Keeping your PC Cool

							                        Keeping your PC Cool




All PC’s use internal fans to keep them cool. They are a critical component to prevent
instability and more importantly to prolong the life of the PC. Unfortunately the fan is
the weakest link within the PC. Faulty and failed fans will very quickly lead to the
breakdown of the PC. The Hardware Tutorial feature in October’s issue of PCZONE,
Britain’s best PC games magazine, suggests that ‘replacing with a decent Papst fan’
is one way of keeping your PC cool.

All electronic circuits generate heat and some, such as circuits and power supplies
within PCs, can generate enough heat to damage themselves. All electronic
components have a maximum working temperature. Exceeding this temperature will
result in the characteristics of the component changing and/or failure of the
component by the break down of the materials within.

A change in the components characteristics means the circuit will function differently.
This may have little effect to the function of the overall device, or result in some
instability, or it could seriously damage other parts of the circuit. The failure of the
component will often mean the rest of the circuit is unable to work, or cause serious
damage to other parts of the circuit.

When the components are running cool, well within their temperature limits, they can
last hundreds of thousand of hours; decades. When they operate in hotter
environments the lifetime will be much reduced, with components operating above
their limits only lasting a few hours.

The fans used within PCs have motors that too have electronic components within
the motor drives and so too have a finite life, the same life as the circuits within the
PC. However the motor also has one or more bearings and these have a much
reduced life expectancy than the electronics. The bearing systems are either a
sleeve design or a ball bearing based design. The life expectancy of both will vary
with temperature; the life expectancy of the bearing will reduce as it operates at
higher temperatures. Failing bearing are often identified by a rumbling noise, but
often it is not found until it seizes and the fan stops rotating.

So there is a component, the fan, within the PC that is there to ensure the life
expectancy of the rest of the system will last longer than itself! The Hardware Tutorial
in October’s issue of PCZONE magazine gives wise advice and suggested
maintenance on keeping your PC cool and lasting longer. Learn more by visiting
www.pczone.co.uk.