T41 fan replacement

[cpuhelp123]

I recently replaced my T41 fan(fru 9P9393 or something) and something started to do some weird stuff. So it all began when my computer booted up and said ,"fan error". Then I replaced the fan and it worked perfectly for a few days. After that, it started to turn off by itself. I have no idea what's happening and I need help. My computer is a thinkpad T41 wth 1.6 ghz 512mb ram, and ati radeon 7500. I don't do much on it except for research for school and whatnot. I read something about thermal grease and I dont know if i need to add it or something. Help please.

[Harryc]

When you say 'it started to turn off by itself', are you referring to the fan or the laptop?

[Norway Pad]

Welcome to the forum.

If it is the computer itself that turns off after a while: When you replaced the fan, did you add thermal grease to the little black, square surface on top of your CPU? That is needed in order to transfer the heat from your CPU to the fan's heatsink. Contact transfer is not sufficient here. Let us know, and we can probably tell you what to do.

[cpuhelp123]

Okay. So when i say it, I mean the laptop itself. And I didn't add thermal grease to the little black square. But, when I looked at the black square, there was already some on it.

[Norway Pad]

I can not say for sure that this IS the reason. Other components can have been disturbed when you opened the laptop. But in my opinion, reusing old thermal paste that is maybe hardened can lead to improper heat transfer. It is not enough paste left either, since 50% of it was probably stuck to your old fan's heat sink.

So, go to the closest Radio Shack (Or any other place you might find it) and buy a thermal paste called Arctic Silver. You need to take your new fan out again, and wipe the old thermal paste off of your CPU and your fan heat sink. Make sure it's as clean as possible, feel free to use an alcohol solvent and a q-tip for this purpose. Then you put a little blob of Arctic Silver, about the size of a grain of rice, back on the CPU. Some people claim that it's best to leave the drop like it is, and have it "squeezed" out when you put the fan back. Others spread the paste out in a thin layer before they put the fan/sink back. No matter which method you use, be careful to not apply too much. The little drop IS enough.

When the laptop is open anyway, take a look to make sure nothing else is broken or come loose.

Let us know if this helps.

[cpuhelp123]

I can not say for sure that this IS the reason. Other components can have been disturbed when you opened the laptop. But in my opinion, reusing old thermal paste that is maybe hardened can lead to improper heat transfer. It is not enough paste left either, since 50% of it was probably stuck to your old fan's heat sink.

So, go to the closest Radio Shack (Or any other place you might find it) and buy a thermal paste called Arctic Silver. You need to take your new fan out again, and wipe the old thermal paste off of your CPU and your fan heat sink. Make sure it's as clean as possible, feel free to use an alcohol solvent and a q-tip for this purpose. Then you put a little blob of Arctic Silver, about the size of a grain of rice, back on the CPU. Some people claim that it's best to leave the drop like it is, and have it "squeezed" out when you put the fan back. Others spread the paste out in a thin layer before they put the fan/sink back. No matter which method you use, be careful to not apply too much. The little drop IS enough.

When the laptop is open anyway, take a look to make sure nothing else is broken or come loose.

Let us know if this helps.

All right cool thanks for the help everyone. When i get the arctic silver and get it fixed and all, I'll update and tell what happened