Fan Always on?????????

I am brand new to this forum. I hope I am doing it right.

What can I do about this :-

I use an Acer 230 Laptop for work. After turning it on, 10-15 mins later the fan comes on and virtually stays on all day. This never used to happen about 6 months ago. I have re-seated the heatsink and applied heatsink compound and things are just the same. Task manager reports only 1 - 2 % of system resources are being used so have you any idea why it is getting hot causing the fan to come on? This happens when you are viewing the desktop without any programs running.
It is plugged into the mains supply.

Thanks for any help

Steve Lincoln UK

 

You can disable the FAN ALWAYS ON feature through the Acer program.

 

You cleaned the headsinks while ur at it right? Also what tempreture is it reporting? I think xbcrguy182x is right. You may have turned on the fan always on option.

 

This might be a software problem (BIOS or drivers). It doesn't look like it's recognizing the thermal zones correctly. What temp does your unit ran at just before the fan kicks in? Run a program called MobileMeter and report back the temps. If the unit doesn't recognize that the fan needs to kick in until the higher thermal zones, that could explain why the fan runs so long (needs to cool the system from a much higher temp). Try updating the BIOS or even reload the OS and see if it helps.

-Vb-

 

Thanks for your reply........ got the Mobile Monitor from http://www.geocities.co.jp/SiliconValley-Oakland/8259/
The fan kicks in at about 46 degC. Since I do not know what the correct temps should be can you please advise. At this momment the temp is 46 C and the HDD is 42C... Is that normal?

Steve.. Lincoln
UK

 

By the way. The fan is on.

 

Kicking in at 46 degrees celcius seems to be fine. My HP nx8220 kicks into high gear when it's over approx 40 degrees celcius, but the fan stays on running at low rpm all the time when on AC. It also depends on the CPU used in the notebook. Is this a Celeron/CeleronM or a Centrino (Pentium M) CPU? If it's a Celeron/CeleronM, they produce a lot more heat than a PentiumM CPU, therefore it would require more cooling. The CeleronM is based on the PentiumM, but doesn't have the added power management features and runs at full speed all the time. Therefore running at full speed will generate more heat.

You may want to try reloading the OS as a last resort using Acer's recovery CDs. This will show if it's a hardware or software problem. If the problem goes away, it's a software problem (possibly missing/corrupt power management software), but if it's still there, it's most likely a hardware problem.

-Vb-

 

Hi vb

Just a thought - The HDD at this momment with the fan on is 45C. Is this a normal temp.? A friend of mine had similar problems on a Sony Laptop and after inserting a larger HDD the problem went away ????????????

If I formated the HDD and reloaded all my applications I presume I would loose all the drivers. Is this why you need the Acer recovery CD? which I have not got. Do you suggest getting it from Acer somehow?

Steve

Lincoln
UK

 

Sj,

What type of HDD do you have in your unit? Mine is a Hitach 60GB 5400rpm drive and it hovers at approx 35C during normal use (surfing, office apps). It may come down to the drive brand regarding operating temp as there was a user in the HP section that said their Seagate 5400rpm HDD ran at approx 50C.

If you did format the HDD, yes, you would loose all the drivers currently loaded, but you should be able to download them from the Acer website. The Recovery CD's that Acer provides is an image of the drive. It'll wipe all the data and drop the original OS load back onto your system. It'll look like it did on day one with all the apps and original drivers it was setup with. I have heard of users not being able to get some features working again like the quick buttons or on screen volume bars, etc..., but that was a software problem (needed to install).

I'm not sure how you would go and get the recovery CD's. I read that Acer has a hidden partition on the drive that contains the recovery files needed to restore your system. You may want to contact Acer and see if they can guide you through the steps. Maybe even ask if they can ship a free set of recovery discs to you in the process.

Personally, I'd wipe the HDD and reload a clean version of XP, manually. Then go and download all the latest drivers from each part manufacturer and install those. Only grab the drivers from the Acer site if you have no alternative. I did this on my HP and everything seems to operate faster than the original OS loaded by HP. No extra software or processes running in the background to bog down the system. I also increased my battery runtime an extra 15-20mins during heavy loads and approx 30-45mins on an idle system.

-Vb-

 

Hi VB

I think I will take your advice and when feeling brave wipe the lot off. I have now downloaded the drivers from Acer like you suggested. Thanks.

The Laptop is one I use for work and is second hand. Therefore there could be all sorts of nasties that are hidden on it. I have been advised that there is software that realy does clean everything off. By that I mean 100% so that no nasties can hide in sectors on the drive that you can't see.

I will notify you or the outcome if that is OK by you.

Steve

Lincoln
UK

 

Well, before you re-format, I think you should try a BIOS update.The BIOS controls the fans, so if you update that, you may fix the problem. Worked for me....

 

Sj,

Sounds like a good idea. Having a 2nd hand unit with the original OS load may cause a lot of problems. There's of course no guarantee that this will fix the issue, but it's a stanard troubleshooting step to eliminate the possible causes. Also, wiping the OS will also give you a clean system to run with, which may also make things run faster.

It's doubtful there would be anything "hiding" in your system after a full wipe, but if you have the software to perform the wipe, you might as well give it a try. A full format after booting from an XP CD should do the trick.

That's not a problem, let me know how it goes and drop me a line if you need any help.

P.S. Make sure you backup all your data before wiping; especially since this notebook is also used for work.

Good Luck!

-Vb-