M17X R2 Fan Replacement Repair Time

Supposedly a local laptop repairman will contact me and explain to me that he has the parts in stock today, and then will proceed to set up an appointment to come to my house to repair it. I was just wondering if anyone else has had any experience with this. If so, was it successful, and how long did it take them to come out to your house? I called on Friday and the Dell tech said they'd have the parts by Tuesday guaranteed.

 

Depends on which fan they are replacing.
BUT, it is really easy to do.

For CPU fan you only have to remove the bottom cover (to access ram/hd's etc..)
If GPU, you need to remove the keyboard then pop out the video cards then replace the fans under them.

Takes NO time at all (I could do all 3 in 10min)

D.

 

If this can give you an idea:

I had both video card replaced. From the day i called tech support to the day i got the technician with both cards at home: 2 days.

They replaced them in like... 10 min or so, 30 min becouse i offered them some coffe and cookies

 

If your having you gpu fans replaced dont let him work on your laptop if he trys to pry the vent over the gpu off with a screw driver. My tech did that to mine when i had my gpu fan replaced.

 

I told them only the CPU fan was shot, but they insisted on replacing all of them and the heatsink. High CPU temps was my initial problem, but I wasn't going to stop them from replacing parts that to my knowledge, may have needed to be replaced in the near future regardless.

 

Man I'm in the middle of this process now. Right GPU fan makes whirring noise constantly. Unisys comes to replace all 3 fans, Dell insisted. The one fan I need replaced is on back order, but the tech replaces the other 2 anyways. He didn't attach the LCD cable correctly upon putting everything back together. I was getting a POST error message with Num, Caps and Scroll locks blinking. He called Dell and they couldn't figure it out and were going to send out a new indicator panel, keyboard and palm rest. Sounded pretty amatuer to me, so I ran a diagnostic from boot and immediately found an LCD cable error. Took it apart myself and reconnected. Then called Unisys and told them to forget coming back.

Funny thing is, my fan still needs to be replaced. I have to have these clowns come out again once the fan comes in. Not looking forward to that. Not the most professional experience I've had with repair techs.

Unless you really need the fan, it might not be worth the risk.

 

Don't get too surprised about them wanting to swap parts like that,it costs cheaper for them than to send the tech a second time.

 

I know. But even with a computer background, it would be nice to not be the expert among phone support technicians and local repairmen who are supposed to be certified on these systems. Someone should have suggested to run a diagnostic first. I saved Dell parts and a service call cost. I should get a gift card!

To OP, just watch the guy as he is doing the work. You may need to backtrack once he's done.

Oh and make sure he doesn't drop any screws. I had to replace one he lost.

 

I'm only removing a gpu fan.. Basically o don't need to remove the CMOS battery or WLAN card? I can skip all that and go straight to my gpu fan?

Sorry for hijacking thread heb

 

The CMOS battery is on the bottom of the laptop, so you're nowhere near it. The Wi-LAN card is under the palm rest, which doesn't need to be removed to get the GPUs. Remove the hinge cover (where the Alien head power button is), remove the keyboard, remove the little metal bracket(s) above the GPU(s), and remove the two screws that hold the GPU(s) into the chassis. The GPU and heatsink will come out as a unit, and then the fan is underneath.

 

I've done the same with Dell Service (or Qualex). I always think that something might come up again and that tech will remember me.

 

YEP... what he said

 

Yep

I was surprised by the way. I first asked the technician if he ever worked on an alienware before and he honestly answered that it was his first time but he had studied the service manual. I was a bit worried, but the guy went straight to the vid card without a glitch, and did the work clean and properly.

They werent dell technician but from a local computer shop authorized from dell. Most of the time expecialy if one don't live in the US the technician are not dell. It's just a matter of having luck and find a good one.

 

Even in the US the technician are not DELL.... they are just employees of a repair/service company that is subcontracted with DELL.
As such, you get a HUGE variability on quality depending on the area you live in (and which company is contracted to service that area) and who you happen to get within that company.

I would say 1 out of the 10 tech's I have had come out were any good and he had never worked on an Alienware before.
I basically taught him how to service it (told him what to do as he did it) and since he was open and willing to learn about it... everything went well (until a few days later when another sub-quality item in that machine died prompting another service call with a HORRIBLE tech that literally tore the system apart.... prompting my 4th replacement system)

D.

 

Might be there the sticker (square about the size your pinky fingernail) on the video card(s) face pointing to the fan. I pulled that off (both) and it went away. Basically the sticker can get pulled down (a part of it) when fan was blowing and hitting the blades spinning. Simple procedure (there are youtube videos showing how) to open it up and move those stickers. Plus you can clean your fan vents. Bonus.