Why is it always the goddamn fan?

[elfs]

The fan on my laptop is dying. I can hear the bearing whirring. It's loud, and getting louder. Apparently, this is really common in Thinkpad T60s, because the fan is on all the time to deal with the overpowered GPU.

It looks like replacing the fan is trivial, although there's a non-trivial "use exactly 0.2 grams of thermal grease type XYZBBQWTF" instruction in there which warns of dire circumstances if I fail to heed the warning.

Sigh. Maybe I'll just take it to Seattle Laptop. They'll charge me an arm and a leg and possibly an ear, but for some reason I'm just not inspired to crack open a used laptop that's less than a year old. Unfortunately, it was a refurb when I bought it, so it's warranty expired back in July.

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Actually? I haven't had very good experiences with SL lately. There's two places in Ballard, and I can't remember which one I liked better... Advanced and A-1 Best. A-1 Best has a West Seattle location as well, though, and better hours on Saturday, so...

Good luck with it.

[solarbird]

You could get one of those USB-powered laptop cooling slabs. For next time, or something.

[ibsulon.livejournal.com]

Just get some Arctic Silver and be done with it. Just remember that it's a very thin coat, not a thick one.

[(Anonymous)]

Arctic Silver ftw.

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

Arctic silver is not a bearing grease.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Bearing grease will do absolutely nothing for a fan like this. The whole heat sink will have to be replaced; Arctic silver sounds like an ideal tool for the job.

[lucky-otter.livejournal.com]

Oh, I completely failed at reading your original post - didn't note the "thermal" part of "thermal grease". That's what I get for commenting while sick.

[phred1973.livejournal.com]

IAWTC

[antonia-tiger.livejournal.com]

That's a little detail worth knowing.

I have a strong feeling that I could fix the old laptop I have, if it would come apart as advertised, but it looks as if something has aged to an approximation of glue.

[areitu.livejournal.com]

I've taken apart a few notebooks, one to replace the fan, the other to diagnose an odd issue. In my experience, as long as there's enough contact between the two surfaces, it should be fine. 0.2 grams is probably what the factory spec is, for maximum surface area, once the plate is torqued down.

It's much easier when the laptop company has the "hardware maintenance manual" up for download, as is the case with Thinkpads.

[fuzzyr.livejournal.com]

I had a terrible problem with my T42p. Actually, with all three of them, each which had their fans fail. My T21 before them, and T61p since them have worked brilliantly. I hadn't heard of the problem with T60s.

[phred1973.livejournal.com]

"use exactly 0.2 grams of thermal grease type XYZBBQWTF"

Oh Please.. The heatsink on the CPU itself doesn't need that kinda lingo - prperly apply a good quality thermal grease - I really like the Artic Silver brand goop, myself. All geeks should own at least a tube of good grease, and know how to use it. the exactly .02g bit smells of 'no user-serviceable parts inside' bullshiite. :p

However you fix it, I raise my tea mug to you, and the health of your machine(s), good Sir.

[phred1973.livejournal.com]

As User ibsulon has already pointed out... maybe I should read all comments first, or something ;)

Why is it always the [insert name of moving part here]?

[(Anonymous)]

... because moving parts wear out. And moving parts in hot environments wear out faster. But you knew all that.

I think you get much more use out of a laptop than many of the rest of us. (Maybe we, your loyal readers, need to chip in and get you a Panasonic Toughbook.) Even though my T42 travels to work and back with me every day, it doesn't get used during the trip. And I bet that all the bouncing and wiggling on your lap* doesn't have a good effect on fan-bearing life.

My wife and I have T42 (2373-B09 with the Bluetooth modem added, among other upgrades) models -- which have the Radeon 9600 GPU -- and the CPU/GPU fan module in each one has failed on me. The replacement procedure, while unnerving, is actually straightforward. Just do yourself a favor and Google for some pictures of what things look like under all the goop that's currently there so you know what you can pry on. The time I spent to do that helped considerably. In my case the heat sink came off the CPU with very little force, it was the attachment to the GPU that required a frightening level of force to separate.

(And what's with this "use exactly 0.2g" BS? The original unit had that crap squeezed out every side, I had to clean it up with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol. I call shenanigans. And the people who say "use Arctic Silver"? Listen to them, they are wise beyond their thermal envelopes.)

Swapping out the heat sink is about an hour's work for me, just keep an ice cube tray handy for all the little parts. Use your judgment, frequently you don't have to remove all the pieces the HMM tells you to.

Alternatively, paying someone else to have the headache can be tremendously liberating. Best of luck either way!

Bryan



*I didn't write that phrase to be intentionally naughty, but when I went back and read it I found myself going "Hmmm, 'wiggling on Elf's lap...' that could be fun." and thinking very naughty thoughts.

[ewhac.livejournal.com]

Rejoice, for you have one of the most hacked and hackable laptops out there. For some reason, people just love to tear in to Thinkpads.

I've never pulled the heatsink out of a laptop before, but I've done it on several desktop systems. Arctic Silver is The Stuff. Ensure both surfaces are clean and free of all grit and dust. Apply a very thin layer to the heatsink surface -- many people use the edge of a credit card to spread it out thinly. You need surprisingly little; you're just trying to compensate for what few mechanical imperfections remain. Mate the heatsink to the chip and fix the mounts.

Alternate suggestion: Get a can of air and a vacuum cleaner with a hose. Apply vacuum cleaner to the CPU fan air intake. Blow can of air into the exhaust vents to dislodge caked-on dust. (Don't apply vacuum too firmly or too long; you don't want to over-spin the fan backwards.) I've often found this is enough to keep the fan happy.

[elfs.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm perfectly happy tearing into a thinkpad (http://flickr.com/photos/elfsternberg/141742775/). I've replaced my monitor, my backlight, and my keyboard. (The backlight is even listed as a non-FRU; they recommend just replacing the monitor whole). I'm just miffed with having to do it on a refurb that's less than a year old.