Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message

Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

T400/T410/T420 and T500/T510/T520 Series
Post Reply
Message
Author
NothingNew1
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2019 7:52 pm
Location: Nashville, TN

Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

#1 Post by NothingNew1 » Sun Sep 08, 2019 9:30 pm

Hello,
Picked up a T530 from ebay and the fan turns on seconds after the computer boots. What could be causing that ? Is it a easy fix ? Someone suggested cleaning and putting new thermal paste on the CPU. Has anyone else had this issue ? The computer itself is in great condition and so far running great except for this issue.
Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks !!

RealBlackStuff
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 23809
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Sep 09, 2019 12:37 am

Nearly every Thinkpad fan comes on for a few seconds when it boots.
If it stays on, it's running too hot.
The first thing to do when you get such an oldie, is to clean fan and CPU and put fresh thermal paste on.
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
.

TPFanatic
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 2213
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:29 pm
Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Re: Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

#3 Post by TPFanatic » Thu Sep 12, 2019 9:06 am

Recommend installing a temp monitoring software. For Windows HWMonitor is a good comprehensive one. TPFanControl also reports CPU temp on the T530.

Idling should be around or under 50C. 70C to 80C is hot but normal under sustained load.

Khavvie
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Nov 28, 2012 12:36 pm
Location: Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK

Re: Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

#4 Post by Khavvie » Thu Sep 12, 2019 3:26 pm

Always wise to repaste a laptop that you buy used. Some tend to have the original paste that was never replaced, or have its heatsink dusted. It's bad when it's solidified and becomes a chore to scrape off! Unless you get a plastic spudger used to remove car decals, it could make that job easier.

When you repaste, give the heatsink fins a good airdusting too. I use Arctic MX-2 for my units and give them an airdusting when I acquire a "new" laptop.

It's also noted that those with dedicated graphics chips, such as my 8470P or my old MSI GT640, also emit heat and has only one fan to manage both GPU and CPU so they'd also be noisier as a result.
Dell Precision 7540 - 16GB DDR4, i7 9750H, RTX 3000, 500GB SSD, 60hz 1080p IPS
Dell Precision M4800 - 32GB, i7 4810MQ, WX4150, 500GB SSD, 1TB HDD, 120HZ 1080p with BenQ SW240
HP Zbook 15 G2 - 16GB, i7 4710MQ, Nvidia M2000M, 500GB SSD, and 2TB HDD, 4G LTE LT4112
Lenovo ThinkPad T61 - Win7Pro 64bit

NothingNew1
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2019 7:52 pm
Location: Nashville, TN

Re: Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

#5 Post by NothingNew1 » Fri Sep 13, 2019 8:42 pm

I reapplied the paste, let it sit for a bit, but the fan is still running all the time. The average temp is : 45-47 degrees C. It never reachs "high" or "critical". Those are the read using Linux
$ sensors.
The insides of this unit, actually looked brand new, it was spotless. Any other advisce on what else it could be ? Also, if it decides to up and die on my any other suggests of Thinkpads in the $100-125 range ? I'm new to Thinkpads, but will say I'm happy with the T400 and really love the T530 except for this issue. I'm very tempted to buy another one and make this one a pet project to try and fix to proper working use. Oh, any reccomendations on good ebay sellers ?

RealBlackStuff
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 23809
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

#6 Post by RealBlackStuff » Sat Sep 14, 2019 2:17 am

Maybe the heatsink does not sit properly and flush on the CPU?
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
.

dr_st
Admin
Admin
Posts: 9692
Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2005 6:20 am
Location: Israel

Re: Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

#7 Post by dr_st » Sat Sep 14, 2019 4:51 am

RealBlackStuff wrote:
Sat Sep 14, 2019 2:17 am
Maybe the heatsink does not sit properly and flush on the CPU?
45-47C are normal idle temps. The question is - should the fan be running constantly at those temps or not?

Right now my X220 has CPU @54C and fan is running @3600RPM. It's rather quiet, though.

Does the fan respond to manual controls as described here:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_control_fan_speed

I also second the suggestion to try TPFanControl (booting into Windows).

Perhaps it's normal to have the fan run, but something might be wrong with the fan which makes it loud.
Thinkpad 25 (20K7), T490 (20N3), Yoga 14 (20FY), T430s (IPS FHD + Classic Keyboard), X220 4291-4BG
X61 7673-V2V, T60 2007-QPG, T42 2373-F7G, X32 (IPS Screen), A31p w/ Ultrabay Numpad

kfzhu1229
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 2484
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:59 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

#8 Post by kfzhu1229 » Thu Nov 28, 2019 11:31 pm

Silly question, but the GPU isn't overheating right? Even with my i7-3720qm 45W beast the fan shuts off when the temps is at around 45 and only turns on when the temps are over 50
Dell Lat CP MMX-233 64mb 40gb W2k
600 PII-266 416mb 40gb WXP
T23 PIII 1.13ghz 1gb W7
Precision M4300 X9000 8gb 160gb WUXGA Ultrasharp fp W10
T530i 15.6" i7 16gb fp W10
UXGA:
A30p PIII 1.2 1gb W7 (IDTech)
T43p 2.26 2gb fp W10 (Sharp)
Lat C840 P4-2.5 2gb 60gb W7 (Ultrasharp)

TPFanatic
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 2213
Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2015 11:29 pm
Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Re: Thinkpad T530 - Fan Comes On As Soon AS Compter Turns On

#9 Post by TPFanatic » Fri Nov 29, 2019 1:27 am

My T420 likes to run its fan at 3200 RPM (equivalent to Manual 2) even with the CPU at 43C near-idle. It's the stock 4 pin Toshiba fan from the monopipe heatsink.

IIRC the dual heatpipe heatsink with its 3 pin Panasonic fan is quieter, when it's working correctly.

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “ThinkPad T400/T410/T420 and T500/T510/T520 Series”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 102 guests