Fan Error

[yaccri]

While turning on my X61s, I get a 'Fan Error' message. It hangs for a few seconds and then turn off.
I brought it to a technician. He claims that he cleaned the fan, and that it works fine. He says that it's a known issue, and that I should only press the ESC key to continue with the boot process.
I find it odd. Is this true?

I downloaded 'SpeedFan' to check the actual temperatures. On normal operation all temperatures are less than 50 degrees celcius, and uner high CPU load (like when running an anti-virus software), the highest temperature I measured was 66.

So, what do you think? Should I ignore this message, or should I find another technician?

Thank you.

[Harryc]

The temperatures look normal so we'd have to assume that the fan is working, but a fan error is not normal. I would replace the fan. There could also be a problem with the circuitry that detects fan rotation, but that can only be reasonably looked into after fan replacement.

[richk]

What the tech says is not true. All that means is that he (she) doesn't know how to fix it. Do you have the second fan? My experience is that the second (little) fan is junk and breaks frequently. If the rotational speed is a little low (on either fan) or the speed sensor sending stuff (inside the fan) it will report the error you describe. I try changing one of the fans and if that doesn't fix it, I change the other one.

[CyberDude]

Yep, I had the fan error too. I cleaned the fan and it worked for about a week then the error came back. I replced the fan and all is well now. Fan is also much quieter now. You can do it yourself if you're a little handy with a screw driver ad are comfortable working with electronics

[yaccri]

Where can I buy a fan (Ebay? Internet site?)?
Is it a specific model?
How much should it cost?

Thank you!

[CyberDude]

I bought mine directly from Lenovo's support. Was around €23 IIRC. You'll need to check the FRU number of the fan you require for your laptop. You can look up the part HERE.

[KAQSP]

do you have a second fan under the palm rest?

[yaccri]

do you have a second fan under the palm rest?

I have no idea. I didn't open the case.

[CyberDude]

Just to clarify, I changed the main cpu fan on mine (item 25 in that FRU document). I don't have a second fan.

It's really not that difficult to swap the fan, but you do need to dismantle virtually everything from the motherboard to get to it. Get hold of a copy of the hardware maintenance manual which explains the procedure and see if it's something you want to attempt.