T43p whiny fan - can this be replaced aside of heatsink?

[dca860]

My fan is annoyingly whiny - which I assume means it is on the way out.
Is it an integrated part of the copper heatsink assembly, or can I just replace the fan?
.
Either way, any tips on getting hold of a cheap one?

Thanks
David

[ajkula66]

You'd have to replace the entire heatsink.

My suggestion would be to clean it with compressed air first, and make sure that you have the latest BIOS/EC.

Using TPFC might also help.

If none of that works, try fleabay for a replacement fan.

Good luck.

[dca860]

You'd have to replace the entire heatsink.

My suggestion would be to clean it with compressed air first, and make sure that you have the latest BIOS/EC.

Using TPFC might also help.

If none of that works, try fleabay for a replacement fan.

Good luck.

I think my issue is not one of control as it is quite acceptable when first turned on, but once the machine is starting to work and the fan builds up speed (as I would expect it to), it just seems excessively whiny (I have 2 other lapstops where the fan noise is not above that of the noise of the air ducting via the opening).
This is quite an irritating noise that my limited experiece points to the fan itself. I see some seller in China is selling just the fan itself on ebay but it doesn't appear readily removeable from the heatsink to me - thus my question.

[poshgeordie]

I've used a dremel to grind away the four rivets holding the two fan body halves together. This will allow you to remove the fan, and use a few drops of alcohol based cleaner down the shaft housing and on the fan shaft itself.

Then put a tiny quantity of ultra light oil like sewing machine oil on the fan shaft.

After reassembly and a quick test, use some epoxy adhesive to glue the two fan halves back together.

[scr71822]

T43 fans are attached differently then the older T4x, the fan body is aluminum. Replacement fans can be had on ebay if you like. The price is not very competitive though to replacing the whole thing. You might just try disassembling it and cleaning the magnet and putting a drop of synthetic motor oil on the fan spindle.

[dca860]

T43 fans are attached differently then the older T4x, the fan body is aluminum. Replacement fans can be had on ebay if you like. The price is not very competitive though to replacing the whole thing. You might just try disassembling it and cleaning the magnet and putting a drop of synthetic motor oil on the fan spindle.

Hmm - seems worth a try!
Can you remind me, is this just a keyboard and palm rest removal to get adequately at the heatsink?

[poshgeordie]

Can you remind me, is this just a keyboard and palm rest removal to get adequately at the heatsink?

It is possible to remove it by just removing those items, but it may help to remove the keyboard bezel and loosen one side of the display as follows:

Referring to this document:

1. Remove the keyboard bezel (Section 3).

2. Remove the 3 screws securing the left hand side of the display (Section 5), ie 2 off M2.5 x4.8 screws as per the top right hand picture and the 1 off M2 x 10 screw.
This allows you to slightly lift the display (very carefully) which helps in sliding the fan assembly out.