Steve,

It sounds like you've narrowed it down to one particular fan... that's good!

Did you remove the fan from the machine when you cleaned it? Vacuuming/cleaning from outside may not work. The dirt really clings.

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What is your reasoning about using oil around the fan area?

I have some concerns with that:

1. Getting oil on machine components will leave them vulnerable to dirt which will accumulate and make black goo.

2. If the fan itself is making the noise, oil around it will not help unless you get it right into the fan spindle and nowhere else and that is an iffy proposition. The best thing to do then is probably to replace the fan (cheap, easy).

3. The sound can also be d/t vibrations between the fan and machine casing, if any screws have come loose. In that case, oil would not help anywhere. Replace the screws or try using little plastic seals with the screws.

Good luck!

waves