X200s fan assembly

[Hans Gruber]

I took apart my x200s attempting to replace the heatsink fan. It seems the head screws are glued with some black hard paste making it impossible to remove the fan and replace it with a new fan. Do I need to replace the entire heatsink to replace the fan on my X200s?

Here is a link to the corresponding part FRU. https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-CPU-Coolin ... xyThVTbgCk

[TPFanatic]

They are basically plastic rivets that can be drilled out. New fans might come with their own screws that will fit in the same holes.

[Hans Gruber]

The fan still works but the alignment of the fan is off a bit and wobbles on the bearings. I may drill it out and put on the replacement fan but I need to make sure I have screws that will fit the new fan. This is a collector piece thinkpad so there is no real sense of urgency for me. Worst case scenario, I order a new heatsink with fan.

[axur-delmeria]

While I haven't seen an X200s fan, X61 fans have similar plastic rivets. What I do is gently cut away at the head of the plastic (with a small box cutter, perhaps a scalpel or X-Acto knife will work just as well), reducing its diameter until it can slip (or be forced) through the hole. After cleaning and lubrication, I put a small dot of super glue on each rivet, push the fan back in place, and hold on to it until the glue dries. The bond is strong enough to hold the fan in place, but still removable without much fuss.

[Hans Gruber]

There were no screws. The black plastic was a sealer of some sort that really served no real purpose. I really think I broke whatever sealed the fan to the heatsink simply by tightening the fan/heatsink to the vise grip on my bench. I used a hammer and chisel to take off the plastic sealer. I used contact cement (big brother of rubber cement) to seal the new fan to the heatsink. Will put Arctic Silver 5 on the CPU and put the little thinkpad back together again. I used a vise grip on my workbench to take off the sealer. The new fan had two threaded screw holes but I had no screws. I used electric tape to seal the fan to the heatsink. It looks just the original.

[TPFanatic]

I bet the little screws off any other fan-heatsink, like T410, T420, T430, T500 integrated will fit those holes.

[Hans Gruber]

I thought I was losing it. I put the x200s back together and pressed the power button and nothing. Took everything apart and put it back together piece by piece connecting the keyboard to the motherboard and testing for power every step of the way. I started with the motherboard outside of the chassis testing the power. I got everything back together and the new fan is whisper quiet. Now some may think whisper quiet means your fan doesn't work . I checked and tested the fan as well, it works. I was planning on changing out the lithium battery and discovered the x series lithium batteries have 3 pins connectors instead of the standard two pins like most other thinkpads.

So many little discoveries that I have made today tinkering with my X200s. I have had the new fan for about a year. The X200s is a fairly rare machine. Mine has a 1.6ghz processor, not top of the line specs. Last year I put in a new palmrest and now it's in near mint condition.

I should have taken a picture of the X200s heatsink with the fan removed. There are no threads between the thin metal bracket and the heatsink and fan. There are four or five flat screw holes without any threads to hold screws. I would suggest people use contact cement over any form of super glue or epoxy. It holds very well, dries really fast and is not difficult to remove.

[Thinkpad4by3]

If it is too loud, it isn't working for me!