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T420 fan always on

T400/T410/T420 and T500/T510/T520 Series
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whc
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Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:55 pm
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T420 fan always on

#1 Post by whc » Sun Feb 11, 2018 9:06 pm

My T420 i5 2.5Ghz always have the fan running, thought I just needed to clean the fan and apply new thermal compound, but after I did this, it runs about 20c cooler, but still the fan is on always. Have the latest bios and running Windows 10, and nothing running in the background that could cause the CPU to run hot (it rund very cool in fact).

When running TPFanControl the fan stoppes spinning, but would be better not having to rely on third party software. Have installed a mSATA SSD in the 3G slot, don't know if this could cause the fan to be on always?
Lenovo and IBM Thinkpads: R40, X60, T420, 25

Thinkpad4by3
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Re: T420 fan always on

#2 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:57 pm

TPfancontrol is probably your only option if you have updated all drivers.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

whc
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:55 pm
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Re: T420 fan always on

#3 Post by whc » Mon Feb 12, 2018 7:42 am

Could this be a hardware issue, or just not working proper with Windows 10?
Lenovo and IBM Thinkpads: R40, X60, T420, 25

theterminator93
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Re: T420 fan always on

#4 Post by theterminator93 » Mon Feb 12, 2018 8:21 am

Does the fan start to run immediately after you power on the machine, or only after Windows boots?

In TPFC, do any temperatures look abnormally high? What are the highest three temperatures and their corresponding sensor names in TPFC after you start it?

What happens if you boot to, say, a Linux Live CD of some sort?

I use TPFC on any TP that will support it, and have for about 10 years now. I prefer my machines run cooler than what the stock BIOS fan program permits.
T480 with T25 keyboard | T25 | W520 i7-2860QM·Quadro 2000m·IPS FHD | T601F T9900·NVS 140m·LED AFFS UXGA
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whc
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:55 pm
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Re: T420 fan always on

#5 Post by whc » Tue Feb 13, 2018 5:09 pm

The CPU runs very cool, about 52C. Fan is always on, also in bios. Thinking the only solution is TPFanControl, also works fine, though would prefer if the app could open minimized, have to exit out the app/window every time I turn on my machine.
Lenovo and IBM Thinkpads: R40, X60, T420, 25

theterminator93
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Re: T420 fan always on

#6 Post by theterminator93 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:55 pm

If it's on in BIOS that's indicative of some sensor's reading being interpreted in such a way that the system thinks it needs to have the fan on. Aside from swapping out components with temperature sensors to see if the problem can be localized (only so much you can swap before you're left with the motherboard - and at that, most are on the motherboard), TPFC is your best bet to keep things quiet.
T480 with T25 keyboard | T25 | W520 i7-2860QM·Quadro 2000m·IPS FHD | T601F T9900·NVS 140m·LED AFFS UXGA
T420 IPS FHD | X220 IPS FHD | T61p·T61·43·42p|X13 Yoga G3·220T·301·41T·24·23·22|G41|A31p·22m|i1200|TransNote
600|770Z|770|760XD|760EL|701C|755C

Sweater Fish Deluxe
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Re: T420 fan always on

#7 Post by Sweater Fish Deluxe » Wed Feb 14, 2018 3:17 am

I'm pretty sure the BIOS setting is actually for the fan to always be on. Even with temps down in the 30s, my fan is on if I'm on BIOS control, though it's on the lowest setting, which is pretty silent.

Thinkpad BIOS fan control has always been sort of [censored] to be honest. It tends to frequently switch between high and low speeds, which I find even more annoying than the fact that it stays on. So I've used TPFanControl on every Thinkpad I've ever owned all the way back to my T20.

You'll find a StartMinimized setting in the .cfg file. In fact once you have a setting you're happy with, TPFanControl can even be set to run as a Windows service rather than an executable if you prefer.

whc
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2007 6:55 pm
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark

Re: T420 fan always on

#8 Post by whc » Thu Feb 15, 2018 3:08 pm

Nice now TPFanControl starts minimized, thanks for the info :).

Strange thing is my T410, the fan only runs when I use the CPU, it is completely silent when just idle or not doing much. Strange that the newer T420 with the 2nd gen intel I cpu always have the fan running, should it not run cooler? Maybe it is the Nvidia GPU that needing active cooling.
Lenovo and IBM Thinkpads: R40, X60, T420, 25

Thinkpad4by3
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Re: T420 fan always on

#9 Post by Thinkpad4by3 » Mon Feb 19, 2018 9:33 pm

whc wrote:
Thu Feb 15, 2018 3:08 pm
Nice now TPFanControl starts minimized, thanks for the info :).

Strange thing is my T410, the fan only runs when I use the CPU, it is completely silent when just idle or not doing much. Strange that the newer T420 with the 2nd gen intel I cpu always have the fan running, should it not run cooler? Maybe it is the Nvidia GPU that needing active cooling.
Logic would say that the T500 with its hotter running C2D should have a bigger heatsink than the T520 but nope. After Apple F-ed up badly in 2010 with the GPUs running so hot, along with HP, and Lenovo them self(nVidia :x ) so I'm assuming they wanted to take no chances, so bigger heatsinks all the way and fans on all the time.
Thinkpad4by3's Law of the Universe.

The efficiency of two screens equally sized with equal numbers if pixels are equal. The time spent by a 4:3 user complaining about 16:9 is proportional to the inefficiency working with a 16:9 display, therefore the amount of useful work extracted is equal.

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