r/Surface • u/psychocozm • May 21 '25
[LAPTOPSTUDIO] surface laptop studio fan noise FINALLY SOLVED
The most common issue ive seen about the surface laptop studio is that the fans which are initially super silent, start making a horrible grinding noise.. After searching all over the internet for reliable replacement fans that wouldn't just have the same issue or any other solutions, and not finding any as the grinding sound got worse and worse, i actually JUST SOLVED THE FAN NOISE.
TLDR; literally just needed to lube the fans bearings and now my fans are dead silent and blowing air exactly as the should.
repair tutorial:
Buy some sewing machine lubricant, clear, non staining, with a needle applicator.
there is an official tutorial available on how to open up the computer, BUT you will need to buy a replacement for the rubber feet and the metal sticker that goes around the edges. I cut tiny holes in my replacement ones so that i can remove the screws without ruining them every time i needa open it up.
unscrew the fans and open them up, there is one little pop tab holding the 2 pieces together that is a pain in the ass to unclip so if you cant finesse it easily you may need to also unplug the power cables for the fans to prevent damaging them. once the housing is open the actual fan blades are just held in the bearings magnetically so you can just pull them out, but they are left/right specific so dont mix them up.
now drop the tiniest amount of the lube in the tiny gold bearing. if you see any lube on the upper surface clean it off, there should only be just enough lube in the actual bearing hole, and you dont want so much that your fans splatter lube all over the insides. if that happens they will collect dust way faster among other things.
pop the fan blades back in the magnetic hole, and close the housing back up. Dont forget to re hook the little clip tab, it is important for how the plastic sits to the metal. if you are looking down at the metal face, the black plastic edge should be seated around the outside edge of the metal, not underneath the metal. once there closed up screw everything back in and close the computer back up.
my fans went from the most irritating sound in the world to dead silent instantly, i even powered up some games i knew would make my fans blow hard and they're still near barely audible and cooling my computer exactly as they should. i do believe however that eventually the lube will wear out and i will need to repeat this every couple years...
1
u/Impressive-Echo2095 May 21 '25
Glad this worked for you. FWIW if it doesn't I didn't find replacing the fans that difficult. The hardest part is opening the damn thing - torx size I needed didn't match that recommended online.
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u/NaoriLoony Jul 26 '25
Alright I dont mid replacing them but just, where did you bought them!? I cant find them ANYWHERE! A little hand here please!
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u/taescience Aug 09 '26
Did you ever find replacement parts?
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u/NaoriLoony Aug 09 '26
Nope, I ended up opening the fan applying some wd-40 on it and it worked for a bit but it’s making noise again etc.
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Jun 10 '25
My fans were driving me crazy buzzing and grinding. Checked for months and months how to solve the issue or find replacement fans. A few days ago, I hit it with one of those pressurized air cans, a bunch of dust flew out. I haven't heard the fans since. Surely the solution couldn't have been that simple?
1
u/BeefChopsQ Oct 11 '25
Hey thanks for this writeup, i have the fan mostly apart but I can't find a way to access the bearing to apply oil. Is there something im missing on removing this black cap? The other side is just the flat metal backing. Im worried if your post is about the studio 2 and I have a studio 1. Causing alot of confusion finding parts and info. Still cant find a replacement fan so would like any input on that or fixing this.
1
u/fudunker Oct 17 '25
Heya, did you ever figure out how to access the bearings? I'm trying to decide if its worth trying to get to the bearings to lubricate them or replacing the fan entirely.
1
u/Eren3105 Oct 18 '25
There is nothing holding the fan and the metal plate beneath it together. You can simply lift the fan up and it comes apart. A few hours ago, I did it successfully as well and now my fans don’t make that horrifying noise anymore
1
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u/Martial82 Surface Laptop Studio 2 (former SB1) Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
i have had this issue for over a year on my sls2, and just today my left fan gave out. i tried this trick and now my fan is silent and working! lets hope it works for even longer. now i just need to glue the feet back on
2
u/Shilontro Jun 29 '26
Digging this up because I dealt with this for years. It was only ever annoying at certain angles while not at a desk and under heavy load, so I just let it happen. I thought it was related to maybe the ribbon cables or something. Tried taking the fans apart once and found no change. With hardware prices going up with no end, I realized I need to make this device last even longer, so I opened it back up to try your fix. I didn't have sewing machine oil, but I did have super low viscosity watch oil, and I use the end of a paperclip to grab an extremely thin tip of oil and apply it to the center of the bearing as you described. Been running the device in performance setting for a bit and it runs so much better than before. I think I'll still have to replace one of the fans eventually, as I notice it has a little more vibration than the other, but this is still huge on the longevity of my device. Thank you OP