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Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

T400/T410/T420 and T500/T510/T520 Series
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Kielbasa
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Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#1 Post by Kielbasa » Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:09 pm

Seriously, I'm not so sure that mine is functioning correctly, so I am curious to determine what is normal/typical behavior. Please allow me to describe my concern and observations:
  • The laptop tends to run on the warm side, even under modest load, such as playing a YouTube vid, where 65C to 70C is rather typical.
    When the load is removed, the laptop takes several minutes to return to "normal" idle temps.
    Idle temps are strongly dependent on the ambient temperature, but I typically see 49-52C.
    The fan speed mainly stays between 3500 and 3600 RPM pretty much all the time, with little variation, regardless of load.
    I can not feel any air movement from the exhaust ports.
    If I orient the keyboard so that it is vertical, and lay a square of toilet tissue on top of the exhaust port, there is no deflection of the paper, due to air movement, whatsoever.
    If I place my ear at the exhaust port, I can hear the fan motor running ... it's definitely the fan, since the HDD has been replaced by a SSD.
I've removed the fan, blown the dust out of the squirrel cage and applied fresh Noctua thermal paste. This brought peak temperatures down perhaps five degrees C, but that's about it.

In the UEFI I have the power/fan control set to maximum performance on AC, but I never, ever hear the fan, except by placing my ear at/on the exhaust port, nor can I feel any exhaust flow. The exhaust heat doesn't so much blow out, as radiate out.

By the way, this machine is fitted with the original i5-2520M CPU and has Intel integrated graphics.

Honestly, it's only by installing a SSD and a very light weight Linux distribution, that the machine is usable at all. With Windows, or a "heavy" Linux desktop, the machine runs stupid hot. Initially I figured that it was just getting old, but when I read tales of folks installing 45W i7 CPUs in the T420, this leads me to believe that mine definitely has a problem.

I am anxious to hear your experience/observations with your T420, before spending any money. Also, if I need a new fan, is there a better option than the stock i5 / integrated graphics model?

Thanks in advance for your help!!!

TPFanatic
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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#2 Post by TPFanatic » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:23 pm

There is a heatsink model that has two heatpipes. I have this model in my T420 and the fan is audible.

It's possible there is a heavy dust build up inside the fan's plastic housing that is impeding airflow. Disassembly to lift off the heatsink then unscrew the fan housing may allow you to clean further. However you may need to reapply the thermal paste doing this, or maybe you don't have to, I've re-used the same paste before... just down blow dust over the old paste while it is exposed.

My T420 has the i5 2520m as well, I haven't really stress tested it but it idles between 40-50C and load temp is probably in the 70-80C range. It's much better than my old T420s with i5 2520m, that one easily reaches the late 90s.

Kielbasa
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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#3 Post by Kielbasa » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:37 pm

TPFanatic wrote:
Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:23 pm
There is a heatsink model that has two heatpipes. I have this model in my T420 and the fan is audible.

It's possible there is a heavy dust build up inside the fan's plastic housing that is impeding airflow. Disassembly to lift off the heatsink then unscrew the fan housing may allow you to clean further. However you may need to reapply the thermal paste doing this, or maybe you don't have to, I've re-used the same paste before... just down blow dust over the old paste while it is exposed.

My T420 has the i5 2520m as well, I haven't really stress tested it but it idles between 40-50C and load temp is probably in the 70-80C range. It's much better than my old T420s with i5 2520m, that one easily reaches the late 90s.
Thanks for the feedback. Your machine clearly runs cooler than mine.

I've been researching the various T420 heatsinks and have already uncovered eight different FRU's, with recommendations for both the 04W0627 (single pipe) and the 04W0409 (dual pipe)!!! IIRC, mine has a dual pipe design, but I didn't think to write down the FRU. So perhaps at the end of the day, the 04W0627 is the best way for me to go? One guy say's that he is using that model to cool a quad core i7 with good results.

I'm still reading on the topic, so any additional feedback would be most appreciated.

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#4 Post by TPFanatic » Thu Jul 20, 2017 5:08 pm

I haven't tested T420 with the single pipe heatsink. But in my experience with T410 laptops the two pipe version is 5-7C cooler under load than the one pipe.

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#5 Post by TankPad » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:00 pm

Did you actually open the fan housing when you had it out? Maybe there's a build up of dust in there.
Make sure the intake vents on the underside of the machine are clear also. I like to give them a good going over with a toothbrush and it makes a big difference.
| 701c | X220 | T420 | X230 | T430s | W540

Kielbasa
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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#6 Post by Kielbasa » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:46 am

I took the T420 back apart and mystery solved; I have the 04W0627 single-pipe heatsink.

While I was inside, I decided to take everything back apart. The first go around, I did not completely disassemble the fan, because I didn't have any of that nifty metallic tape that Lenovo uses, nor did I know where to find some on short notice. I contented myself with blowing air through the squirrel cage and through the copper fins. This was followed by shining a light through the fins to ensure that everything was clear.

As some of you are no doubt aware, this was not sufficient and the fins were still partially blocked by a furball. It's back together now and my idle temperature has dropped from 52C to 40C and the fan RPMs have dropped from 3600 to 1900. SO, it would appear that anything short of a complete fan disassembly is a colossal waste of time; lesson learned. :oops:

I'll be completely honest with you, I still can't feel any air flow from the exhaust port. The heat merely seems to radiate from the port, rather than blow out of the port. I mentioned before that I could hear the fan running, but just to be sure, I booted up the laptop with the keyboard removed and the fan is clearly spinning.

I'd like to thank everyone for their feedback. Hopefully this account will save someone else from thinking that they can flat rate the fan cleaning. Make up your mind to do it right the first time and it will save you from having to do it over again.

Cheers!

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#7 Post by axur-delmeria » Fri Jul 21, 2017 2:21 am

I use aluminum foil tape to replace the metallic tape that you mention. I think it's available in most hardware stores.
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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#8 Post by jaspen-meyer » Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:30 am

Kielbasa wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:46 am
I took the T420 back apart and mystery solved; I have the 04W0627 single-pipe heatsink.
The double-pipe versions outperform the single-pipe models. There's currently $5/piece on ebay.
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#9 Post by TankPad » Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:29 am

Good to hear you're back up and running.
I would never just rely on blowing a fan clean. In my experience, most of the time there's gonna be a lot of tightly packed dirt in there that isn't going anywhere without a complete disassembly.

Have you tried using ThinkPadFanControl to boost the fan up to full speed and see if you notice any difference? It'll allow you to finely control the fan speed irrespective of the machines temperature.

Oh, on the tape Lenovo use. You can use pretty much any aluminium foil tape and its easily available in DIY shops. It's used for sealing ducting and the likes.
Kielbasa wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:46 am
I took the T420 back apart and mystery solved; I have the 04W0627 single-pipe heatsink.

While I was inside, I decided to take everything back apart. The first go around, I did not completely disassemble the fan, because I didn't have any of that nifty metallic tape that Lenovo uses, nor did I know where to find some on short notice. I contented myself with blowing air through the squirrel cage and through the copper fins. This was followed by shining a light through the fins to ensure that everything was clear.

As some of you are no doubt aware, this was not sufficient and the fins were still partially blocked by a furball. It's back together now and my idle temperature has dropped from 52C to 40C and the fan RPMs have dropped from 3600 to 1900. SO, it would appear that anything short of a complete fan disassembly is a colossal waste of time; lesson learned. :oops:

I'll be completely honest with you, I still can't feel any air flow from the exhaust port. The heat merely seems to radiate from the port, rather than blow out of the port. I mentioned before that I could hear the fan running, but just to be sure, I booted up the laptop with the keyboard removed and the fan is clearly spinning.

I'd like to thank everyone for their feedback. Hopefully this account will save someone else from thinking that they can flat rate the fan cleaning. Make up your mind to do it right the first time and it will save you from having to do it over again.

Cheers!
| 701c | X220 | T420 | X230 | T430s | W540

Kielbasa
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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#10 Post by Kielbasa » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:22 pm

TankPad wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:29 am
Good to hear you're back up and running.
I would never just rely on blowing a fan clean. In my experience, most of the time there's gonna be a lot of tightly packed dirt in there that isn't going anywhere without a complete disassembly.

Have you tried using ThinkPadFanControl to boost the fan up to full speed and see if you notice any difference? It'll allow you to finely control the fan speed irrespective of the machines temperature.

Oh, on the tape Lenovo use. You can use pretty much any aluminium foil tape and its easily available in DIY shops. It's used for sealing ducting and the likes.
Thanks for the suggestion. I believe that ThinkPadFanControl is for Windows, but surely there must be a Linux alternative. I'll have a look. While I seem to have resolved the issue at hand, it just seems odd that there is no perceptible air movement from/around the exhaust port, no?

Thanks for the tip on the tape.I need to find some and keep it on hand.

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#11 Post by Kielbasa » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:31 pm

jaspen-meyer wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:30 am
The double-pipe versions outperform the single-pipe models. There's currently $5/piece on ebay.
This makes logical sense. Obviously the multiple pipe models must be more complicated/costly to produce, so why produce them, unless they perform noticeably better.

I have a question, I've found three different FRUs which appear to be twin-pipe models, 04W0407, 04W0409 and 04W0416. Does anyone know if there are any performance differences between them?. One post that I stumbled across suggested that the ultimate solution was the fan from the 04W0407, combined with the 04W0409 heatsink.

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#12 Post by jaspen-meyer » Fri Jul 21, 2017 2:48 pm

Kielbasa wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:22 pm
there must be a Linux alternative.
apt-get install thinkfan lm-sensors
vim /etc/thinkfan.conf
for a T420, you must tell it where the get sensors data...i.e. include this line in the config file:

hwmon /sys/devices/platform/coretemp.0/hwmon/hwmon2/temp3_input

add a line to thinkpad_acpi.conf
echo 'options thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1' > /etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi.conf
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#13 Post by Kielbasa » Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:09 pm

jaspen-meyer wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 2:48 pm
Kielbasa wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:22 pm
there must be a Linux alternative.
apt-get install thinkfan lm-sensors
vim /etc/thinkfan.conf
for a T420, you must tell it where the get sensors data...i.e. include this line in the config file:

hwmon /sys/devices/platform/coretemp.0/hwmon/hwmon2/temp3_input

add a line to thinkpad_acpi.conf
echo 'options thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1' > /etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi.conf
:D

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#14 Post by TankPad » Fri Jul 21, 2017 7:50 pm

Oh, I must have missed that and just assumed you were using Windows.

How do the grills on the base of the laptop look? Did you clean them also? I've found this can make a big difference. There's a kinda mesh dust filter stuff in them and it's often clogged up, reducing airflow. If you're not getting enough in, then you certainly won't feel much coming out the exhaust. :)
| 701c | X220 | T420 | X230 | T430s | W540

Kielbasa
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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#15 Post by Kielbasa » Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:02 pm

TankPad wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 7:50 pm
Oh, I must have missed that and just assumed you were using Windows.

How do the grills on the base of the laptop look? Did you clean them also? I've found this can make a big difference. There's a kinda mesh dust filter stuff in them and it's often clogged up, reducing airflow. If you're not getting enough in, then you certainly won't feel much coming out the exhaust. :)
Yeah, the bottom grille looks great. I gave it a good going-over with a stiff brush on the first go 'round. I suppose that I'm somewhat concerned about the health of the fan motor, itself. I think my plan is to try a new fan & twin-pipe heatsink and see what difference, if any, that makes.

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#16 Post by jaspen-meyer » Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:21 am

I've been using a single-pipe T420 all week and, usually, can't hear, or feel, the fan.

For what it's worth, I tried the single-pipe heat-sink with an i7-3610QM. At 100% cpu usage the machine overheated and shutdown within 10 seconds. I immediately turned the machine back on and ordered a dual-pipe heat sink.
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#17 Post by Kielbasa » Sat Jul 22, 2017 8:38 am

jaspen-meyer wrote:
Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:21 am
I've been using a single-pipe T420 all week and, usually, can't hear, or feel, the fan.

For what it's worth, I tried the single-pipe heat-sink with an i7-3610QM. At 100% cpu usage the machine overheated and shutdown within 10 seconds. I immediately turned the machine back on and ordered a dual-pipe heat sink.
I've had this machine since new and I don't ever remember hearing the fan, but I can't say as I've ever obsessed about it before. Perhaps the lack of obvious air flow is normal for this fan/heatsink, but it's certainly not very confidence inspiring. I've got it to where it runs much cooler now, but it still takes quite a while to return to idle temperature, after it has been working. I would attribute this to the obvious lack of airflow.

Thanks VERY much for the feedback!

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#18 Post by jaspen-meyer » Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:37 am

The FRU 04W0627 was not able to cool an i7-3610QM. The machine quickly overheated under load.
FRU 04W0407 is able to cool the i7-3610QM -- max observed temperatures, 81C.
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#19 Post by Dragunov » Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:55 am

TankPad wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:29 am
Good to hear you're back up and running.
I would never just rely on blowing a fan clean. In my experience, most of the time there's gonna be a lot of tightly packed dirt in there that isn't going anywhere without a complete disassembly.

Have you tried using ThinkPadFanControl to boost the fan up to full speed and see if you notice any difference? It'll allow you to finely control the fan speed irrespective of the machines temperature.

Oh, on the tape Lenovo use. You can use pretty much any aluminium foil tape and its easily available in DIY shops. It's used for sealing ducting and the likes.
Kielbasa wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:46 am
I took the T420 back apart and mystery solved; I have the 04W0627 single-pipe heatsink.

While I was inside, I decided to take everything back apart. The first go around, I did not completely disassemble the fan, because I didn't have any of that nifty metallic tape that Lenovo uses, nor did I know where to find some on short notice. I contented myself with blowing air through the squirrel cage and through the copper fins. This was followed by shining a light through the fins to ensure that everything was clear.

As some of you are no doubt aware, this was not sufficient and the fins were still partially blocked by a furball. It's back together now and my idle temperature has dropped from 52C to 40C and the fan RPMs have dropped from 3600 to 1900. SO, it would appear that anything short of a complete fan disassembly is a colossal waste of time; lesson learned. :oops:

I'll be completely honest with you, I still can't feel any air flow from the exhaust port. The heat merely seems to radiate from the port, rather than blow out of the port. I mentioned before that I could hear the fan running, but just to be sure, I booted up the laptop with the keyboard removed and the fan is clearly spinning.

I'd like to thank everyone for their feedback. Hopefully this account will save someone else from thinking that they can flat rate the fan cleaning. Make up your mind to do it right the first time and it will save you from having to do it over again.

Cheers!
A "low tech" solution is propping the four corners of your laptop on four, two liter bottlecaps. I have a single pipe fan, and mine runs at 35c, and 65c, when running Sims 2, or Bio Shock 2.

Also, taping ONE LAYER of a USED dryer sheet, loosely over all the vents will keep 99% of the dust OUT of your Thinkpad! Been doing this for YEARS. I have an old XP machine that I did this with from the day I built it. I still have it 15 years later, and only once, ever had to clean it out. Even then, it really didn't need it.

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#20 Post by Dragunov » Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:59 am

Kielbasa wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:46 am
I took the T420 back apart and mystery solved; I have the 04W0627 single-pipe heatsink.

While I was inside, I decided to take everything back apart. The first go around, I did not completely disassemble the fan, because I didn't have any of that nifty metallic tape that Lenovo uses, nor did I know where to find some on short notice. I contented myself with blowing air through the squirrel cage and through the copper fins. This was followed by shining a light through the fins to ensure that everything was clear.

As some of you are no doubt aware, this was not sufficient and the fins were still partially blocked by a furball. It's back together now and my idle temperature has dropped from 52C to 40C and the fan RPMs have dropped from 3600 to 1900. SO, it would appear that anything short of a complete fan disassembly is a colossal waste of time; lesson learned. :oops:

I'll be completely honest with you, I still can't feel any air flow from the exhaust port. The heat merely seems to radiate from the port, rather than blow out of the port. I mentioned before that I could hear the fan running, but just to be sure, I booted up the laptop with the keyboard removed and the fan is clearly spinning.

I'd like to thank everyone for their feedback. Hopefully this account will save someone else from thinking that they can flat rate the fan cleaning. Make up your mind to do it right the first time and it will save you from having to do it over again.

Cheers!
Have you looked in "power settings" and made sure you're not on "passive" cooling? I've failed to do this myself a couple of times.

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#21 Post by Kielbasa » Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:18 pm

Dragunov wrote:
Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:59 am
Kielbasa wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:46 am
I took the T420 back apart and mystery solved; I have the 04W0627 single-pipe heatsink.

While I was inside, I decided to take everything back apart. The first go around, I did not completely disassemble the fan, because I didn't have any of that nifty metallic tape that Lenovo uses, nor did I know where to find some on short notice. I contented myself with blowing air through the squirrel cage and through the copper fins. This was followed by shining a light through the fins to ensure that everything was clear.

As some of you are no doubt aware, this was not sufficient and the fins were still partially blocked by a furball. It's back together now and my idle temperature has dropped from 52C to 40C and the fan RPMs have dropped from 3600 to 1900. SO, it would appear that anything short of a complete fan disassembly is a colossal waste of time; lesson learned. :oops:

I'll be completely honest with you, I still can't feel any air flow from the exhaust port. The heat merely seems to radiate from the port, rather than blow out of the port. I mentioned before that I could hear the fan running, but just to be sure, I booted up the laptop with the keyboard removed and the fan is clearly spinning.

I'd like to thank everyone for their feedback. Hopefully this account will save someone else from thinking that they can flat rate the fan cleaning. Make up your mind to do it right the first time and it will save you from having to do it over again.

Cheers!
Have you looked in "power settings" and made sure you're not on "passive" cooling? I've failed to do this myself a couple of times.
Passive cooling? I presume that this is a Windows applet / feature? Sorry I don't run Windows.

Once I got the furball cleaned out from between the heatsink fins, my cooling issues went away. I still can't feel any meaningful air flow from the fan, but the machine runs cool now, even under load. Compared to my T440p, for instance, if I didn't know better, I would assume that the T420 fan wasn't running, but the fan does spin and I can monitor the fan RPM in real time. It just doesn't generate much of a breeze.

I appreciate your feedback though; thanks!

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#22 Post by Dragunov » Sat Dec 02, 2017 7:48 pm

I'm sorry, Thought you were running windows.... You're welcome. :)

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#23 Post by kosmonaft » Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:27 am

Hello,
So... i got a t420 (with nvidia) but i have a serious heat issue! I am using only integrated graphic (intel) because if i select (discrete) nvidia, temperatures rises as hell! So i digged around the web and found out that t430 "the whole copper" heatsink should fit exactly over my old oem t420 heatsinfan(also seen on severel youtube videos when t420 users was replacing cpu's). It got better So i bought one but i got another issue. Well my mobo is 3pin connector for the fan, the new one is 4pin... missed that, my mistake! Is there anyway to modify or to found out which 3 wires i should use? i mean ... did someone else did this before me or its just me? I wasn't able to find something something like this here, or i am just bad at using search button :|

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#24 Post by RealBlackStuff » Thu Jan 04, 2018 8:51 am

Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#25 Post by thinkpadcollection » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:14 pm

The graphics of the 4 wire colors is incorrect. There's 2 black for ground, do not use the images as representation of this actual design, wordings is right. All you do is leave one wire (PWM control) disconnected and use voltage, ground and tach output as usual, except this uses voltage varied to control RPM, which is imprecise method via voltage adjustments as I added my comment versus PWM technology. Yet but one have no choice but use 3 wires topography.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#26 Post by jaspen-meyer » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:25 pm

kosmonaft wrote:
Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:27 am
i got a t420 (with nvidia) but i have a serious heat issue! I am using only integrated graphic (intel) because if i select (discrete) nvidia, temperatures rises [quickly]!
Do you have the correct heat sink? The heat sink for the nvidia board has 3 heat pipes.
T420 i7 3612QM seabios; T420 i7 3630QM; T400 Q9100 seabios; T61 P9600; T60 libreboot; x62; x60s libreboot, led; x24 xiphmont led

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#27 Post by thinkpadcollection » Thu Jan 04, 2018 8:39 pm

While they are talking about T420 heatsink, one guy suggested T430 1 pipe heatsink FRU: 04W3268 (delta fan, 1 fat heatpipe) on *flat* copper plate that covers completely all the fins. I took it out from parts box and did a mod to it by adding preformed copper plates with thermal epoxy over the heatpipe and the exposed copper plate over the area where the fins are. Did press the plates tightly with small watchmaker's bench vise.

I'll find a way to put a picture up once I know where to put this modified T430 heatsink onto website.

Turns out the metal frame gets in the way of T430 heatsink fins. Everything else is doable. T430 has pair of extra 2 fins on both fins and slightly ever larger than T420.

Cheers, thinkpadcollection

thinkpadcollection
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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#28 Post by thinkpadcollection » Mon Jan 08, 2018 1:47 am

thinkpadcollection wrote:
Thu Jan 04, 2018 8:39 pm
While they are talking about T420 heatsink, one guy suggested T430 1 pipe heatsink FRU: 04W3268 (delta fan, 1 fat heatpipe) on *flat* copper plate that covers completely all the fins. I took it out from parts box and did a mod to it by adding preformed copper plates with thermal epoxy over the heatpipe and the exposed copper plate over the area where the fins are. Did press the plates tightly with small watchmaker's bench vise.

I'll find a way to put a picture up once I know where to put this modified T430 heatsink onto website.

Turns out the metal frame gets in the way of T430 heatsink's copper plate edges. Everything else is doable. T430 has pair of extra 2 fins on both fins and slightly ever larger than T420.
****
UPDATE: Can do that with T430 heatsink in T420, worth doing since this is only one of very few heatsinks with true copper plate between heatpipe and also copper fins. Had to trim left side plate on both ends of fins and machine the rounded inside corner to square corner on magnesium frame with hand graver or sharp chisel by hand, file the rear vertical edge of left side opening flat so it presents flat instead of a step. All of this interference fit is the magnesium frame left opening and trim the excess copper plate off with flush cutter and file, also cut off magnesium rib that block air flow of fins as well. Netted 5C less, could get better if the CPU die pad is not distorted and using Kryoanaut.

Also yet better, T430 fan has no fan ring for best flow.

Then rewire the plug using 4pin plug from old defective heatsink so only 3 wires are in use, at the fan with label side visible uppermost the LEFTMOST wire is slightly different shade of yellow is PWM (leave off). Carefully arrange the wires so this does not get pinched between heat pipe and the magnessium frame. This is for Delta label fan, wires labels and colors: Red: 5V, black/green: GND, Funny slight darker Yellow: RPM. The lighter yellow is PWM (not used on T420).

Cheers, thinkpadcollection
Cheers, thinkpadcollection

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#29 Post by kosmonaft » Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:06 am

Hi, could you advice me for a thermal paste... the best one, cause i just installed i7 - 2760qm It is 45w processor, 10w more than my old i5 2450m!
And will you be able to tell me is there any way that i can use this cooler for my t420! its from t430, but 5 pin! my mobo (just checked is 4pin) and the stock fan 3cable in 4pin port->

Large image at @imgur showing 5pin t430 cooler from ebay and stock t420 4pin 3 cables

by saying "can i use" i mean can i cut old and transplant it to the new :)? anyway i am using TPfanControl always at max

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Re: Tell me about your T420 cooling fan!

#30 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:28 am

The best right now is: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut from: http://www.thermal-grizzly.com/produkte/2-kryonaut
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
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