On Our Bench: Overheating Custom PC With Broken Fans and a Clogged Radiator (NJ)

Posted September 29, 2026 at 8:55 AM ET

A real repair from the bench at Dave's Computers in Somerville, NJ. A custom-built PC came in running hot, the front panel fans were broken, and the fans on the liquid cooler radiator could barely turn. Here is what we found and what we did.

🔧 Repairs on Our Bench 🏆 On the Bench Since 2011 📍 Somerville, NJ · Drop-Off Shop

Custom gaming PC with MSI GeForce RTX graphics card and MSI motherboard after Corsair RS120 front fan replacement at Dave's Computers in Somerville, NJ — The custom PC on our Somerville bench with the panels off.

What came in

A customer brought in their custom gaming PC because it was overheating. Two problems stood out right away: the fans on the front panel were broken, and the system could not move enough air to keep the parts cool.

What we found

The front intake fans were done and needed to be replaced. The bigger surprise was the liquid cooler. The fans mounted on the radiator were so badly caked with buildup, on the blades and around the fan ring, that they could barely spin. A liquid cooler is only as good as the air pushed through its radiator, so with those fans choked off, the CPU heat had nowhere to go.

What we did

Replaced the front panel fans with quality Corsair RS120 fans to restore proper intake airflow. (See our desktop case fan replacement service.)
Cleaned the radiator fans by hand with a wire brush, working the buildup off the fan blades and out of the fan ring until they spun freely again.
Put it back together and checked it with the system running, fans spinning and lighting working.

Inside view of a custom PC after the liquid cooler radiator fans were cleaned, with MSI motherboard and GeForce RTX graphics card — Inside the case after the work: cleaned radiator fans up top and a clear path for airflow.

The result

Overall it came out nicely. The fans move air the way they are supposed to again, and the PC went home with working cooling instead of a slow cook.

Dave's tip: keep your PC clean. Dust and buildup do not just look bad. They block airflow, and that leads to overheating. Heat that goes on long enough leads to part failure, and replacing a failed part costs a lot more than a cleaning. If you can see dust on your fans or filters, it is time. Our desktop PC cleaning and thermal service handles it, and our AIO liquid cooler replacement page covers what happens when a cooler is past saving.

Running hot or hearing fans struggle? Custom-built PCs start with our custom PC diagnostic, and you can see everything we do for these machines on our custom PC repair and upgrades page.

Parts on This Job

The brands and models we could identify in this build.

Part	Brand / model	What we did
Front case fans	Corsair RS120	Installed to replace the broken front panel fans
Liquid cooler radiator fans	Original fans on the CPU liquid cooler	Cleaned by hand with a wire brush until they spun freely
Motherboard	MSI	No work needed
Graphics card	MSI GeForce RTX	No work needed
Memory	TEAMGROUP T-FORCE (2 sticks)	No work needed
Storage	Kingston M.2 NVMe SSD	No work needed

PC Running Hot? Bring It to Dave's in Somerville, NJ

Drop it off at our shop and we will find out why it is overheating before anything gets replaced. Call to schedule or send a repair request.

📞 (908) 428-9558

Mon-Fri 10am-5pm · Sat 9am-2pm · 75 N Bridge St, Somerville NJ · Drop-Offs Welcome