My Fan in T42 has died THREE times since January

[ehsu]

Hi everyone,

This is the 3rd time my CPU fan has died since January '06.

First time it died, it was after a shutdown. The Fan never came back up after the shutdown in January.

Second time it died in March, it was during an intense battle of a RTS game. I created quite a bit of troops and was ready for an assault. Then the machine suddenly went POOF! I guess it was due to the malfunction of the fan that caused CPU to halt on overheating.

Third time it died last Friday, again, it was confirmed after a system reboot. But Unlike the first time, I noticed my machine only locked at 600Mhz and is considerately slow even plugged while browsing/word. I checked with mobile meter and CPU temp was at 75C. I moved my fingers near the vent and didn't feel any air come out and had a feeling the fan probably died again. So I shutdown the machine and never came back up.

What I usually do with my thinkpad: visual studio, circuit simulation, MS office, DVD movie, e-mail, browsing, casual gaming at low video settings (mostly online golf "albatross18").

It makes me wonder what went wrong...

I called EZserv to report the problem and for the past two times they sent a tech to replace the fan for me. But I wonder what I am going to do once my warranty expires.

They will be sending a tech to service my machine again, hopefully they will _really_ look into the problem than just simply replace my CPU fan.

Thanks for reading.

[davidspalding]

Third repair of a same component? I'm skeptical that that component is the problem ... it's a symptom. Something else is up. I'd tell them they need to do something to prevent this ... planar replacement, power supply replacement, whatever they think it takes. Just my two cents.

BTW, you might want to download TPFANCTRL (check the T43 fan thread), and run it in "dumb" mode where it only reports teh temp. You can run it as a nice little system try icon that changes colors at configured intervals. Might help to warn you if the temp goes "redline." I wound't run it in smart mode, though, as the tech who finds it install might think your third party utility is the culprit.

[GomJabbar]

This is the 3rd time my CPU fan has died since January '06.

My advice? Quit using the ThinkPad in the kitchen while you fry those greasy pork chops and french fries (oops, excuse me, freedom fries). That grease smoke really gums up the works.

If you don't think that is the cause, then I recommend you follow davidspalding's advice. It could be a bad component giving improper voltage to the fan. My 2C worth.

[ehsu]

My advice? Quit using the ThinkPad in the kitchen while you fry those greasy pork chops and french fries (oops, excuse me, freedom fries). That grease smoke really gums up the works.

I actually used skype wirelessly on my thinkpad in the kitchen to talk to my friend once, but too bad i was making healthy salad without any dressing. =p

Third repair of a same component? I'm skeptical that that component is the problem ... it's a symptom. Something else is up. I'd tell them they need to do something to prevent this ... planar replacement, power supply replacement, whatever they think it takes. Just my two cents.

Thanks for the advice. I will tell them so.