Any way to fix the T42 fan myself? *PIC* (Fixed?!?! Look!!)

[ill]

Oh hey guess what. My fan may in fact be fixed now!!!!!!

Try dipping it in alcohol. Alcohol doesn't conduct electricity so there's no problem in using it right away, and it evaporates really quickly too, and it apparently does a very good job cleaning the fan drive mechanism. My Dad who used to be a rocket scientist in Russia said this should work, so yeah... BELIEVE IT!!! My dad also said that the fan spun much easier after the alcohol bath.

It may not work at first, but use the computer as normal except get the fan going yourself with a flick of the finger as the computer boots. It has to be done right as the power button is pressed or it won't work. Make sure you keep checking on the temperature once it's in windows and get the fan going once again because the fan turns off after boot since it doesn't really need to be running. A working fan turns on at Boot to test that it works and turns off and turns on once again only if it's hot enough. It doesn't turn back on though if it's broken or whatever the problem like mine was.

Get it to the point where it starts to get louder as the computer gets hotter and the fan needs to work harder after you get the fan going again. By then it should be working normally for you. Try shutting the computer down, not restarting it. Then try turning it on, and it should work. If you still get a fan error try turning it on again. If it still doesn't work then I don't know.... This worked for me though...

I'll let you know how it goes after a couple days.

I'm another user whose t42 fan got busted, and am getting fan errors on startup. I've taken my laptop apart and found that the fan kinda works. When it turns on it struggles to start spinning, it just wiggles back and forth. If I give it a little flick in the counterclockwise direction it starts to spin. This explains the tip that some people give to blow into the fan exhaust when turning on the computer to make it not have the fan error. Thing is though, the fan stops spinning afterwards once windows starts booting and I'm guessing it only needs to spin up once the CPU/GPU reaches a certain temperature. I can't get it to spin again with the flick of my finger unless the heatsink gets very hot. I was very panicky at first when the fan wouldn't spin and Windows was actively running, but then I realized the heatsink alone must be doing its job until a certain temperature. Also since the computer was taken apart I guess the heat was dissipating well enough without the fan. This means using the computer is kinda impractical since I will never know if the fan is spinning when it needs to be, unless I get some hardware monitoring utility.

Anyway, is there some way to fix this fan for now? I can't seem to find a way to take it apart. There might be a tiny thing stuck in there that keeps it from gaining momentum. I have to deal with this until Thanksgiving until I go home from college and see if I can replace it.


Admin edit: Added *PIC* descriptor to subject line per forum rules.

[sparta.rising]

Doubtful. I had a fan error that I was hoping to repair, took it out and used compressed air to clean out all of the dust, but still didn't work. The ball bearings probably are dusty/not-properly-oiled. Unfortunately you can't disassemble the fan assembly, its "bolted" together not screwed. Replacement fans can be found on ebay for around $30 for the long fan (short fan is cheaper, but if your GPU is higher than ATI 7500 I would recommend the long fan).

[Johan]

Welcome to the forum.

Did you take the time to read the These are the RULES of this ROAD - READ ME NOW by this forums *Senior Admin*, BillMorrow? If not, kindly allow me to quote one thing:

5. IF you must add a photograph to your post, PLEASE limit the size to 50k or less and place a warning in the subject line.

As to your question, have a look in the thread Noisy fan and in particular the links pointed to therein.

With respect to taking it apart, if you mean how to detach it from the CPU (or GPU), see the thread T42 Fan Error ... What next? (see the post of Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:57 am and the link mentioned there).

Finally, you might benefit from knowing that there is a very useful Search function available in this forum.

Good luck with the repair (or replacement - which is what I would personally do).

Johan

[nykobing06]

Same EXACT problem cropped up with my T42. I blew into the fan to get it started but I noticed that often times it wouldn't be running. Now that's normal like you said b/c of the heat sink. However, one thing I did notice that was abnormal increase in temperature. I don't have software to monitor it but I could feel the difference. So in my honest opinion, I would not try to get this fan running by blowing into. Frying the GPU/CPU would not be good.

Unfortunately, I do not know of an "easy" fix...heating is pretty crucial so I doubt one even exists. Clean out the fan b/c I have heard of dust balls stopping the fan from turning (though your problem sounds like there's more to it).

[ill]

Welcome to the forum.

Did you take the time to read the These are the RULES of this ROAD - READ ME NOW by this forums *Senior Admin*, BillMorrow? If not, kindly allow me to quote one thing:

5. IF you must add a photograph to your post, PLEASE limit the size to 50k or less and place a warning in the subject line.

As to your question, have a look in the thread Noisy fan and in particular the links pointed to therein.

With respect to taking it apart, if you mean how to detach it from the CPU (or GPU), see the thread T42 Fan Error ... What next? (see the post of Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:57 am and the link mentioned there).

Finally, you might benefit from knowing that there is a very useful Search function available in this forum.

Good luck with the repair (or replacement - which is what I would personally do).

Johan

K, heh sorry. I got the fan taken out alright. I cleaned it as much as possible. And my GPU is an ATI 9600.

The safest way to run the laptop is to see at all times if the fan is turning or not and to get it running with a flick of my finger if it needs to. Blowing never seems to work for sure... Would applying more oil somehow help? I really don't feel like buying a new fan when this one appears to work for the most part...

[sparta.rising]

But its really not working. Is running your computer with the keyboard off and constantly needing to check it, blow it, flick it, and potentially fry your motherboard really better than spending $30? The components that need oil are covered by plastic, as I mentioned in my previous post, they're not accessible without tearing it apart in such a way that you wouldn't be able to put it back together.

[Beaver]

You need to find someone who has soldering as a hobby There is some chance to repair it, I suppose this problem is related to the fan engine. These fan engines are a little bit different from normal el. engine and can be compared to engines used in hard disk drives. It's called the stepper motor. If it will not be possible to repair the engine, you will need to replace whole fan assembly.

[ill]

K, heh. I give up... Gotta replace that fan then...

That thing looks so cool, I'll keep it on my window sill as a decoration once I get the new one.

[rbena]

Yes, try for a new fan vs used or refurbished, so you won't be repeating the process soon again.

[ill]

Oh hey... I have a fan from a t41 with a FRU 13N5442 but my t42's Fan FRU # is 13R2657.

There's a slight difference in the size of the heatsink for the GPU for mine and the T41 model's. My GPU is an ATI Radeon 9600.

Here's the replacement parts list. Both FRU #'s show up as valid T42 fans. I'm wondering if I can take the slightly smaller GPU heatsink fan assembly and just put it into my T42. That would be awesome because those fans appear to be pretty expensive actually. I definitely don't want my GPU to burn up though... The other fan assembly doesn't cover as big an area over the GPU as the fan assembly that is already in my T42 though so I'm afraid it might overheat.
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... R-46474#18




Oh hey guess what. My fan may in fact be fixed now!!!!!!

Try dipping it in alcohol. Alcohol doesn't conduct electricity so there's no problem in using it right away, and it evaporates really quickly too, and it apparently does a very good job cleaning the fan drive mechanism. My Dad who used to be a rocket scientist in Russia said this should work, so yeah... BELIEVE IT!!! My dad also said that the fan spun much easier after the alcohol bath.

It may not work at first, but use the computer as normal except get the fan going yourself with a flick of the finger as the computer boots. It has to be done right as the power button is pressed or it won't work. Make sure you keep checking on the temperature once it's in windows and get the fan going once again because the fan turns off after boot since it doesn't really need to be running. A working fan turns on at Boot to test that it works and turns off and turns on once again only if it's hot enough. It doesn't turn back on though if it's broken or whatever the problem like mine was.

Get it to the point where it starts to get louder as the computer gets hotter and the fan needs to work harder after you get the fan going again. By then it should be working normally for you. Try shutting the computer down, not restarting it. Then try turning it on, and it should work. If you still get a fan error try turning it on again. If it still doesn't work then I don't know.... This worked for me though...

[ill]

Hmm thought I'd bump this up in case anyone had problems with the fan like I did. I saw many people had this problem so yeah...

Just writing that ever since the fan mechanism was put into the alcohol bath the laptop has been working perfectly.

This solution should work for Fan Errors so instead of trying to buy a new one try this first if you're up to it. If you're up to replacing it yourself chances are you'd be up to it anyway.


I was wondering, heh... Should this be made a sticky? IDK though since there are probably many fixes out there for various problems and this one is just very trivial but I thought it might help the groups of people who also had this problem.

[poshgeordie]

It's an interesting solution.
I've just checked out the ingredients that go into my tin of flux remover and referring to this data sheet see it contains isopropyl alcohol and petroleum distillates (hydrocarbons).

In practice it evaporates v quickly and would clean out the bearings. The only problem is that once the dirt and gunk are removed, the bearings are going to be 'dry' (lube free) and could then wear quite quickly.

I'd say that if you've got a faulty fan, to try it - you've nothing to lose.

[jamerslong]

I would suggest putting a couple of drops of sewing machine oil/dry lube/ Ive even used Paper shredder lube after your bath.

but wouldnt suggest wd-40 though, it's too thin

[poshgeordie]

Ive even used Paper shredder lube after your bath.

James - are you saying that after you have a bath you cover yourself in paper shredder lube - is this an American thing, or are you in fact a robot!!!!

Seriously, thanks for those suggestions - hadn't thought of either.

[madkat]

i think this fix might work if the fan shaft and bearing are just dirty... there comes a time when one of these components wear out... and the onlu solution is replacing...
thats what happened in my former T30...
but its worth trying before getting a new one