T43p fan problem. Changed the fan. But what now?

[HalliHallo]

Hello.

I have read several threads in this great forum about the well known prolem with the fan.

I followed this guide to change the fan which has FRU 41W5204

http://www.insidemylaptop.com/ibm-think ... on-bootup/

So now I have replaced the fan. And still the same problem... During boot-up the "Fan error" appears. SIGH.

I measured the pins where the fan connector sits. I got no reading at all. As far as I can see the fan uses 5V. The fan is obviously not getting the power it needs.

So where do I go from here? Any suggestions?

I've found out that if it boots up to where the "Fan Error" message appears on the screen, that if I press [Esc] it overrides the shutdown procedure and boots into the OS (Win xp in this case). I used speedfan to check temp. And it said 47C (for cpu I guess) and 37 for HDD. And it remains in this area if I just surf or do nothing fancy. But if I try and play a game with graphics it a nono. The temp quickly rises and it becomes extremely hot.

I conclude that the fan is needed

Any help getting this baby up and running again is greatly appreciated.

Hope you can understand my english well enough.

Thanks in advance.

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

I will answer your question about the "F4" fuse you asked in this thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 65#p490765

The "F4" is not the key on the keyboard. It will be printed on the motherboard in white ink, usually very close to the fuse (unless there is no physical room for it). Each part on the motherboard is typically named by letters and numbers. "R" means resistors, "Q" are transistors, "U" for integrated circuits. "F" normally means a fuse. The problem is that a fuse can be packaged in several different styles. Here's one example from a T43:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/images/t43_f2_fuse.jpg

From a T23:

http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_t2x/main_fuses.jpg
http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_t2x/lcd_connector.jpg (F2 near the white jack at upper left and F1 and F4 below the long white connector in the middle of the picture. Those two fuses are actually at the far right end of the connector. There's also two more, F10 and F11 near the black Ultrabay connector on the right)

You will need an ohmmeter (or multimeter) to check the fuse(s). The problem is that even if you identify which one is broken, you still have the problem of finding another one that has the same current/voltage ratings.

[HalliHallo]

Hello

Thanks very much for the reply.

I found it on my motherboard and posted it in the thread you are referring to.

However it looks very small. It looks like professional equiptment is needed. I will consider my next step, and report it back to you all.

[Nick Y]

...However it looks very small. It looks like professional equiptment is needed. I will consider my next step, and report it back to you all.

If the fuse has died, then you do not have to remove it if removal looks difficult; just solder another on top or beside it.

[HalliHallo]

Hi

Ended up selling it to a guy who then fixed it. Good for him
I hadn't the possibilities of fixing the fuse thingy...

Bought an ASUS EEE 1002HA as replacement.

Still have my t60 though

[ABuNeNe]

If the fuse has died, then you do not have to remove it if removal looks difficult; just solder another on top or beside it.

Hi, I'm interested to try this as my T43 with a working fan is having this fan error. Can you provide more detail or any pic which can help me visualise?

[poshgeordie]

This topic which is reasonably accurate for T43 will help and has a downloadable diagram of the fuse locations and where to buy them etc.

[ABuNeNe]

poshgeordie, I managed to get this F4 fuse in my country. Any advise how should I go about in soldering it? Should I remove the existing F4 fuse or do a piggy back? Any instructions or dummy guide? It've been quite awhile since I last touch a soldering iron.

Thanks!

[poshgeordie]

I think it depends on how good your soldering is.

If it's not too good then piggybacking's OK.

If you're reasonably OK, I was giving a description of how to do it, but found this YouTube vid of someone soldering an SMD capacitor (about the same size as a fuse).

For you the only extra thing is to remove the old fuse first, either by crushing and unsoldering the two ends or trying to unsolder the ends and lift it off.

Whatever you do, clean up the pads before fitting the new fuse.

[ABuNeNe]

Got my fuse, now is to find a multimeter.

[nicotean]

Hello (and sorry for the bump)

I own a R50p, and i have accidentally made a short circuit with the fan wires (because I was trying to add another fan, it worked well but then came the short circuit), and now I'm getting a fan error on boot up (I've already tried to swap the fan, it doesn't work, so the problem is on the mobo).
I've also found the F4 fuse on the mobo, but it is not the same as the one found on the T4x. It is at the same place, but it isn't marked with "F" but with "N" (I can provide pictures if needed). Do I need to change this fuse ? If I do, what fuse should I buy as replacement ?

Thank you in advance !

[poshgeordie]

Hi Nicotean and welcome to the forums

Fuse marked N = 2A - F= 0.5A (500mA).

You should always replace like for like - it's possible the fan is more powerful in the R50p hence the bigger value

The manufacturer is Schurter, Part No. 3412.0119.22, and are available in France from Radiospares.

[scr71822]

This is why I always keep a spare parts motherboard (a no power on type). I've run into a view thinkpads with blown fuses. I live close by Dale at Superior reball and he has replaced several of them and he is fast and good at doing it. He uses a heat gun which works wonders with removing the old fuse.

[ABuNeNe]

This fuse is small and fragile. I tried to do a piggyback but wasted 3 of these fuses. Think I'll try again by removing the current one and replace it totally.

[poshgeordie]

Try placing the fuse on top of the other and holding it in place with something like a pin. Then solder one side to the fuse underneath with the soldering iron loaded with a bit of solder.

The other side should then be quite easy.

[nicotean]

Hi Nicotean and welcome to the forums

Fuse marked N = 2A - F= 0.5A (500mA).

You should always replace like for like - it's possible the fan is more powerful in the R50p hence the bigger value

The manufacturer is Schurter, Part No. 3412.0119.22, and are available in France from Radiospares.

Thank you (and sorry for the late answer), but there are some things I don't understand :
It is weird that the R50p fan drains about 3 times more power than the one in a T4x (the fans are quite similar I think).
Another thing is that my fuse is marked with "N", and on the picture of your link the fuse is marked with "F" (but maybe it isn't the actual picture ?).
And the fuse doesn't look burned, can it be burned anyway ?

Here is a picture of the fuse :
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/25/cimg1671k.jpg

Sorry to annoy you but I want to be sure that the problem is with this fuse before buying a new one and solder this tiny thing

[ajkula66]

The fans are VERY different between R50p and T43. The former doesn't cool the GPU (passive cooling) unlike the latter which extends over the GPU.

[nicotean]

The heatsinks are different (especially the GPU part, as you mentionned), but anyway I don't think that the R50p fan drains more than 500 mA (this is very high for a 5V fan).

[nicotean]

Thank you (and sorry for the late answer), but there are some things I don't understand :
It is weird that the R50p fan drains about 3 times more power than the one in a T4x (the fans are quite similar I think).
Another thing is that my fuse is marked with "N", and on the picture of your link the fuse is marked with "F" (but maybe it isn't the actual picture ?).
And the fuse doesn't look burned, can it be burned anyway ?

Here is a picture of the fuse :
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/25/cimg1671k.jpg

Sorry to annoy you but I want to be sure that the problem is with this fuse before buying a new one and solder this tiny thing

So, no answers to my questions ?

[rkawakami]

The fuse can be burned out and yet not appear to be visibly damaged. The only way to confirm that it is good or bad would be the measure its resistance with an ohmmeter.

If your fuse is marked with an "N", then it must be replaced by the same type; a 2 amp fuse. Replacing it with an "F" fuse will probably cause it to blow out since the "F" is only rated for 0.5 amp.

[nicotean]

Ok thank you for the precisions, I will replace the fuse and post again if I'm still experiencing issues after that !

[ABuNeNe]

omg, i've damaged 5 new fuses and now the one on the motherboard seem to be more damage now as I can't seem to piggyback now. How can I remove it?

[nicotean]

I've removed the one on my R50p with a knife (it was easy), and then I glued the new one with a special conductive/wire glue found on ebay for a few dollars, and now it works perfectly
I highly recommend using this glue because I think it is much easier than soldering for a part that small.

Hope it helps.

[ABuNeNe]

I've removed the one on my R50p with a knife (it was easy), and then I glued the new one with a special conductive/wire glue found on ebay for a few dollars, and now it works perfectly
I highly recommend using this glue because I think it is much easier than soldering for a part that small.

Hope it helps.

Can I just crush this F4 fuse with a plier or something? If not, I'll try removing it with a knife as what you mentioned.

Once it've been been removed, I'll solder a new F4 fuse on it.

Wish me luck!

[ABuNeNe]

Hi guys, posting this from my revived IBM T43 notebook! Bump the memory to 2GB (2 x 1GB), installed WinXP (maybe will try Win7) followed by System Update with all the necessary drivers!

Now my stock battery is dying (can only hold 10 mins of power), probably will get a 9-cell.

[ABuNeNe]

Hey guys, bad news! After not using for some time, I decided to boot up my revived from a F4 fuse replacement T43 again but now it's does not power up at all (no LED lights). I then test with the multimeter with the other fuses (F2, F8, F9) and they works fine. Is my motherboard dead? Any chances to revive it?