X201 gives "fan error" right after installing a new fan

[lparsons]

I just replaced the CPU fan on my thinkpad X201 and once I put everything back together and tried to boot it, it immediately gave "fan error" and shut down. I presume this means I need to tear it all back down and do it over. Is there anything I should look for to try to figure out what's going on? The fan was brand new through eBay, shipped from California. The FRU was not identical to what I had but the fan was a perfect physical match and the connector was correct. Is there anything I can do to test the fan once I tear my X201 apart again?

The system won't even allow me to go in to the BIOS; it automatically kicks out the "Fan error" message and shuts down.

EDIT: I found the ebay record, the seller claimed an FRU of 45N4782. It was in a plain plastic bag, but appeared brand new.

[dr_st]

Was the old fan giving "fan error"?

Does the new fan spin?

For future record, whenever you replace a fan, it may be advised to give it a test run before putting everything back together.

[RealBlackStuff]

Did you plug in the new fan's connector?
Without it, you also get "fan error".

[lparsons]

Was the old fan giving "fan error"?

The old fan was making a lot of noise and frequently not moving enough air - the system was regularly shutting down due to excessive temperature. It did not, however, give the "fan error" message that I see now with the new fan.

Does the new fan spin?

For future record, whenever you replace a fan, it may be advised to give it a test run before putting everything back together.

How can I test the fan? I am not aware of a way to do that. The best I could do was blow air on the fan and watch it turn; I noticed that the new one turned much more freely and without noise.

[lparsons]

Did you plug in the new fan's connector?
Without it, you also get "fan error".

I am certain that I plugged it in. That said, I do not hear it spinning up. Are there multiple models of fans that fit this system physically and use the same connector? Is it possible to plug the connector in backwards (and if so what would happen if it was backwards)?

[lparsons]

As I start the re-repair, a couple notes I can give already that may (or may not) be useful:

Original fan (or at least, the one that was in it when I purchased this X200 used from ebay):

FRU 60Y5422
P/N 34.4CV01.001
MCF-W08PAM05-2cn
DC 5V 350mA Rev A01
Toshiba Home Technology Corporation

Replacement fan

FRU 45N4782
P/N 34.47Q22.001
MCF0W08PAM05-1cn
DC 5V 350mA Rev B01
Toshiba Home Technology Corporation

When I blow air (by mouth) into the new fan it spins freely. Haven't made it far enough in this disassemble to try to put voltage to it yet.

[dr_st]

Instead of guessing, can't you just unscrew the keyboard (without disconnecting the cable) and power it on to see if the fan actually spins?

[lparsons]

Another update

It appears that somehow in the installation (or otherwise) I managed to crush the red wire on the new fan. This certainly seems like it would explain why it isn't working. Now I need to figure out how to fix that... I would just order a new fan but I don't want to wait for shipping if I can avoid it.

[lparsons]

Another update, in case anyone is following (so they can learn from my mistakes).

Executive summary - no progress, another CPU fan ordered from ebay that should arrive by the end of this next week.

Long version here. As I had not yet thrown out the original fan, I figured I would try to use it for parts as best I could. They were different enough that the actual spinning part of the new fan would sit on the old one but I could not blow on it hard enough to make it turn (though the opposite pair worked). I decided then that the best thing I could shoot for would be to try to use wiring from the old fan to splice around the damaged wiring on the new one. This sounded great, at least in principle.

My first challenge with that strategy was finding a way to splice the wires together. I am not good at soldering so I wanted to find another way to do it; heat shrink tubing came to mind. The wires are especially thin, and very frail, so I realized quickly that the smallest size tubing that is commonly stocked - 1/8" - would not work. Some leg and phone work led me to the local radio shack where to my surprise I was able to find 1/16" tubing (though only in a "variety pack"). They also had some special "conductive glue" that was pitched as an alternative to soldering that seemed like a good idea. I left radio shack ~$12 lighter in my pocket.

At this point I will point out that I was unable to source the fan locally for any amount of money. I didn't even bother calling Best Buy. Microcenter doesn't stock it. No luck on craigslist nor were there any similar thinkpads being sold on ebay by anyone near me. Found a small mom-and-pop type computer store not far from home but they told me they had no thinkpads for sale or for parts at the moment. They rather unhelpfully suggested I call a small local place that I could not find a phone number or location for (perhaps they had the name wrong? I'll never know).

Then on to the work. On the lighter side the second disassembly took far less time than the initial one. (note to self, order a screw kit off ebay as well to replace screws that were missing upon arrival and ones that were lost or damaged in this work) I got through the disassembly no problem. One note for people who might be considering this themselves; you don't actually need to remove the I/O board (disconnecting the cable from it to the system board at the system board end is sufficient) to get the system board out. Any rate, when I got all the way down I found the destroyed wire on the new fan. Got it out with no fuss and got to work.

I cut about 1.5 inches from the original fan's red and orange (or brown depending on which fan) wires. Used the red wire to splice in to the wiring for the new fan, ended up having to splice at two points due to the cutting I did before. I didn't have anything I could use to try to release wires from the harness or I could have tried to get away with just one splice. This time I did only the red wire as it was obviously broken and I didn't want to mess with a wire that was only questionable and chance making the situation worse.

I got everything back in and attempted to power up. "Fan error" again. I know someone suggested earlier that in reassembly I could leave the keyboard disconnected to get to testing sooner, but that only saves 4 screws at the end (pretty much the very end) so I didn't see that as worthwhile, I put the whole thing back together so I wouldn't have to worry about loosing screws.

This second run took me something like 1.5 - 2 hours (I didn't time it but guessed the time consumption after the fact).

I might try the brown / orange wire tomorrow just for my own curiosity if I have time. Otherwise I'll just wait for the next fan to arrive and hope it goes better.

[mc2ca]

Hey lparsons,

have you solved your problem?
I also put a FRU 45N4782-fan in my X201 but fan control is not working and it always runs on full speed :/

[lparsons]

Hey lparsons,

have you solved your problem?
I also put a FRU 45N4782-fan in my X201 but fan control is not working and it always runs on full speed :/

I was surprised to see this thread come back to life.

Ultimately the second replacement fan at least resolved the "fan error" message. My system still overheats from time to time - and shuts itself down through the OS when it happens - but I don't think its the fan. The fan is performing as expected at this point; I think I'm coming on a motherboard replacement soon.

FWIW this system is an i5 with 8gb ram and an SSD, so there shouldn't be much heat generated aside from the CPU itself. I also think the dock - as much as I love it - is a culprit as well as it is ultimately a terrible design in terms of getting air flow to the bottom corner of the laptop closest to the CPU. As I use the dock every day at work I'm probably not helping myself.

[kuroivampire]

So, beside the fact the wire problem on the first replacement fan, does it actually change replacing the fan with rev.A01 with one having rev.B01? Well actually I'll just want to know if it doesn't harm using one instead of the other..just to be sure on doing the right thing

As I start the re-repair, a couple notes I can give already that may (or may not) be useful:

Original fan (or at least, the one that was in it when I purchased this X200 used from ebay):

FRU 60Y5422
P/N 34.4CV01.001
MCF-W08PAM05-2cn
DC 5V 350mA Rev A01
Toshiba Home Technology Corporation

Replacement fan

FRU 45N4782
P/N 34.47Q22.001
MCF0W08PAM05-1cn
DC 5V 350mA Rev B01
Toshiba Home Technology Corporation

When I blow air (by mouth) into the new fan it spins freely. Haven't made it far enough in this disassemble to try to put voltage to it yet.

[prgtrdr]

Take a look at this thread. It may be a problem with the BIOS.