Fan Error

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Sasha · #1 Post by **Sasha** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:23 am

I was defragging my hard drive and noticed that the laptop was very warm. Thought nothing much about it and shut the laptop down after the defrag.

When I tried to start my laptop this morning, I got the regular BIOS splash screen and it was followed by a 'Fan Error' error message.

I assume that this means that the fan is not working. Does this mean that I have to send the laptop to IBM (thank goodness that I extended the service warranty), or is there anything I can do?

NS · #2 Post by NS » Sun Mar 23, 2008 11:33 am

You can try to remove the keyboard and reseat the fan especially the white plug.

Sasha · #3 Post by **Sasha** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:17 pm

...from Easy Service.

I called them up, told them about the fan error. The next day, I get the box from DHL by 9:00 AM. Delivery was effected the next day to the service center in Memphis, TN.

One day turnaround and I got the laptop back today.

Amazing professionalism IBM. Thanks!!

The ThinkPad had been thoroughly cleaned too...!!

Guess the extended warranty has paid itself....

rajkal23 · #4 Post by **rajkal23** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:29 pm

How much did you pay for the extended warranty and for how many years?

off1c3r · #5 Post by **off1c3r** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 2:38 pm

Thats one of the thing I Love about their parts/returns and stuff. They always use overnight for their shipments which is great =)

Sasha · #6 Post by **Sasha** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:17 pm

I paid approximately $240 for the two year extended warranty and that's money well spent, as far as I am concerned!

Brad · #7 Post by **Brad** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 11:05 pm

That is a very good price. When did you extend the warranty?

Brad

Sasha · #8 Post by **Sasha** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:27 pm

Last month!!

Brad · #9 Post by **Brad** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 12:59 pm

Nicely done.

Who did you purchase it from?

Brad

Sasha · #10 Post by **Sasha** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:02 pm

Sorry, I did not get your question. Are you asking me the name of the person at IBM who sold me the extended warranty?

Brad · #11 Post by **Brad** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:24 pm

My question was which company did you purchase the extended warranty from. I didn't realize that you purchased the extended warranty directly from Lenovo.

Which part number did you purchase?

Brad

Sasha · #12 Post by **Sasha** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:10 pm

Sorry..rereading my post, it is easy to overlook that I got it from IBM....

Part#41c9280 MATHKPL TP 2YR PICKUP DEPOT
Mfg part #: 41C9280 for $259

Brad · #13 Post by **Brad** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 9:00 am

Thanks for the details.

That sounds like what I was offered. I went for the 2 year onsite as it was a few dollars more. $329 plus tax which came to $357 which was actually more than I paid for the ThinkPad.

Brad

citimeta · #14 Post by **citimeta** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 12:32 pm

Anyone can tell me how to do this?

My old T41p gave me the exact same 'fan error' this morning and I didnt buy any extended warranty as Sasha did.

NS wrote:You can try to remove the keyboard and reseat the fan especially the white plug.

kajencik · #15 Post by **kajencik** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 12:41 pm

It's actually quite easy, just follow the HMM (Hardware maintenance manual) instructions, the HMM can be downloaded here

I'm not a handyman at all and I was able to replace the fan in my R50p myself without any trouble, just following the instructions in the HMM, and to make my information complete, the thinkpad long fan, which is needed for your T41p, can be found under $40 shipped on ebay.

citimeta · #16 Post by **citimeta** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:09 pm

kajencik wrote:It's actually quite easy, just follow the HMM (Hardware maintenance manual) instructions, the HMM can be downloaded here

I'm not a handyman at all and I was able to replace the fan in my R50p myself without any trouble, just following the instructions in the HMM, and to make my information complete, the thinkpad long fan, which is needed for your T41p, can be found under $40 shipped on ebay.

It's quite an operation...

I will read through the doc and see if I can do it.

Do I have any options like going to a local store or something?

kajencik · #17 Post by **kajencik** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:21 pm

Of course, IMHO as long as the HMM exist, almost any computer service shop, or a more skillful friend if you don't want to do it yourself, should do it without any trouble. I don't have much of an overview about thinkpad services in USA, which I suppose you are from (And I recommend to you filling a location in your profile, I think it's a forum rule...), as I'm from europe.

citimeta · #18 Post by **citimeta** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 8:08 am

Yes.I'm in US and have filled out the profile.

I did it myself and reset the fan power (small white plug). It didn't work.

So anyone knows any place to go? (I have only dealt with warranty guys before...) I'm MD/DC area.

3x.

kajencik wrote:Of course, IMHO as long as the HMM exist, almost any computer service shop, or a more skillful friend if you don't want to do it yourself, should do it without any trouble. I don't have much of an overview about thinkpad services in USA, which I suppose you are from (And I recommend to you filling a location in your profile, I think it's a forum rule...), as I'm from europe.

citimeta · #19 Post by **citimeta** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 12:46 pm

Kajencik and anyone with knowledge on this:

I looked it up on the lenovo website for information regarding fan assembly. Here's what I find
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 74.html#18

The fan assembly for t41p has different FRU number than other models. Does that mean the actual system is different too?

I am trying to get a fan assembly on ebay and this is important.

kajencik wrote:It's actually quite easy, just follow the HMM (Hardware maintenance manual) instructions, the HMM can be downloaded here

I'm not a handyman at all and I was able to replace the fan in my R50p myself without any trouble, just following the instructions in the HMM, and to make my information complete, the thinkpad long fan, which is needed for your T41p, can be found under $40 shipped on ebay.

kajencik · #20 Post by **kajencik** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 1:05 am

Well, I'm not common with which FRU fits and which don't, but it seems to me that you can fit any T4x long fan into any T4x or R5x, especially IMHO you can swap between T41p, T42p and R50p, as they all use the ATI FIRE GL T2, thus the mainboard should be almost the same (I know that T42p and R50p MB are swappable, not sure about T41p).

And I have in my R50p the T43p long fan, and the T43p uses a bit more advanced GPU that the three mentioned above, and it still fits just like it was manufactured for my R50p.

Just to say everything: You can't fit a R5x fan into the T4x, because it's more thick, only the opposite way works.

So the point here is that you should be able to use any of the T41p, T42p or T43p long fan in your T41p, but thats only my opinion, it would be better to have it confirmed by somebody who has actually tried it.

#21 Post by **underclocker** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:11 am

Any long fan will work, but remember, sometimes "fan error" can't be fixed by changing the fan. Upon rare occasion, the motherboard needs to be changed.

citimeta · #22 Post by **citimeta** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:25 am

Got it! Thanks.

I will change the fan and report what is the real problem.

underclocker wrote:Any long fan will work, but remember, sometimes "fan error" can't be fixed by changing the fan. Upon rare occasion, the motherboard needs to be changed.

citimeta · #23 Post by **citimeta** » Thu May 01, 2008 3:15 pm

I got a used long fan and plugged it in my T41p without applying thermal grease (i want to know if it works). It seems to work since I don't get the 'fan error' anymore. However, before it prompted the interface for password it shuts down again. I think it may be due to heat accumulation because no grease was applied.
Does anyone here know if that is the case?

Also, in the manual, on page 105, it says long fan, M10 does not have the plastic sheet while normal long fan does. I got a normal long fan. Is that important?

citimeta wrote:Got it! Thanks.

I will change the fan and report what is the real problem.
underclocker wrote:Any long fan will work, but remember, sometimes "fan error" can't be fixed by changing the fan. Upon rare occasion, the motherboard needs to be changed.

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