Buzzing fan

I have a one year old DV9774ca which suddenly overnight started a slight brrrrr sound from the cooling fan. Its definately the fan because if I watch it and the fan stops for a while then the noise coming from it stops.
At first I thought it sucked up something. I can't see anything, so I blew it out with compressed air, through the fan and through the vents, and it never helped.
I can only assume its the bearings in the fan. Theres no wires or anything sticking down.

I had a similar burrring fan noise once on a computer and if i tapped on the top of the cpu cooler fan the noise went away for a while.

My question is if theres bearings actually at all in these tiny little fans? Or what else it could be. I ask this in case anyone has had experience with these noises and have you either pushed/pulled on the fan blades and it stopped?

I have no issues changing the HSF myself as I build computers for myself and family. So its nothng new to me to pull things to pieces. I have been perusing ebay, etc, for a hsf model 434678-001, as I gather thats the correct one. I can't stand HP's prices so I will source it any where else!

Thanks for any insight or tips.

 

It sounds like the fan could be dying. You may be able to replace it yourself.

 

I don't believe the fan ever stops it just becomes more active when it's louder, when fans spin faster they spread, saying that, when it's spreading it might be just touching some build up on the side of the assembly. You say you have no issues changing the HSF, I'd be checking to see if it's just build up before shelling out on parts you may not need.

 

I dont think it ever stops completely, But it does get so slow its scilent.

 

Stick a paper clip in it to stop it and see if it stops. Or not because you think im crazy but i would it cant hurt it.

 

lol.

And no, it shouldnt hurt it.

 

How long can a laptops CPU last without being cooled, maybe 10 seconds if those youtube video's showing guys taking the heatsink off a desktop mobo while running, is anything to go off. Seen one that blew a hole right through the mobo in about 5 seconds, others that took off like a rocket.

 

Mmmmmm....well my fan does go off when mostly idle, in fact it come on and off like that since new. It does stay on and run faster when needed. May be the version of BIOS? I've never touched the BIOS. I use 'Balanced' in power scheme, so the fan is not on all the time.
I can confirm I hear, and have looked at the fan blades, come on and off every minute when I am just browsing the net. If I do anything more intensive the fan stays on and ramps up as normal.
This is the Intel Centrino version. Maybe AMDs are on all the time??

But my temps are fine. the fan will go completely off when idle, and stays off as I am typing. It will come on in a minute for about 10 seconds and go off again. I have physically looked at the fan and see the blades stop spinning during the entire year I've had it. The fan comes on when needed. I've never had any overheating issues.

Just this week its started to make a bearing burrrring sound.

And to answer S_P_Q_R....the cpu will shut down Windows almost immediately if theres no heatsink....if it gets that far in to Windows.
If HSF fans not working at all ever then it will heat up soon and shut down on a while too.
I had tested a cpu from a desktop computer for family member, in another motherboard of mine to see if the cpu worked (as his computer was totally dead with that cpu) and I booted up just fine and I shut it off, no heat sink. ...touched the back of the cpu gently and dang!, that suckers hot. You could always put a can of beans on the cpu to help cool it....then eat them for dinner