Thinkpads Forum

I have a T60 I bought the summer of 2006. It's still running strong but the fan is making some awful racket. I'm assuming the bearing's bad. My question is do I buy a replacement fan or do I buy a replacement fan with replacement heatsink? The difference in price (via Ebay) is $13 or $30 so its negligible to me.

I've got a guy who will do the install for me if I can't so that shouldn't be a problem, too.

What's my best bet here?

Heatsinks don't wear out, so I'd save a few bucks and just get the fan... buying with the heatsink only saves a bit of time (negligable) replacing it. The replacement WITH heatsink prolly comes with some cheapo thermal grease, use the saved money on some Arctic Silver 5 ($12) and give it an upgrade over stock/cheapo grease

ozzymud wrote:Heatsinks don't wear out, so I'd save a few bucks and just get the fan... buying with the heatsink only saves a bit of time (negligable) replacing it. The replacement WITH heatsink prolly comes with some cheapo thermal grease, use the saved money on some Arctic Silver 5 ($12) and give it an upgrade over stock/cheapo grease

Hey there again ozzymud ..... speaking of Arctic Silver 5, I've had an unopened tube of AC-5 in storage at a constant 65°F/17°C (tip end hanging down) for just under 3 years.

I see no expiration date on the plastic packaging nor in the instruction sheet PDF file ... I wonder if it has a shelf life?

http://home.comcast.net/~coolviewer/New ... ctions.pdf

I think I'm in the same situation with my T60P. My fan gets particularly noisy if the computer's been on for a few hours

The dust was cleaned out of the computer about eight months ago

Since I will not do the work myself, but will take it to my computer repair, I have a choice of letting them lubricate the fan for $85, or install a new fan for $65 (not including the part itself)

Does it make sense to install a new fan given its age, particularly given the comparative labor cost?

I've pretty much narrowed down the part I need to the 41W6407, but there's a huge price difference if I order the genuine part here in the US, or from China on eBay The eBay version also claims to be a genuine Lenovo part for $39

I appreciate any good advice on this, and I must once again add that I am not comfortable with doing work on my computer myself, but will take it into my very honest repair facility

Thanks!

taichi wrote:I think I'm in the same situation with my T60P. My fan gets particularly noisy if the computer's been on for a few hours

The dust was cleaned out of the computer about eight months ago

Since I will not do the work myself, but will take it to my computer repair, I have a choice of letting them lubricate the fan for $85, or install a new fan for $65 (not including the part itself)

Does it make sense to install a new fan given its age, particularly given the comparative labor cost?

I've pretty much narrowed down the part I need to the 41W6407, but there's a huge price difference if I order the genuine part here in the US, or from China on eBay The eBay version also claims to be a genuine Lenovo part for $39

I appreciate any good advice on this, and I must once again add that I am not comfortable with doing work on my computer myself, but will take it into my very honest repair facility

Thanks!

Considering that your fan/heatsink assembly is probably one of the most important components standing between you and system failure, I would somehow ensure the part you get is Genuine Lenovo/IBM ..... Ebay assurances are sometimes not 100% correct.

Just a bit of advice (from someone who has learned the hard way about Ebay assurances) to help you decide on the route you ultimately choose to take ..... Make your decision based on which option will give you the most peace of mind over the next 4+ years of operation.

eecon wrote:I see no expiration date on the plastic packaging nor in the instruction sheet PDF file ... I wonder if it has a shelf life?

Having used couple year old tubes that WERE NOT stored well, toolbox in the shed, I could see no difference in their viscosity and when used worked as intended... I wouldn't think there is a shelf life, and if there is it must be WAY up there

I just pulled a heatsink from a 486 i did back in like 2003, had used Arctic Silver on it (think it was 5, been using the same stuff for years), and it was still pretty much the same viscosity it was in the tube, not all dried out like generic stuff does.

eecon:

[/quote]Considering that your fan/heatsink assembly is probably one of the most important components standing between you and system failure, I would somehow ensure the part you get is Genuine Lenovo/IBM ..... Ebay assurances are sometimes not 100% correct.

Just a bit of advice (from someone who has learned the hard way about Ebay assurances) to help you decide on the route you ultimately choose to take ..... Make your decision based on which option will give you the most peace of mind [u]over the next 4+ years of operation[/u]. [/quote]

I know that there is a way that ebay sellers pump up their own ratings with the help of other sellers, so that the whole rating system becomes suspect.

I also had an experience wherein an ebay seller sold me a "new" hard drive for my old A21P, showing the retail box on his listing, but what was sent to me was a "new" drive pulled from a Dell, which voided the guarantee. It was also not sent in a retail box, but only wrapped in bubblewrap. I lodged a complaint, but...

So where do you turn for genuine Lenovo/IBM parts?

Thanks

taichi wrote:So where do you turn for genuine Lenovo/IBM parts?

Thanks

Google or Bing "Genuine Lenovo Parts"