x60s Dead Fan - Replacement Too... Fuse?

[SquigglyDot]

Hi all,

A few days ago, my X60s's fan started making a horrendous noise. I ran the machine to pull some files off it, and it powered itself off. When I turned it on again, it no longer made any noise (the fan wasn't spinning) and posted a "Fan Error".

I opened up the machine and cleaned and greased the fan as suggested by some. That didn't help. So I pulled the FRU off the fan and ordered a replacement, which came today. Several hours and a replaced fan later, I power on the machine again... same thing. Fan not spinning, "Fan Error" on boot.

I'm concerned that this is likely a fuse problem (old fan pulled too much juice as it died and tripped the fuse), which is beyond my level of skill to fix. I've got shaky hands and no soldering iron. Is there any other possibility that I've missed here?

Or, alternatively, is there a way I can route around the damage? For instance, my machine doesn't have the 2nd fan installed. Is there a handy plug I can route the main fan to?

I've had this machine since 2006, and it's been my companion all over the world. I really don't want to say goodbye to it yet.