Rattling Case Fan

[Glenn9999]

I had a 120mm case fan that was rattling (making noises). I tried moving wires out of the way of it, that didn't work and finally figured out that there was a possible airflow issue (the noise would stop when I had the case off). I switched the fan to low from medium and the noise went away, with the case on.

Is that the likely explanation (not enough air coming in, too much coming out), or is this fan on the way to biting the dust?

The 120mm fan blows air out the back, I have a 80mm case fan in the front, along with the power supply fans and the CPU fan. System is relatively clean.

Edited March 10, 2008 by Glenn9999

[Antar Bolaeisk]

Probably the fan is on the way out but honestly that post didn't make much sense even on the fifth re-read. What do you mean by when the case is off? do you mean that you've taken off a sidepanel or something? If that is the case, pun not intended, that removing bits of your case reduces the noise you should be looking for anything that rattles. Just get your head in there with your ear up close to everything, don't be afraid to apply pressure to panels on the case to see if that reduces the noise.

[Glenn9999]

Noises are hard to explain, aren't they? The first thought I had when I started hearing the noise was that there was a power wire touching the fan blades. Wasn't a metallic sound, either, so nothing structural. By "had the case off" I meant removing the side panels. Putting my ear up close to everything was how I singled out this particular fan.

But especially since 1) the noise happened and 2) It went away after tinkering with this fan's settings, I'm wondering how to explain the noise in the first place and if it represents a problem.