Buzzing fan on T42...(link to related video inside)

[LegendaryKA8]

Alrighty.... this might be a simple question but I need some verification just in case.

The long fan I have installed in my Frankensteined T42 is now creating a rather annoying 'buzz' sound whenever it's powered on. While I can't be sure, it seems like it's getting noticeably louder as time goes on. As I've used this fan in several different T4x configurations I've pieced together over the past few months, I'm starting to think that the fan itself might be going bad. I did find a Youtube video of someone having identical fan noise on their T43... although the problem on mine is not as loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYvgU1g7Zpo

Could anyone confirm or deny this? If I'm going to be in need of a new fan, I'd rather get that taken care of and ordered ASAP. Thanks in advance!

[Harryc]

If your fan sounds like that one on youtube, you need a new one. Assuming you've had it apart many times recently, dirt is probably not the issue unless you never cleaned it.

[LegendaryKA8]

Yep... this one has been cleaned several times. At first I was thinking it was an assembly issue or that I hadn't had the fan tightened down all the way(plus the palmrests on the 14" models I've had this fan in were in very poor shape). Now that I've moved to a rock-solid 15" chassis the noise has concerned me... and now I can get a new one on the way before I get stuck with a dead fan and a bricked T42.

Thanks for the advance warning!

[Harryc]

No problem, 41W5204 is supposed to be a good long fan for being quiet. Try to find a new one whatever you get.

[LegendaryKA8]

Thanks for the P/N. Any recommendations as to where I can acquire a new one? I'm assuming that I'm not going to be able to get one from Lenovo directly.

[Harryc]

Actually you can get one directly from Lenovo, but they are expensive - @$76 or so plus shipping and tax. Try EBay or google for a source. Good luck.

[JoshuaR]

I had the same buzzing (and occasionally revving/clicking/horror movie sound) for my T43 fan assembly 26R9074.

I just ordered a replacement fan (with thermal grease) on ebay. In the T43 manual (http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc ... 9t2393.pdf), instructions for replacing the fan assembly indicate that I should apply thermal grease to the bottom of the fan assembly in the area that will contact the CPU. In all of these threads on this forum and elsewhere on the internet, I've only found people and videos applying thermal grease to the top of the CPU in a thin, even spread.

So do I do as in the videos, or do I do as in the manual and just put it on the fan assembly? And if the latter, is it still a thin even spread, or is it more globby?

Thanks (and sorry for adding to this current thread, but I figured it was under the same general topic).

[Harryc]

Apply a thin even layer to the top of the CPU. The GPU/heatsink uses thermal pads if you have the long fan.

[JoshuaR]

Yep, I see the pads there, so that bit looks good. Thanks for the response. The manual wasn't too detailed about where or how much thermal grease to apply, and made it look like it went on the fan rather than the CPU.

[poshgeordie]

Clean off all the old grease from the CPU.

The idea of the grease is to fill in the tiny imperfections between the two surfaces, so you need to apply the thinnest of thin layers and then make it thinner again! Less is definitely More in this case.
Some people use the edge of a credit card, or a knife blade to spread it.

If you were to separate the two parts after they've been fitted. you should find a uniform thin layer over the CPU rectangle and a corresponding one on the fan assembly and virtually no overspill around the edges of the CPU.

Fit the Fan Assembly and don't overtighten the screws - the assembly has built in springs which torque the screws correctly. When you feel the screw tightening, don't go for that last quarter turn!

BTW - Joshua - welcome to the forums!

[JoshuaR]

Thanks for the welcome!

Yep, I saw people using fingers of gloves or inverted ziplock bags to spread, or credit cards. Will wipe the old grease first, see how good I am with the ziplock.

Thanks for the advice on the screws and all.

[JoshuaR]

Just to update, I replaced the fan, turned on the computer, and heard a nice smooth sound out of the fan. Then the computer shut down (clicked off). I assumed some heat sensor automatically forced shut down of the system. I guessed that perhaps I hadn't put enough thermal paste. So I pulled everything out, put a blob on the CPU, then some on the fan assembly in the center of the three screws (just some blobs). I tried it all again, turning on the computer. I booted in the diagnostic mode, didn't really know what tests to do, so chose some random ones. There was a force quit, but I think it happened because I was trying to test the heat sensor hardware. I wasn't sure. It's late here, and it almost seemed like it forced quit an instant before I pressed the Y for yes. Anyway, now the computer is in normal mode, fan is working smoothly, and it doesn't seem to be force quitting itself at the moment. I'll cross my fingers and hope it stays this way...

Let me know if I misinterpreted anything, my computer is going to explode or burn, etc.

[Harryc]

Run TPfancontrol and report system temps here.
http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/donate.html

[JoshuaR]

1 cpu 52°C
2 aps 46°C
3 crd 36°C
4 gpu 55°C
5 no5 36°C
7 bat 29°C
9 bus 44°C
10 pci 50°C
11 pwr 49°C

Is this tpfancontrol something I should be running in normal use? I ran it, and instantly my fan turned off. I'm kind of conservative and like to make sure everything stays cool.

If it's safe, I can see running it when in a lecture hall, say, or somewhere where it's nice to have the quiet.

[Harryc]

Those temps seem normal. There is nothing wrong with running tpfancontrol if it helps with better cooling or quiets down the fan. You just need to make sure that the trip points are set to avoid overheating/damage. I would monitor the temps for a few days, particularly under CPU load periods to make sure the fan is running well.

[LegendaryKA8]

If I have my facts right(I first started using TPfancontrol on my T21) the programmer who made he application designed it for his own T4x. As long as he did his homework, that means that the 'stock' settings should be good for maintaining a 'quiet at idle, effective cooling under load' strategy.

That said, I usually keep it set with BIOS control.

My idle temps are 43-46C for the CPU, and the GPU idles at 46-52C.

After gaming(installed NWN on here for old times' sake) it gets pretty toasty... GPU up to around 85-88C or so. The CPU does seem to get a bit hot(low-mid 60s) if doing something like full-screen Youtube vids or the like, but other than that my system remains cool and quick for everyday stuff.

[JoshuaR]

Yeah, I read the tpfcontrol thread from this forum (the 34 page one). The first guy said he did it because he was annoyed with the sound, not that it would improve performance. (I noticed that the guy answering questions on page 34 did not have the same username as the guy who first created the thing). When I turned it on, it seemed to do just that, silencing the fan immediately and letting everything heat up. I figure it's probably better to let the bios control it unless I actually care about reducing the noise level.

Thanks though for the link to tpfcontrol, since I can use it to monitor temps, as suggested. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions.

[JoshuaR]

Hi all, an update:

I was just on my computer and a few minutes ago it forced shut down again. Just *blip* black screen and gone. When I started up my computer, I turned on tpfancontrol and noticed that the CPU and GPU temps were both in the 70s. Do you think the computer shut down because of high temperature?

If so, why might my new fan not be killing that heat straight off? I turned tpfancontrol to manual and put the setting at 64 for a few minutes, and now just sitting at 7, and my temps are down to 53 and 57 respectively. I do note that my fan, at speed 7 or 64, is still much quieter than my old fan, though I was just assuming that's because the buzzing and "boiling" sounds are gone.

One other note, I replaced my old fan, which apparently has FRU 26R7849 or 26R7957 or M24 with the 26R9074, which IBM said was the proper replacement for a 2686 machine. Was my old fan more powerful, and could I be tricking my machine into thinking the fan is doing more than it is? Perhaps I should always run tpfancontrol and set the trip temps much lower so as to counteract this?

Though my temps look nice now, they've been constantly running in the low 60s with BIOS control. That might be a sign the computer isn't working the fan hard enough, unless that's normal.

Thanks for all the help thus far.

EDIT:
1 cpu 75°C
2 aps 50°C
3 crd 35°C
4 gpu 61°C
5 no5 39°C
7 bat 33°C
9 bus 52°C
10 pci 51°C
11 pwr 53°C

^Was jumping up to that stuff just from youtube videos. This seems high to me.

EDIT2: One last question about this for the time being... Is it safe to run the fan at speed 64 with tpfancontrol? I noticed in the readme that it said this wasn't supported. But it seems to be best for bringing down the temp fastest.

[dcouzin]

Was my old fan more powerful...?

I too have just replaced a 26R7957 with a 26R9074. (The old fan had shot bearings that were making a racket.)
There's unlikely to be a (wind) power difference between the two fans since they're identically sized and both have 0.3 amp motors. Lenovo's online parts list describes the 26R9074 as "lead free". Conceivably the only design difference between the two fans is the choice of solder. However I was surprised that besides curing the loud clattering, my fan replacement cured the annoying 5 second pulsation. This seems like a feedback issue between the T43s embedded controller and the fan. Might there be a significant electronic difference between the 26R7957 and the 26R9074? There is a wee circuit board at the mounting end of the shaft. What is that circuit doing?