T-6836 Fan

I have a T-6836 running XP64. It stays on a Targus cooler which has recently started to work intermittently.

A couple of days ago I got the impression that the computer fan was not coming on -- based on much quieter operation than usual. With the cooler not
working reliably I became concerned about the temperature.

I installed and ran several temp monitoring programs -- SpeedFan, Everest, HWMonitor, RealTemp -- that also report the fan speed. None of them reported the fan speed.

The developer of SpeedFan told me that this could happen either if the computer does not provide a fan sensor, or the fan does not work. The problem is that I cannot tell which is the case.

I contacted support which displayed total ignorance and would not look into it because I am out of warranty (the computer was already repaired twice within the warranty). They invited me to send it for a paid diagnostics. That's money down the drain.

So the question is: is there any way I can figure out whether the fan works or not. Does anybody know beyond what temperatures will the fan kick in?

Here's the data:

At boot time the temps reported are:

System 29C
HardDrive 22
Temp1 49 (possibly the graphics chip)
Core 36

About 10-15 minutes later, with the cooler on the temps go to 43C, 32C, 47C and 35C and stay there with slight variations.

Does anybody know if these are normal and whether the fan should kick in at these levels?

Any other help/advice will be appreciated.

 

Temp looks fine. Unless there are inbulit sensors like in desktops I believe you cant know the speed. I suggest opening the laptop and cleaning the fans and making sure nothings blocking the vents just as a precaution or call it the maintainance that the laptop deserves, if you've never done that.

 

The problem is that the ignoramuses at Gateway cannot tell me that there isn't an inbuilt sensor.

My impression is that the computer is much quieter than usual. Should the fan work all the time, or just beyond a certain temp? Any idea at what temp should it kick in?

Depending on the internal layout of the laptop, I dk if I can reach to clean the fan. As far as I know that opening it kills the warranty but I might as well because I am out of warranty and in any case their service sucks.