Thinkpads Forum

I've added a Dell 5530 (Sony Ericsson F3507G) WWAN card to my X61.

The right side of the wrist rest is now getting quite warm. I'd like to add a secondary fan but my X61 does not have the fan wire connector soldered to the motherboard.

However I have salvaged parts from another dead X61, including the secondary fan assembly.

Can I take the one fan connector from the dead mobo and solder it onto my own mobo ?
Will this be enough to make a secondary fan work or are there bios changes etc required ?

I'm fairly sure you need more than just the connector, but I have not spent a lot of toime comparing boards. I think there must be extra circuitry because if you have the connector and do not connect the fan or install the wrong speed fan, it gives a fan error. If there were no additional parts, a board with a connector would startup with no fan connected

What richk states is true ... but think of his note more as an asset than a liability! All you need is power to make the fan spin. You don't need, nor want, the circuitry which "complains" if the fan does not exist or spins differently than its "rules". The fan is quiet and there is no disadvantage to having it run full time -- except, of course, it uses power and thus reduces marginally the time the X61 can run on battery power alone.

Find "power" on the motherboard (perhaps the pads where the connector should be), wire the fan, and you have precisely what you want -- a second fan without the "headaches" of having a second fan!