but I still get a slightly higher temperature than before. CPU temperature used to be less than 60C, and now it's almost 70C.

I just hope I don't fry anything, because at this time I can't afford to buy new stuff.

quote:

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Originally posted by L. Coyote
CPU temperature used to be less than 60C, and now it's almost 70C.

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quote:

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Originally posted by ShawnZ
if you took the heatsink off the CPU, you might have also made the thermal grease less effective

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$7 if you want the good stuff

psh, i just used the stuff that came with my Q6600 .

remember to use rubbing alcohol to take off the old residue!1534532524523452

Haha! I'll see what I can get.

Thanks everyone! Glad to know I wasn't entirely alone in my first PC cleanup, as lame as it sounds!

You can use pre-made paste other than alcohol. I find the paste better for cleaning as it's more compatible with the thermal paste. 

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Originally posted by Quantum
it's more compatible with the thermal paste

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What i meant is, it goes on better after cleaning.

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Originally posted by Quantum
What i meant is, it goes on better after cleaning.

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This Monday I'm taking the tower to get it greased and to see if they can remove the rest of the dust I couldn't remove.

For now, I'm using it for browsing, with a side of the case open, and I got EVEREST to monitor the temperature. Doesn't reach 80ºC.

Unfortunately, there are no resellers in town, so I can't get the grease myself. But I'll keep in mind the advices for when I am able to replace it by myself!

Again, thanks a lot.

quote:

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Originally posted by L. Coyote
This Monday I'm taking the tower to get it greased and to see if they can remove the rest of the dust I couldn't remove

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That error happened to me months ago. I'm 90% sure the reason was my memory card reader's cable that wasn't plugged very well. It was loosen. I removed and put back and had no more problems.

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Originally posted by Chancer
That error happened to me months ago. I'm 90% sure the reason was my memory card reader's cable that wasn't plugged very well. It was loosen. I removed and put back and had no more problems.

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quote:

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Originally posted by davidpolitis
So... what happened?

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quote:

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Originally posted by L. Coyote
Now it's properly solved. ;P

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