T42P shuts down after fan replacement - power suppply issue?

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firebladeboy
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T42P shuts down after fan replacement - power suppply issue?

#1 Post by firebladeboy » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:24 am

Hi All,

I received the dreaded Fan Error and replaced the fan on my T42P.

Now it boots and shuts down again almost as if the battery is dead flat! It'll run for 5mins to 1 hour on a fully charged battery but will shut down in under a minute when the pwer is plugged in.

As I say, the shutdown is of the type you get when you've ignored all the low batter warnings and COMPLETELY drained tha battery.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Many thanks,

FBB

richk
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#2 Post by richk » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:12 pm

It sounds like the fan is not seated correctly. What did you use for thermal paste and how did you apply it. (it will run longer on battery because it runs slower and, therefore, cooler.)

firebladeboy
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#3 Post by firebladeboy » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:19 pm

Tnanks! Yes! I'm coming to the same conclusion! Using fan monitoring software, I notice the CPU temp get's into the 90's immediately before the shutdown. On battery, with the processor cool and not running much it'll run forever!

I admit to bodging the paste and trying to re-use what was there. Clearly a mistake - I didn't realise it was THAT Critical! On my way out to get some new paste now.

By the way, shouldn't I see a Thermal event logged somewhere if this is what the problem is?

richk
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#4 Post by richk » Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:25 pm

No event. When it overheats, the CPU stops and drops power to the power-good lead to the power supply. That kills the thing immediately. At that point, you are in danger of ruining the CPU, so it just shuts off.

firebladeboy
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#5 Post by firebladeboy » Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:11 pm

Wow. OK, thanks Rich. Now, all I've been able to get is some Arctic Silver stuff but that appears to be two-part adheisve. will this do the trick or should I look for some non-adheisive paste (grease0 which appears to be what was on there originally?

Many thanks!

FBB

sjthinkpader
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#6 Post by sjthinkpader » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:03 pm

Dow Corning 340 is the common white color heatsink compound. I had been using a tube of Dow Corning 111 originally made for vacuum fittings with good results. The newest is Dow Corning TC-5022.
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richk
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#7 Post by richk » Thu Mar 13, 2008 9:10 pm

I use Arctic Silver 5. The adhesive is not intended for use between CPU and fan. You would never be able to replace the fan. You would need dynamite to get it apart. It is used to attach things that will never be removed.

firebladeboy
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#8 Post by firebladeboy » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:49 pm

:-) Off to a different store for me tomorrow then! Thanks guys, I'll keep you posted on results.

FBB

firebladeboy
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#9 Post by firebladeboy » Fri Mar 14, 2008 12:08 am

One last question before I go to sleep. When I boot into the BIOS config menu, it won't stay up for more than a few seconds. Yet it'll boot into safe mode with little or no problems (Both on battery power). Any ideas as to why this would be?

would
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#10 Post by would » Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:41 am

firebladeboy wrote:Any ideas as to why this would be?
probably because the cpu runs at full power when you're in bios.
when you boot on battery, power management will throttle the cpu --> so its staying cooler!

but don't try it too often - change the thermal paste before!! or maybe you'll kill your cpu ...
Thinkpad T400, 14,1" LG LED Screen, T9550, 4GB DDR3 RAM, 320GB 7200rpm, Intel 5300 a/g/n, BT, 3G, Switchable graphics, DVD Multiburner Rambo VI, Sanyo 9Cell Battery, ...

firebladeboy
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#11 Post by firebladeboy » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:22 pm

Yaaaayy!!!! That was it!! Applied some Arctic Silver 5 to the processor and Heatsink after carefully cleaning off the old goop and I'm good!! Running perefectly with a CPU temp of around 65 degrees!!
Thanks so myuch to all for their help!

Could we stcky this under "The Importance of Thermal Grease on T42P's"?? I REALLY had no idea it would be THAT critical!

Thanks again! :-)

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