Possible Fan Error

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PolyT30 · #1 Post by **PolyT30** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 5:54 pm

Hi, new to the forums here.

I'm in need of immediate help. I recently borrowed a friend's old T30 laptop (2366-B1U) for myself. It's pretty old now, so I didn't expect too much from it, trying not to abuse it. I didn't play any intense games on it (only played a game called Ragnarok Online, for those of you who know what it is).

Anyway, the fan has been working until now, but it frequently made grinding noises. Today, when I woke up and tried to turn it on, the fan didn't start up and I got the "Fan error" message. So, I tried the first step - cleaning the fan. The laptop was inactive for a few months at my friend's house, so I assumed it was dusty inside, which it was. I removed the keyboard and used a dust-remover.

When I tried turning the machine back on, the fan started spinning again at startup. But, after a few seconds, it'd stop spinning again (at around when the Windows loading screen comes up).

I tried this a few times. Interestingly, I saw that the fan spun at random points for another few seconds, and then stop again. When I mean "stop", I mean it didn't spin even if I started a program (even that game I mentioned above).

Honestly, I'm no computer genius, so I'm not sure on how a fan functions. But, I don't think it's supposed to act like this.

So, I guess my bottom question is, is the fan dead or near dead (as in tomorrow or the day after)? Or is it something else less serious (I heard some people fixed their fan by just oiling it)? I do hope it's the latter... I need the laptop up and running as soon as possible.

#2 Post by **rkawakami** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:37 pm

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

The fan sounds like it is working properly. Upon power up, it should spin for a few seconds. Then, as long as the temperature does not exceed some predetermined limit, it will stay off. If the temperature of the system does exceed the limit, then the fan should turn on until it is back below the limit. There are a couple of programs that you can download which are able to monitor various thermal sensors inside the system; here is one of them:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Sys ... eter.shtml

Generally speaking, you should not have to oil the fan. If it's making grinding noises then it's time to replace it.

#3 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 6:38 pm

It should always spin up at booting, after that it will only come on when necessary.
Since you cleaned the fan of dust, sounds like it's working fine again.
If the TP should overheat without the fan coming on, it will automatically shut down the TP.

PolyT30 · #4 Post by **PolyT30** » Wed Jan 02, 2008 10:51 pm

Hmm, hopefully, you guys are right. I'm using a friend's laptop to post this right now, and this machine's fan runs every couple of minutes.

Guess I'll try the T30 tomorrow. I'll also download the temperature monitoring program. Is there any average temperature range the machine shouldn't reach?

#5 Post by **rkawakami** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:48 am

Don't have a T30 but my T23s generally reach about 65-70c before the fan kicks on.

PolyT30 · #6 Post by **PolyT30** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:55 am

Hmm, okay. Just wanted to share my observations.

When I'm just browsing the internet, or doing other less-intense activities, the temperature averages out at around 50 degrees. Fan is spinning lightly. Not too loud.

I've tried playing that game I mentioned above (Ragnarok Online). Average temperature is at about 80 degrees. However, the fan doesn't spin so strong even at that level.

Either way, the MobileMeter is a very nifty tool. Thanks for the link.

Possible Fan Error

Possible Fan Error

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