Alienware m11x - Diagnosing loud noise

Hello good people of the forum,
I've had my m11x for a few years now and i absolutely love it. While it might not play the latest games with ultra settings, I've been thinking it could make a viable note taking laptop for when i go back to college (Woohoo second chances!).

My problem is a loud noise from what appears to be the fan (not definitely sure). When the laptop is perfectly still, there is no issue. I've even used HWiNFO64 to set the fan speed to it's highest setting and while a tiny bit noticeable, the noise is very quiet. Moving the laptop, however, causes a crazy loud sound which will definitely be disruptive in a classroom. I've video taped both moments but apologize for the zooming in. I thought the camera would refocus.

Fan on but little sound:


After moving the laptop:


Is the noise coming from the fan? Should i replace it?
I appreciate any guidance i can get. Thanks for your time!

 

Bottom cover is flexible, so push it inwards and it'll hit the fan. Replacing fan won't help, but could remove the black mesh (more leeway) or reinforce the cover so it won't bend as much.

 

Thanks for the reply.
How would i go about reinforcing the cover? Are there any tips or videos you could point me at?

 

Try pushing on one or more of those six small strip thingies first; want to make sure those are really the cause. If they are; there's not a lot of height to work with ... the rubber feet are rather tiny. Might have to affix something like furniture felt aside those feet to raise the laptop a bit (better cooling too) and then superglue six metal strips right over the existing plastic strips, extending as far as possible. You have to make sure to sand and glue these over the entire length, as that will ensure both work together as a single, stronger 'beam' ( lamination, really):

 

Well the lamination process seemed a tad too complicated so i thought i'd remove the mesh. While disassembling it, i decided to do a bit of testing and realized the fan only made noise once it touched something (the mesh most likely) but then wouldn't stop making the noise even when it had plenty of room. The only way to stop the noise was to force stop the fans and restart them (thank you HWiNFO64!). Thought it could be a wobbling issue with my fan, saw another fairly new fan for $18 on Amazon and i caved in.

Replacing the fan and heat sinks seems to have fixed everything! Had to look into youtube videos and buy some artic fox thermal paste but everything is running smoothly and quietly.

Thank you t456! Though the fix was slightly different then what you had in mind, i appreciate the time you spent in helping me out.

 

Thanks for sharing what worked out for you. Glad to hear that your m11 is now working like it should

 

Hello !
Same problem for me. My m11x fan is now very noisy. I have open the labtop and successfully remove all the stuff and finaly take out the fan from the motherboard in order to clean it. My problem is that i have to lubrificate it and i don't see the lubrificating hole under the fan sticker. So my question is; do i have to unclip the little black plastic piece on the opposite side of the sticker to find the lube hole or do i have to take the fan off the eletronical bloc in order to have acces on it's inside? I try both but it doesn't come easily and i don't want to break something. I prefer know the right move to do befor to use more srenght...

Thanks

 

This. There is no 'lube hole'. However, this only applies to sleeve-type fans. Sealed-bearing are best left alone; these are also more difficult to remove due to a tiny plastic seal ring. Still ... noise isn't nice either and full replacement is still an option of last resort.

Plastic part is always hard to remove (if not then it'd slip off when upside-down). Pull straight, in line with the axle (don't wiggle or anything) and it should 'pop' free. Use some high-viscosity stuff (like Vaseline), otherwise it'll need re-lubrication sooner. PCB+bushing will look like this:

 

Many thanks for your quick answer !
I was affraid of breaking the fan so I reassembly my M11x after good cleaning of the rad and the fan but without lube.
Was hoping it would be enought to avoid the big disturbing noise, ... but it didn't ...
Now i just tried to phone some informatic store to be sure that i'll could buy a new fan if i break mine but i don't have positive answer for the moment.
So i'v got two more questions:
-This annoying fan is the Nidec G65X05MS2MH like this


do you confirme me that i can "open" it to make it look like the one on the picture you post? By grabbing the fan blade (or propeller, i don't know the right english word) and pull it straight in line with the axle (on my picture it would mean pull the fan blade down) ? that's correct?

-The only dealers of this Nidec i found on the web are "pchub.com" and "buyqual.com". Are they known references and trustable or not?

Thanks again

 

Yes.

A spanner/wrench might be best, if you can have grip on the 'head' of the blade section. The plastic is strongest here, so unlikely to cause any damage, whereas the actual blades are quite weak.



If a replacement is necessary, mind that you don't have to look for the specific 'Nidec' part; just as long as it's an M11x fan. Pchub should do, cheapest on ebay is $8.

 

Hello again!

Sooooo many thanks !
I was away this week end so i tried this morning and it worked!
I used Vaseline oil and it seems to have completly solve the noise issue.
And now with your advises i know how to maintain it clean for the years to come.
You saved me from an annoying issue, thank you so much!