Deep cleaning Noctua fans?

Goobertron · November 8, 2013

I bought a used Noctua NH-D14 with the NF-P12 and NF-P14 fans and both fans and the heatsink itself absolutely reek of stale smoke. In order to stop the rancid smell being blown in to my room I want to clean all the parts.

I've been told that I can clean all the parts including the fans in soapy water and that as long as they are all properly dried there will be no ill effects. All I really want is clarification on how best to clean and dry the fans (they smell much worse than the heatsink) without destroying the electric components.

My plan so far is to submerge them in soapy water giving them a good scrub (but too hard, obviously) and then rinse them in deionised water before letting them dry for a couple of days near the radiator.

Does that sound about right?

Thanks

Lord Pantaloons · November 8, 2013

spray them with hot sauce and Axe, that way you'll throw up instead of cough and die from cigarette stink.

Electronics Wizardy · November 8, 2013

take them apart and put them in dishwasher

Ookami · November 9, 2013

I dunno the build of those fans, but most i did clean needed to have applied fresh oil onto the spinning part. Build may be different, but taking it apart and cleaning the blades under water and using a paper towels to clean them ( they will propably have old oil on it) will be better than to leave it to dry itself. Of course you can dry it with paper towels and also leave it to dry off. Rest of the fan (except the motor itself) clean with some wet cloth and also dry it with paper towels. When they are dry apply new oil to them moving part on blades (dip small paper towel in oil and use that to apply the oil). Now when assembled and connect it to the power source and see if did it helped. If not you may also need to try to check the motor itself.

Note: NEVER use anything like WD-40 as a oil part! It will stop working after few days and in most cases screw up a fan.

Goobertron · November 9, 2013

Thanks guys. As far as i'm aware Noctua fans cannot be dismantled due to the way they're constructed. Doing so basically means you've kill the whole unit (afaik).