t30 replacing the motherboard

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Petethor · #1 Post by **Petethor** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:42 am

I have a t30 laptop and I have had on going problems with the fan running and then not running and the laptop is overheating. I replaced the fan and have the same problem. I know that the fan is working. But for some reason at times the fan will not turn on.
I believe the mother board controls the fan starting?
How do I know what mother board I have the pc type is J2366-jcu 2.2Ghz

Website · #2 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:23 pm

For the T30, I believe that you should be able to flip the machine over and remove the Mini-PCI cover, remove the card, and read the FRU number that is listed on the motherboard...

#3 Post by **Harryc** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:52 pm

How do you know that the laptop is overheating. Have you tried any temperature monitoring utilities? What is failing and what are the symptoms?

Petethor · #4 Post by **Petethor** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:02 pm

I installed NHC software and it monitors the temperature. I notice at times the fan is turning on and off for about the first hour then I will see the temperature rise into the 70 c range and the fan will never come on. I keep the keyboard loose so I can physically see that the fan is not running. Eventually the temperature hits 80 c and shutdown.
I have been trying to figure this out for a while now its like whatever controls the fan only work part of the time.

#5 Post by **Harryc** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:06 pm

It's not unheard of to have (2) bad fans...just keep that in mind. Also, have you tried loading BIOS defaults and upgrading BIOS and Embedded controller versions?

madkat · #6 Post by **madkat** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:49 pm

the "new" fan is new or used?
how can you be sure it's good? maybe when it heats up it becomes blocked - try a little wd-40 on the shaft and move it by hand - see if it moves more easily
is it the "fan2" assembly (it's the one needed for the 2.0+ cpu's)

offtopic - unless it was purposedly set from the BIOS the T30 won't shut down even at 88 degrees - it only reduces the cpu clock from about 86 degrees
maybe a bad cpu? with problems up to the temperature sending unit?

#7 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:14 pm

When you replaced the fan, did you apply fresh thermal paste between cooler and CPU?

ZAGNUT · #8 Post by **ZAGNUT** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:24 am

madkat wrote:the "new" fan is new or used?
how can you be sure it's good? maybe when it heats up it becomes blocked - try a little wd-40 on the shaft and move it by hand - see if it moves more easily
is it the "fan2" assembly (it's the one needed for the 2.0+ cpu's)

offtopic - unless it was purposedly set from the BIOS the T30 won't shut down even at 88 degrees - it only reduces the cpu clock from about 86 degrees
maybe a bad cpu? with problems up to the temperature sending unit?

never use wd-40 as an oil. it dries up into what is basically a sticky glue, in fact it is the best glue ever made for gluing on bicycle grips...

that's besides the point that these fans have ball bearings. once they get rough no amount of oil or graphite will fix them. while it is quite tedious i have replaced bearings on these types of fans and once done they work like new.

dave

madkat · #9 Post by **madkat** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:34 am

partially you're wrong
i,ve opened two T30 fans - both have a shaft and no ball bearing (although there are 3 FRU's - i've looked only in two different ones)- that's why you can use wd40 for test purposes (only) - if it works better, then graphite is the way to go (after you clean the wd-40, of course)
i have somewhere some macro pics of the dismantled T30 fan

but it's possible that other thinkpad models have ball bearing fans

jamnkats · #10 Post by **jamnkats** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:19 pm

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but my (currently dead) T30 began to exhibit a fan error a while ago. I swapped the fan with a parts T30 I have and it had the same problem - the fan would not start on powerup unless the AC was disconnected and the planet alligned. For some reason, the planets never alligned when the AC was connected. Dunno if this means anything. People on this forum suggested I had 2 bad fans. I plugged both fans into the parts T30, however, and they both spun up, over and over and over, whether or not the AC was plugged in or on battery. Eventually this (not the parts) T30 died and I'm currently looking for a new motherboard. I think the motherboard had started to fail and the failure to spin up the fan was the first hint.

jamnkats · #11 Post by **jamnkats** » Fri Oct 17, 2008 5:51 pm

I just replaced the motherboard and used the exact same fan that wouldn't start, same keyboard, same HD, same DVD and now the machine works like new. So it looks like the motherboard was the culprit in the fan issue.