how to fix a noisy laptop fan

[simonfraser]

i know it's a computer fix, but we all have laptops, some with a noisy fan, my fan came on full power every minute or so to cool the laptop down, then switched off again, very anoying, so this is what i did:

the usb port produces 5V, outer pins when you check the board

the laptop fan uses about 3.5 - 5V

pull the fan plug out of the board, check the laptop still works, some have a sensor wire and don't boot without a fan plugged in

fit a small adjustable resistor, maplin UH-23 22-turn cermet 1k, in line

switch laptop on and adjust fan speed so the pc still cools, but is not too noisy, worked a treat on mine )

you can run temperature software, such as speedfan, to check it all

just to cover myself, if you blow your laptop up doing this, don't blame me, but do post it on the site so we can all see how "good" your soldering/anti-static skills are !

 

[pvb]

Don\'t try this at home, kids...

I think that's bad advice. Fans are there to cool the processor, and you shouldn't fiddle with them. In many cases, frequent fan operation is a symptom of a blocked heat exchanger. A simple fix for this is, using the tube on your vacuum cleaner, to suck air through the fan grille - this will usually remove a load of fluff and let the fan work more efficiently. Toshiba laptops are particularly susceptible.

 

[boatbuilder]

I had the same problem, and the answer was take the back off and blow out the cooling vents with compressed air. worked wonders. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Guest]

Re: Don\'t try this at home, kids...

I agree the machine was designed to work with a fan that it can control. The peak power of a mobile CPU is huge.

Allowing the temperature to peak will increase the diffusion type process that destroys the metal interconnect on the silicon.

I suggest using a fanless PC in future. There are a few now that can safe guard their processors. I do not know if yours will stop at high temperature or just throttle back the performance to cope with the lack of fan cooling. Either way it is not worth it.

 

[simonfraser]

Re: Don\'t try this at home, kids...

no dust in the fan etc. it now runs at 39 for the hdd and less for the processor, but yes it's risky, better than the noise in my opinion