laptop CPU fan near it's end?

[high_revs]

It's been much more noisy recently and sometimes I hear grinding. Jeez, these fans are expensive new even on ebay even if from china - $30-$50 new. I figure it's just gotten here because i leave the laptop on (dell xps 15 L521x flavor). The laptop works great still (i7 iirc, 16gb ram, GPU). Fast enough for what i need though have graphics issues here and there, i.e. the 2nd monitor won't come back from sleep and i 'd have to disable and re-enable display devices.


Anyway, what does CG think? it's inconsistently noisy and I can't see anything w/o taking it fully apart which might not be possible to reassemble. i wonder if it has bearings and they're close to being shot.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/iw2DnieR4hWoMvJs8

[SkyHawk]

I have a HP i7 laptop that eats CPU fans. I am convinced that the act of the OS+BIOS trying to modify the fan speed is what kills it. Because it will run fine when the OS decides it needs 100% fan, but if it tries to throttle the fan, it makes a terrible grinding noise.

To change the fan requires compete disassembly of the laptop, I mean total. It is an ordeal. And the replacement fan will run fine for 6 months to a year then the same thing happens.

First I would see if this Dell allows you to modify the fan speed. Try running it at 100% or nearly so, see if the sound goes away.

Use this tool to try https://windowsreport.com/software/speedfan-windows/

My HP has locked out access to the layer to change fan speed. I would have to extract, tweak, and recompile the ACPI. But if your Dell allows it, it is worth the time to see if a different speed makes your fan happier.

I use this external fan to make sure I don't have cooling problems until I gather up the time and patience to go in and replace the internal fan. This works great.

https://www.amazon.com/LC05-Cooling-Auto-Temp-Detection-Compatible/dp/B00XKU47Y2/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=opolar+laptop+fan&qid=1589334447&s=electronics&sr=1-2

I have been rebuilding my fan units, replacing only the fan inside the module and not the whole module. Then it is not so expensive.

Next time I may cut the speed control wire so the fan just runs at max. Yes it would be noisy, but not nearly as bad as the horrid grinding sound I live with.

[u04601]

Backup all data. Did I mention to backup all data?

[high_revs]

thanks skyhawk. mine is easy to replace on the dell xps 15 laptop. a couple of screws and that's it. oddly enough and probably when i added more RAM, which required short of full disassembly as the other memory socket was under the keyboard literally and you had to flip the mobo (i managed to sneak it in there w/o full flip)... i lost one screw for the fan. thought that may be it (rattling because it's loose) so i repurposed one of the screws from the bottom cover. but that wasn't it. i'll look also at just running it on all the time. oddly sometimes it's quiet; sometimes it's noise. i think you're right on the throttling piece. laptop is 6-7 yrs old bought in 2014. only recently do i hear more noise. but i'll try that s/w you posted.

u04601, i'm backed up. all the time.. triple actually (acronis and freefile sync to secondary drive, replicated to an external usb and triple replicated to a nas). been burned before on 2 seagate drives . so we'll try 3 this time.

[The War Wagon]

Backup all data. Did I mention to backup all data?

Yep. Start shopping C-L ads for a replacement laptop, too.

[high_revs]

i just ordered a replacement one from newegg. oddly much cheaper there than even ebay.

as long as it holds out until BF2020 deals, that'll be fine. i don't do gaming anymore or even lightroom work on dslr photos. but i *may* do some pcgaming as i want to build a ryzen desktop (or an i9), and aiming for deals.



SkyHawk, speedfan installed though it doesn't allow me to set the fan speed. i opened up the fan and tried to remove the blades to clean and oil where the fan inserts into the microchip. but it was stuck there pretty well and i didn't want to take a chance of it snapping.

[lazyworm]

bearings inside the fans do go bad with use. They seem to last longer if you blow compressed air in once a while to clear out the dust bunnies.

[the86d]

Backup all data. Did I mention to backup all data?

It appears this mSATA in this device is a removable module, unlike most Macs people buy these days, which RAM and SSD is soldered in, so data shouldn't be an issue either way...
BUT never keep all your data in one basket.

[Drew Eckhardt]

Anyway, what does CG think? it's inconsistently noisy and I can't see anything w/o taking it fully apart which might not be possible to reassemble. i wonder if it has bearings and they're close to being shot.

The fan is probably failing.

Download the service manual. If the replacement process isn't too much work for you buy a new fan and replace it.

I've replaced the thermal paste, heat sink assembly, and main board in my ten year old Dell 1558 (1920x1080, 8 GiB RAM, quad core 1.6 Ghz/2.4Ghz turbo i7) a number of times. It costs far less than acquiring a new one, and removing then reinstalling everything except the "subwoofer" is less painful than getting all my software running on a new machine. Keep the screws from each step organized.

Except for gaming, photo editing, and a few other applications laptops with SSDs have been good enough for most applications for a long time, and those can be retrofitted. I swapped in the first affordable 1T SSD in 2013.

[ibanezfoo]

You can rebuild those fans pretty easily. They just pull apart and you can clean them with alcohol and bearing lube if it has bearings, or triflow if it has bushings.

[Trademaster]

Any of you gun guys have an extra CPU (Must be AMD) or GPU that are willing to trade for something of equivalent value (optic , top of the line Glock accessories)?

[Forgotten_man]

preventive solution

buy a targus ventilator pad that you can set the notebook computer on. It will send nice cool air up through the notebook as often as you turn it on. Great way to save your CPU and to mitigate fan problems.

[The War Wagon]

So what model laptop did you buy to replace this ticking time bomb?

[high_revs]

So what model laptop did you buy to replace this ticking time bomb?

i'm going to re-do the thermal paste this weekend. i bought mastergel maker last night after some research what makes sense for laptops though 2yr shelf life sucks. maybe i'll re-do the wifey's pc also as it's old.

i've been running SkyHawk's recommendation of speedfan but i also pushed it pretty hard (i guess) converting a gopro vid to hevc to h.264, while uploading to youtube the same video for test purposes if easier to edit there and watching prime video. i was monitoring cpu and vsdc / youtube was evenly split on cpu utilization , and Firefox wasn't that bad. Then it just shut down once i looked elsewhere.

new fan coming from newegg. i managed to source a cheaper one since the ebay one that was 40'ish was cancelled and said was posted incorrectly and out of stock. honest seller to let me know vs. drag it on. hopefully it comes soon.

i'm reseaching to build a desktop. i don't really have a need for a laptop at home. i have a spare lenovo t-series (t460s) already that i'll use for personal travel (smaller, lighter).

Forgotten_man, i thought about that. but my vents aren't facing down. they are facing backwards like an car exhaust. i have a already a targus swivel laptop pad with 4 half-dome raisers to give it ventilation at the bottom. it helps though i mostly bought it for older laptops where the vent exhaust was pointing down. i was did some more reading and what are reported results and for laptops with vents not pointing down, it's less benefit. it's cooling a solid cover only.

https://www.amazon.com/Targus-PA239U-Traveler-CoolPad/dp/B00006HYPV/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1454025968&sr=8-1&keywords=coolpad+laptop+swivel&linkCode=sl1&tag=iridemyown-20&linkId=a713df09c0d532c097be96741b712995