Another T60P Fan Question

[taichi]

So...cleaning out the fans five months ago quieted the beast down, but now it's growling again, which argues for a fan replacement.

I have a T60P 2623 DDU. According to the cognoscenti on this forum the 41W6407 is to be preferred over the older, and less thermally efficient 41V9932. The trouble is that when I go to Lenovo/IBM parts, their drop down menus seem to suggest that the 2623 DDU should be mated with the 41V9932. A follow up call to Lenovo/IBM tech substantiated this, in that the tech said if this were under warranty that the 41V9932 would be the replacement.

I also asked him whether the fans listed as genuine IBM/Lenovo parts on Ebay with the same 3 month warranty as Lenovo offers would be guaranteed if they were to fail...He said no.

I would prefer the better fan so I am confused and looking for guidance from the elders on this forum. (Elder, in the real world, is not always a matter of age!)

Thanks

[ajkula66]

These fans are interchangeable 10001%.

Pick whatever you can find new on eBay, it will work for a while, I doubt that any of them will fail within 90 days.

Good luck.

[taichi]

Thanks for the response.

Why did the technician (and the site) point me only to the 41V9932?

Also I notice that some of the fans on ebay are 3rd party compatible...not IBM.

Do you think the 41W6407 is superior to the 41V9932? The latter is cheaper, even from IBM.

[ajkula66]

IBM will not point you to anything out of HMM. If they were replacing it themselves, they would be at liberty of swapping anything with a unit that carries a different FRU number, but they can't advise you to do that.

In my experience, T60/p "discrete" fans are horrible either way, regardless of FRU and/or origin. I just throw in whatever I have available and pray that it doesn't start sounding like a ME-109 within two weeks.

My $0.02 only...

[taichi]

Interesting things is...when I contacted a seller about a fan I also asked about the 3945 Intel Wireless pcie card. The seller informed me that some have had problems installing generic 3945s because IBM restricts their use.

So you don't think that the 41W6407 is superior to the
41V9932? And you don't think it advantageous to get the fan from Lenovo rather than ebay?

Thanks, George, and I'm glad you like your T60P.

[ajkula66]

Well, yeah, a generic 3945 will throw a "1802" error on boot unless one has a modded BIOS... I hate that card to begin with so if I were replacing a 3945 that would *not* be the same card...

No clue on what IBM charges for the fan, but I guess it's double (at least) than it would be on feebay. Don't forget that you'll get a "serviceable used part" from The Big Blue, and not a new one...

41W6407 is probably a better choice, overall. That being said, I'd go with whatever I could find new, and made financial sense at that point in the game...

My $0.02 only...

[taichi]

Well, yeah, a generic 3945 will throw a "1802" error on boot unless one has a modded BIOS... I hate that card to begin with so if I were replacing a 3945 that would *not* be the same card...

No clue on what IBM charges for the fan, but I guess it's double (at least) than it would be on feebay. Don't forget that you'll get a "serviceable used part" from The Big Blue, and not a new one...

My $0.02 only...

Well, George, you're definitely right about the "serviceable used part". I just got off the phone with Lenovo. They cannot tell me whether the part that I would get is new or refurbished. That sort of takes the sheen off of ordering a "new part" from them.

Tomorrow I'm going to call another vendor.

Since I'm not handy with bioses, is there any wireless card I can buy which will fit right in? Of course I can buy a 3945 from Lenovo that will work, but it's pricey.

Thanks

[ajkula66]

Throw 42T0825 into eBay's search...that's what I bought for myself.

[taichi]

The 42T0825 seems to mostly ship from Hong Kong. The place where I'll likely buy the fan has it for 3-4 times the price, shipping from the US.

Did it work in your T60P without any BIOS mod?

[ajkula66]

Yes, more than once... ...no mods required, no hacks.

That was the only "n" card offered on T60/p palette right from the factory. FRUs may vary, but that is *the* card...

Is this the one you're getting:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-T60P-T60-OE ... 4cfa77223a

Any price higher than that is just plain ridiculous IMO...

As for the fan, this is the best I found with a *very* short search:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fan-Heatsink-IB ... 2eb4eca884

Good luck.

[taichi]

Has anyone dealt with this company for fans? They were mentioned on the forum and it appears that they do a very thorough rebuild.

http://www.thermalfx.com/merchant2/merc ... gory_Code=

[ajkula66]

I don't even see a fan that you could use...

EDIT: found it...wouldn't pay $70 for it, but that's your money...

[taichi]

Hey there, George.

Unlike your technically adept Self (hats off to you), I'll be taking my T60P to a local tech to do the installation, so there's a certain amount of coin of the realm invested in that, as opposed to the sweat time that you would put into it. So I want a durable fan, and am afraid of inexpensive fans that might not last.

There are places that sell used, places that sell generic, places that sell refurbished...I've looked at a bunch.

Lenovo/IBM steers me away from the 41W6407 because of the 2623 DDU designation. On their page (and by telephone) they say that there are many variants of the T60P, and that the 2623 DDU needs the 41V9932.

Ebay lists a great number of fans with alternate and compatible numbers, or designate theirs as
41V9932/41W6407, which might mean trouble for the 2623 DDU.

I'd like to spend as little as possible...I'm no masochist!

By the way the company I listed gives rebates if you send them the old fan, tho I have no idea how that would work in my case.

As you are the preeminent Flexview man on the forum, I'm glad you appreciate the T60P!

[ajkula66]

Once again, it's your money, but consider the following:

a) Unless you're disabled (and NO I'm not making fun of disabled people, have many friends with disabilities, just stating it as a fact of life) you can swap the fan in less than half an hour, even if you've never done it before.

b) I'd expect a *lot* more than a 30-day replacement only warranty for $70...

While I appreciate and often recommend the T60/p lineup, it never really found the place in my heart...

My $0.02 only...

[taichi]

So far so good with the rebuilt fan from http://www.thermalfx.com/fan/LaptopFans.html. It's very quiet, was physically in great shape, and with tax and shipping was just about $60.00.

It comes with a six month exchange warranty for a defective unit, which is better than any other warranty I encountered.

The gentleman who runs the business was a pleasure to deal with.

The turbine engine (I exaggerate) is gone, and the T60P is as well mannered as an Anglican Reverend.

I found the site by searching on the Thinkpad forum, which is, as you all know, a great forum.

[Worzyl]

I installed a new fan last saturday (41W6407) after my T60p just refused to boot as I was welcomed with a "fan error". I had been meaning to change it for quite awhile admist the concord turbine engine sound effects it was making while producing artwork in front of the television. I applied artic silver 5 and followed the instructions on the lenovo videos, where it now runs at a silent 45 - 50 degrees in temperature. I got the part from Lenovo last year sometime (or was it early this year...?) but can't remember how much I paid for it, but I'm hoping that it will last a few more years.