[Q] X200 Fan Problem

I posted about a fan/heat sink problem in awhile ago but this problem is keep recurring.

For the first time since the purchase, I think the fan stopped once and heated my laptop very hot. I've never had an instance like this before.

I turned off my laptop and rebooted in about 5 minutes late and it seems to run okay.

But every once in awhile, fan makes loud noises... (loud to an extent that I can't stay in quiet places such as library)

What can I do..? I opened up my keyboard but I'm afraid to take out the heat sink. I just blew some compressed air on it (w/o taking it out)..

Will this be a problem in the long run?

Thanks!

 

Oh my goodness.. this is really becoming like a major problem today. The fan stopped twice today and it's making relatively unusual noise...

Is it easy to replace the fan / heat sink.. although it says FRU parts?

And I notice some fans do look little different... so I can buy whichever or buy the same looking fan? (I will have to open my laptop again but I think mine had black colored fan).. - something like this one - New IBM/ Lenovo Thinkpad X200 Heatsink CPU Fan 45N4782 | eBay

Not the gold colored one like this though - 45N3130 - Lenovo X200 X201 Tablet Fan Heatsink Assembly | eBay

Will it damage my laptop by any chance if I install it wrong..?

 

Yes, it could be a serious problem! The fan spins up for a reason, which is because the laptop gets hot. And the hotter the faster it spins. The problem can get a lot worse and the components could after a while start to fail due to overheating.

The problem could be the fan, that it was covered with dirt (which you have discovered wasn't the case) or that it is broken. Some fans doesn't have ball bearings and instead uses grease/oil which can disappear with time. You could solve this by open the fan and put some kind of oil on the fan components so it will move smoothly again (cocking oil works, but it's not recommended). It could also be that the heat sink doesn't have a good connection with the CPU or GPU. You solve this by clean of the old thermal paste from the heat sink and the CPU/GPU and then apply new thermal paste. In some cases the distance is to great between the heat sink and the component which requires that you find another kind of medium to have between, like an coin, and then ad thermal paste on both sides of the coin (this works, but as with cocking oil not recommended).

If you by a new heat sink, as the one you have listed, so do also by some thermal paste in case it's not included. Use Lenovo Service Training videos when dissembling the computer. The chance to brake something is very, very small if you are careful.
Lenovo Service and Support Training

 

There are dirts.. it's over 3 years old laptop. I tried to remove some with compressed air spray but it doesn't seem to work as well.

I remember watching a YouTube video of removing a fan/heat sink and wiping the dusts off with microfiber cloth but I'm not so certain about taking out heat sink so yea..

I watched the video. I asked one of the seller and he said thermal grease is already applied... (?)

 

Make sure you get the proper FRU fan for your X200. I had a fan that was making irritating noises whenever my X200 was tilted. To change the fan you will have to take the motherboard out of the X200 casing. It is somewhat of a pain but I needed a quiet fan versus one that was screeching at times. I feel confident in my TP disassembly skills so this was doable. It was making time since finals were going on! I finished my finals last week so changing the fan was the first thing I did when I got home. I highly recommend that you make use of the X200 hardware maintenance manual. It can be found on the Lenovo site and is indispensable! It is a PDF download and includes all relevant information for disassembling your X200 and all the part numbers and FRUs associated with individual components. It is wonderful that IBM and Lenovo make this type of documentation available for the public

When you take your keyboard off there is a sticker on the fan that has the proper FRU on it. According to the HMM (Hardware maintenance manual) there are two different fans for the X200. One is FRU 44C9950 and the other type of fan is FRU 45N4782. My fan was the 44C9949 which threw me for a loop. I made a mistake the first time by ordering just the fan only and got one that was smaller than the original. I then decided to buy the whole fan assembly this time. I was lucky as someone was selling one that they didn't need. It was a 44C9950 fan assembly but I took a gamble and figured there shouldn't be a huge variation between 1 unit in the FRU number. It was advertised as unused and it still had layer of thermal compound on both ends of the copper heatsink. One covered the CPU and the other was for a chip I am not familiar with

My part arrived and it appeared to be unused and seemed to be a legitimate Lenovo part I did notice the included thermal compound was quite thick. I wondered to myself what sort temps and a mess one would get with that much compound. I removed the thick layer of thermal grease and applied a very thin layer of arctic silver 5 on the assembly of the clean surfaces of the CPU and "mystery chip" instead. I did not put any paste on the fan assembly. After putting the fan assembly and it's screws back on the motherboard I began to assemble the X200 again. One piece of advice also- make sure you don't forget to reattach anything important as you will want to kick yourself after you put the X200 back together again! (speaking from experience) My X200 started back up however I had to set the time for BIOS as I had disconnected the backup battery during the transplant.

Now my X200 does not have any horrible noise and idles decently at around 35C.

PS. Anyone know what that other chip is? I'm guessing it's the equivalent of the southbridge chips on the older ThinkPads for two reps

 

Wow, that looks bit complicated. I thought I just had to take out the heat sink, but now that I watched the video again, I actually have to take out the motherboard...

Is there an easier way to make the fan not run noisy? Like perhaps, clean the fan without taking it out..??

 

If you've been cleaning it by blowing it with compressed air you may want to make a mental note that you need to keep the fan blades stationary when using compressed air. IIRC the fans are not designed to exceed a certain amount of RPM. The bearings will suffer as a result of this and result in premature fan failure. I have been using anything plastic and slim to keep the fan steady if I need to clean the dust bunnies out of my laptops with compressed air. From your description it sounds as if the fan bearings are giving out. IIRC once the fan stops spinning even keeping the fan exhaust and the surrounding components will not prevent the laptop from overheating easily. CPU temps can jump to an extremely high temperature in an instant. Without a way to dissipate the heat the sensors will trigger a shutdown of your laptop as a preventative measure to reduce damage to the CPU. Once your fan has failed I am sure that you will have to get the fan replaced. I say that because you mentioned that it stops spinning and it is emitting noises. I am not sure what other scenario would cause the fans to make noise and stop spinning other than a faulty fan. The fan is on the underside of the motherboard. This is the reason why you will need to remove the motherboard to gain access to remove and change out the fan assembly. Hang around I'm sure there are other members who might have some helpful information also. I wish you luck on your X200

 

Would it be okay if I open up the keyboard and wipe out the dusts on the fan with microfiber without disassemblying?

 

Have a peek at the fan components after taking the keyboard off. Are the blades overly dusty??? You can clean it and report back if it helped.

While you are at it please write down the FRU (and possibly a part no) that should be located on the fan assembly. This will be helpful so you do not need to disassemble the X200 again to search for the part. Please post the part FRU here when you locate it.

I realize how intimidating taking apart the X200 seems. I hope you do not feel as if I am pushing you to do the repair yourself lol. I've always been a curious girl whose father took her while he worked on electrical components around his workplace. While he didn't have any formal training in the field he was pretty handy when it came to jobs like that. I picked up things from that experience and apply it to times I have to work on devices such as laptops.

If the fan continues to give you problems after cleaning it may be that the fan bearings need a little lubrication. Here is a thread via the extremely helpful thinkpads.com forum regarding lubricating fans. Most of it seems geared toward the T60/T61 models but the thread should give you a basic idea of lubricating the fan bearings if that may seem like an option for you.

forum.thinkpads.com • T60 T61 fan lubrication - illustrated guide by msb0b inside

 

I replaced the RAM, HD, keyboard, but I'm not so sure about replacing the other internal hardwares

I'll try as you said when I get back home from work. Thank you

 

There is some dusts on the blades. Perhaps a lot..? It's 3 years old laptop.. do you think it would help if I remove dusts off with microfiber and sharp objects (for dusts that are stuck hard) on blades?

I'm waiting to get a new tablet-based laptop when Windows 8 comes out.. so I'm just hoping this lasts until then

 

I've used cotton swabs to clean laptop fan blades. There are some who say moistening a cotton swab tip with glass cleaner is a good way to get the dirt off. Personally I've used a dry cotton swab (although the ammonia based glass cleaner sounds fine) and got the dust off that way. I alternated that with blasts of compressed air while keeping the fan blades stationary to blow out the dirt that falls into the fan housing. If you choose to use the glass cleaner make sure your fan blades are completely dry before you turn the laptop back on!

 

I opened it up and the hole is too small to fit the cotton swab inside the blade. I was only able to clean the exterior part of the blade.

Anyway, an incident that just happened now reminded me - 'Fan Error'

I had this issue since the first time I bought it but since this issue was gone when I unplugged and replugged my battery so I thought this wasn't serious...

Maybe 'Fan error' says something about my fan?

 

That FRU in your pic matches the previous worn out fan I had. From what I have read once a fan begins to make noise (and stop in your case) then it is time to change it out. Keep in mind that the FRU I have in mine now is 44C9550 so that FRU will work when you do order a replacement fan assembly.

EDIT:

I do see a couple of FRU 44C9549 on ebay. If you would prefer an exact match then that might be the place to get one for a deal. Buy smartly from ebay and ask the seller if the fan you are ordering is FRU 44C9549. Many of the sellers are advertising that FRU as X200, X201, and X200s compatible. IIRC the FRU is only for the X200.

 

I really think it is about to die any time soon. I think the fan stopped again and my laptop is overheating for the second time in 3 years.

Do you think this is good? Other 'new' ones are quite costly and this is the cheapest one I can find on eBay, but it is seller refurb - IBM Original 44C9549 X200 Fan BONUS 90 Day Warranty | eBay

So seller refurb could possibly have dusts and other things?

And this is the new heat sink - http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...7&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_1106wt_964 - I already talked to the seller and he seems trust-able.
Ahhh... I'm not too sure about replacing it myself. I watched the video again and while it doesn't seem as hard, but I'm dealing with opening up the entire computer...

 

Seller refurbished is just that- seller refurbished. It has been previously used and components (most likely the fan) have been attended to. The extent of the attending I am not certain. The fan may have been replaced or relubed. The new fan that you linked does advertise a 30-day money back or exchange policy. As for having to take the X200 apart it is a decision only you can make.

Make use of the videos you watched and the Hardware Maintenance Manual. It might be a good idea to make use of an additional laptop (borrow from someone) to view the Hardware Maintenance Manual while working. If you do not have access perhaps you can print out the relevant pages needed to disassemble the X200.

-Be sure to set some time for this procedure. A rushed job may lead to a messy job.

-Make use of space for the job. Working in a cramped space or uncluttered space may affect your work.

-I also find it helpful to use some paper to draw out diagrams and push the screws into the corresponding locations for screws. Some people take pictures. I like the reassurance that X screw belongs to Y thread so I choose the paper method. Printer paper works well for the paper and drawing method.

 

I guess I have no choice to but risk and try

I made an offer to buy the new heat sink. I don't feel too good about refurb.

In the meantime, I lowered the CPU and fan settings to the following:


It seem to make less noise than before, but will need more testing.

Thanks!

 

It looks like the heat sink will either come today or tomorrow... but heat sink has been relatively quiet nowadays ever since I changed the setting on Power Manager although it makes loud noise occasionally.

 

I did get it today and have been watching the video few times..

But do I really need to remove the LCD panel too?? The video doesn't seem to have removed LCD panel when I was watching a systemboard removal video..

Service Videos

Other than that... any advice??

This came with extra thermal paste aside.

 

You do not need to extract the LCD panel from its housing! I refer to the whole top assembly as the "top panel." You will simply have to separate the top panel from the body of the X200. There should be the four screws that secure the top panel toward the back end of the X200. Just make sure you do not lose any of your screws or accidentally knock them about mixing them up!

I took my keyboard off and IIRC there is a screw on the upper left side of the chassis that can easily be removed with the top panel off. If the top panel is still attached then it will be very difficult to get the screw out. Maybe if you have a strangely angled Phillips head then you might be able to get it with the top panel still attached but I'm pretty sure it is more easily done with the top panel off.

Make sure you dedicate some time to this task. The first time may seem daunting but after the initial disassembly and reassembly you will be amazed at how easy it is to take apart the X200.

Things I noticed and am certainly pleased about include the I/O card which comprises the headphone, microphone, and SD card slot are not part of the main motherboard. I am also glad that the DC power jack is also located separately from the motherboard. You'll notice these things and be thankful for the engineering that went into the X200

 

I did it!!!!

Hopefully, there won't be any problems because of this but it looks great so far. I set the fan speed back to maximum and I don't hear a thing like it used to

It took me about 50 minutes, mainly because I had hard time removing the system board and one of the cable (It was my first time removing anything beyond keyboard, RAM, and HD) so I wanted to make sure I don't break anything.

Here it is

Thank you so much for all the advice, help, and motivation for me to try

 

Awww.... you're very welcome!

Just glad to hear everything turned out well. Happy New Years to you

 

strangesweet, congratulations for the successful surgery and bravery... lol

I also have a X200 with a broken fan. It started as a FAN ERROR message that would go away if I removed the power cable and battery. But now the fan is kaput for good I guess...

I have ordered a new fan from ebay. Your thread will be quite useful and encouraging.

I did not order the whole fan-heatsink assembly. Hopefully that won't be a problem...