Arc Raiders Cooling Fan: Where to Find It and How Players Ac

[StormFrostX]

What is the Cooling Fan used for?

The Cooling Fan is a rare recyclable material. Its main purpose is project progression. At some point in your base development, you will hit a requirement that asks for multiple Cooling Fans, alongside common materials like wires and cloth.

In practice, most players first encounter the Cooling Fan as loot they don’t immediately need. That leads to two common mistakes: selling it for coins too early, or recycling it without realizing it’s required later.

If you are pushing core systems and framework upgrades, you will need Cooling Fans in bulk. Five of them are required in a single project stage, which is a lot considering how inconsistently they drop.

Where do Cooling Fans actually drop?

Cooling Fans come from technological loot sources. That sounds vague, but in real gameplay terms, there is one source that matters far more than the rest.

Server Racks are the main source

Server Racks are the most reliable way to find Cooling Fans. If you are not opening Server Racks, you are leaving most Cooling Fans on the table.

They usually appear in indoor or semi-indoor locations: office buildings, industrial complexes, underground facilities, and similar points of interest. Areas with visible cabling, terminals, and stacked equipment are where you should slow down and search carefully.

Most experienced players make a habit of checking every Server Rack they see, even when they are not explicitly farming Cooling Fans. Over time, that passive habit adds up.

Why other tech containers feel unreliable

Yes, Cooling Fans technically belong to the “Technological” loot category, but other tech containers have much larger loot pools. That makes Cooling Fans feel inconsistent if you are just looting everything randomly.

If your run does not include Server Racks, your odds drop sharply. That is why players who “never see Cooling Fans” are often skipping the exact containers that matter.

Are Cooling Fans common or rare in practice?

On paper, Cooling Fans are labeled as rare. In actual gameplay, they feel rarer than that label suggests, especially when you need several at once.

You might go multiple runs without seeing one, then suddenly find two in the same area. This uneven distribution is normal. The mistake is assuming bad luck means you are doing something wrong.

What helps most is volume. Players who run short, repeatable routes through tech-heavy zones tend to accumulate Cooling Fans without explicitly farming them.

How much do Cooling Fans weigh and why does that matter?

Each Cooling Fan weighs 3.0 and stacks up to three units. That means a full stack weighs nine, which is not trivial if you are already carrying weapons, armor, and other crafting materials.

In practice, players often drop Cooling Fans mid-run when pressure hits, especially early in the game. Later, those same players regret it.

If you know you need Cooling Fans for a project, it is usually worth extracting early rather than risking a full bag. They take up weight quickly, but replacing them later often takes more time than replacing common loot.

Should you sell Cooling Fans for coins?

Cooling Fans sell for 2,000 coins. That sounds decent early on, but it is rarely the best choice.

Coins are easier to replace than rare project materials. A single failed project stage because you are missing Cooling Fans will cost more time than you gained by selling them.

Most experienced players follow a simple rule:

Keep all Cooling Fans until core and framework projects are complete

Only sell extras once your progression no longer depends on them

Selling them early almost always leads to backtracking later.

Is recycling Cooling Fans worth it?

Recycling a Cooling Fan gives plastic parts and wires. Salvaging gives wires only.

This looks tempting if you are short on wires, but it is usually a bad trade unless you are completely done with projects that require Cooling Fans.

Wires are common. Cooling Fans are not.

Players who recycle Cooling Fans early often end up farming Server Racks later just to undo that decision. The resource math looks fine on paper, but gameplay reality punishes it.

When does it make sense to recycle them?

There are two situations where recycling Cooling Fans is reasonable:

You have completed all known projects that require them

You have a surplus well beyond any future needs

At that point, recycling them into wires and plastic parts can smooth out crafting bottlenecks. Before that, it is almost always better to store them.

How players usually farm Cooling Fans without trying

Most players do not run “Cooling Fan routes.” Instead, they build habits that naturally increase their supply.

These habits include:

Prioritizing indoor tech locations over open areas

Checking every Server Rack, even during combat-heavy runs

Extracting early when carrying rare materials instead of pushing greedily

Avoiding recycling rare items unless they are sure they are done with them

Over time, this approach builds a steady inventory without burnout.

Common mistakes newer players make

The same patterns show up again and again:

Ignoring Server Racks because they look unimportant

Selling Cooling Fans for early coin upgrades

Recycling them for wires during early base progression

Dropping them mid-run to make room for weapons

None of these feel wrong in the moment, but they slow progression later.

How Cooling Fans fit into long-term progression

Cooling Fans are not exciting loot. They do not unlock flashy gear or change combat directly. What they do is quietly gate your base progression.

Players who plan ahead rarely notice them as a problem. Players who ignore them often hit a hard stop and wonder why progress suddenly feels slow.

If you are the type of player who likes to prepare, Cooling Fans should sit in your storage alongside other rare materials, untouched until needed.

Some players even compare their value to blueprint progression decisions, like when deciding whether to buy Shredder Gyro blueprint early or wait. Both are about timing and knowing what future stages will demand.

Final advice from long-time players

If you remember only one thing, remember this: Cooling Fans are easier to keep than to replace.

Check Server Racks. Store what you find. Do not panic when they feel rare. Over enough runs, they will add up, and when the project screen asks for five of them, you will be glad you planned ahead.

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