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T/W500 Heatsink in t61 worth it?
Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2023 10:58 am
by Gonzaleitor
My T61's fan life is coming to an end. After a while of being on it starts to make some rattling noises and i think that another cleaning is not going to solve the problem. I read that the W500 heatsink is an upgrade, but no hard data of it.
Has someone did this mod? Do you think it will run cooler? If someone did it personally, i would appreciate his thoughts about the subject.
Thanks guys!
Re: T/W500 Heatsink in t61 worth it?
Posted: Sun Jul 30, 2023 11:33 am
by TPFanatic
Theres little differences between t61 and t500 heatsinks, so the proper replacement is another t61 heatsink. You can try removing your fan and lubricating it.
Re: T/W500 Heatsink in t61 worth it?
Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2023 1:32 am
by Gonzaleitor
Thanks, that's what I thought. Maybe some graphene grease for the fan? what do you think?
Re: T/W500 Heatsink in t61 worth it?
Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2023 7:21 pm
by zoltan87
The W500 heatsink is definitely a noticeable upgrade compared to the T60 heatsink, but admittedly I have no experience with the T61 one. Also for lubrication I just used the tiniest amount of bicycle chain oil, it worked great. But as you mentioned your fan is already at the rattling stage, I would honestly just change the heatsink to a new one, and next time (in a couple of years time) try to lubricate it before noticeable wear start to appear.
Re: T/W500 Heatsink in t61 worth it?
Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2023 1:59 am
by karotlopj
I have an X61 which was making a terrible noise. I would spray it with a silicone lubricant from time to time, but the noise returned fairly quickly.
Eventually, I decided to bite the bullet and replace the fan. I was reluctant because several ThinkPads never recovered after my attempted 'repairs', but in this case it went OK.
Personally I'd recommend replacing the fan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Od48R4XxlU
In my case I was able to remove the fan from the heatsink and just replace that, they are very cheap. You'd need check if you can do that withh a T61.
https://thinkpads.com/support/hmm/hmm_p ... 545_04.pdf
Re: T/W500 Heatsink in t61 worth it?
Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2023 8:28 pm
by Gonzaleitor
zoltan87 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2023 7:21 pm
The W500 heatsink is definitely a noticeable upgrade compared to the T60 heatsink, but admittedly I have no experience with the T61 one. Also for lubrication I just used the tiniest amount of bicycle chain oil, it worked great. But as you mentioned your fan is already at the rattling stage, I would honestly just change the heatsink to a new one, and next time (in a couple of years time) try to lubricate it before noticeable wear start to appear.
I bought the laptop used, and it already was at the rattling stage, but now i'm using the laptop a little more and is pretty annoying. If i don't replace the fan maybe i'll lubricate it as you say.
karotlopj wrote: ↑Tue Aug 01, 2023 1:59 am
I have an X61 which was making a terrible noise. I would spray it with a silicone lubricant from time to time, but the noise returned fairly quickly.
Eventually, I decided to bite the bullet and replace the fan. I was reluctant because several ThinkPads never recovered after my attempted 'repairs', but in this case it went OK.
Personally I'd recommend replacing the fan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Od48R4XxlU
In my case I was able to remove the fan from the heatsink and just replace that, they are very cheap. You'd need check if you can do that withh a T61.
https://thinkpads.com/support/hmm/hmm_p ... 545_04.pdf
I was thinking about doing that. Mostly because i have an Acer gaming laptop and i figured that maybe i can take one fan and see if i can stick it into the heatsink, causing a much more powerful airflow than the stock fan.
Thanks for the advice, guys!