Replacing a fan on a T500 / Thermal Grease

[ts1971]

Hi,

I have a two-year old T500 with what I believe is a failing fan. I just ordered a replacement today with the intention of replacing it myself. I was just looking at the replacement instructions and was reminded that I needed thermal grease as part of the process. I replaced a fan on a T40 about four years ago and was surprised that I was just actually able to find the two leftover unused syringes of thermal compound from that procedure.

Is there a shelf life on this stuff? Is there any reason not to use it? The syringe says:

Ultracut Thermal Compound
High Denisty
Non Silicone
Instructions at PCIViper.net
** keep away from children **

This is the right stuff right? If anyone sees any reason that I shouldn't use one of these syringes for this job, I'd love to hear it. Or for that matter if anyone has any general tips or links to more detailed instructions than the ones in the manual, I'm all ears. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to hardware repair.

Thanks.

-ts1971

[Harryc]

I wouldn't trust it. Go to your local Radio Shack and pickup a tube of Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound. It costs @ $10.

[ts1971]

Okay, I manged to remove the fan without (I think) breaking anything. Having just taken a close look at the replacement I purchased direct from Lenovo I'm a bit confused. It looks like there is already thermal compound applied in little dots. So, do I need to use the stuff I bought? And if the answer is no, should I smooth the dots are just leave them like they are. And either way, should I clean the old compound off of the CPU and (showing my ignorance here) whatever the other point of contact with the grease on it is? And if so, can I use alcohol for this?

Thanks in advance.

-ts1971

[Harryc]

You can just install the fan as is with the dots of thermal compound, but the heat transfer is not as efficient as it is with a properly applied layer of Arctic Silver compound. I'd clean off the dots and the CPU area with Alcohol. Be sure to remove the old compound on top of the CPU. Put a rice grain sized drop of Arctic Silver on the CPU die, spread it evenly with a credit card or razor blade. Make sure it is paper thin and even and covers the entire die. All 'other' contact areas should be similarly cleaned and Arctic Silver Applied. If I recall on a T500 that 'other' contact surface is a large area on top of the GPU and it's memory.

[ts1971]

Hi Harry,

Thanks for the advice; I really appreciate it. However, I have another question I've got the fan replaced but I'm having a bit of trouble replacing the keyboard bezel. The long end and the left claw both seated really cleanly but the right claw just doesn't seem to quite want to seat itself flushly. I played with it for about 20 minutes but just couldn't get it. I have no idea what the issue is. I finally just screwed everything down but I'm not sure if I should continue or not. When I look at it from the side, it's definitely a bit bowed over the DVD drive. Is there maybe some trick that I'm missing or is this just a slight imperfection in the fit of the pieces and it was always like this?

Thanks in advance for you thoughts (or of course for those of anyone else)

-ts1971

[Harryc]

It snaps in, and you may have to examine the bezel itself and where it hooks in to see if it fits in to or under another piece. It's been a few weeks since I have done this so I don't have a clear picture in my mind of the exact snap/claw on the right side, but it will snap down. Just take your time. Also make sure the speaker wires are taped down and out of the way. There is a slot for them to be routed through ... the maintenance manual would have a picture.

[ts1971]

Okay, everything is back together and seems to be working. The annoying noise is gone and at least so far I dont' seem to have broken anything else.

Thanks again Harry and the others who commented for your help.

-ts1971

[johnny123]

Hi,

@ts1971, what fan did you get for replacement? could you give me the link, I think i have the same issue

Thanks in advance

J0hnny

[makaveli559m]

I went with silicon paste because it doesnt make heat I used Arctic Silver 5 and it kept heating up my laptop no matter how much I had used for the cpu and gpu.

[Colonel O'Neill]

I went with silicon paste because it doesnt make heat I used Arctic Silver 5 and it kept heating up my laptop no matter how much I had used for the cpu and gpu.

You know you're supposed to put as little as possible, right?

[makaveli559m]

[/quote]You know you're supposed to put as little as possible, right?[/quote]

Yeah I put a little bit of it, the thing you have to get right is not so little and not so much. My T500 was cooler with silicon paste I got the silicon paste at Radioshack the Arctic Silver 5 caused too much heat.