M860TU Problem - Could Solve It?

Hi people, long-time no-see etc...

I'm wondering whether you can help? I have now seen the bad side to OCUK after problems turned up with my M860TU, as they do after a year of use. I brought it from them just over a year ago in November 2008.

The machine was advertised as the time as having two years warranty, even though this is not written on the receipt. So I should have just a year under warranty left. They don't think so.

But this isn't too much of a problem and hopefully it won't be. The main problem is something many of you have been experiencing lately. My fan is making that grinding sound, something that started after cleaning it. Like a few here, I took it fully apart and cleaned it again but it still makes the noise. I will try again as I think it has something to do with the metallic spindal, which uses a magnet to keep it attached. This can be pulled off and reattached easily.
I attribute the sounds to either one of two possible things - the end of the spindal has worn down so slightly (probably irrepairable) or their being metallic particles/dust stick to the magetic end (possibly easy to fix).

Anyway, OCUK won't even budge to help me here despite my offering to cover all and any costs. I will have a word over the phone with them as I think emails are an easy way to dismiss me.

So how can you help? Has anyone overcome this problem with technical ingenuity yet? Or can anyone provide me with details for a UK (possibly Clevo) dealer/electronics retailer who could replace the fan?

I have sent an email to Neil @ Kobalt who I'm sure is very busy, it being the festive season an' all but are there any other business who could help?

 

Hi Oiad,long time no see.
that doesnt sound good especially being fobbed off with the extended warranty. another reason why im glad i went to kobalt.

as you mentioned they are very busy and have been for months.
if you dont hear anything in a couple of days then you might be stuck until after new year as they close for crimbo on December 22nd 5PM and will reopen on January 4th at 10:30AM.
good luck mate.

 

I'm in the EXACT same position as you Oiad.

As I'm usually on their forums, I let them know through the Customer Service sub-forum, but they said I'd have to send the entire unit in to them, and they'd send it onto Clevo. I probably wouldn't see it for at least 3 weeks, which is impossible for me, as I use this notebook for work/uni.

They basically told me they don't stock parts for the system (which seems odd, as surely they would anticipate things like this?).

So basically, like you, I'm left high and dry :/
If there's any UK Clevo retailers who see this thread, let us both know if you'd be able to supply us with replacement fans

 

i hope this isnt a trend as i got mine in september 08 but so far ive not had one problem yet.
might be worth cheking the kobalt forum out and giving them a quick call as long as they could get to the office due to the snow.

 

Have you guys tried googling the fan model number? you may be able to source one on the bay!

I would also recommend phoning OCUK, when you actually speak to the technical team they are ok, but they are always busy. I sent in a shuttle and it took them 3 weeks and continual chasers before they even looked at it

 

I will probably end up doing this.
For what a replacement fan will cost (£20-£30), I'd much rather keep the system here, as I needed on a daily basis.
Had a quick look over the 'bay, but can't to seem to find one that would be fitting.

 

Hi

I haven't had any emails recently about laptop fans, maye it got lost somewhere? We can supply them no problem so if you could resend the mail and maybe cc in sales@kobaltcom....... just to make sure I'll get back to you asap. They aren't expensive and are pretty easy to install.

 

Neil still working at midnight again
cc sales at .co.uk as im not sure about ^^^ .com

 

Thanks for the replies. Rep to anyone involved.

I'll start with any advances since the first post. OCUK got back in contact with me after opening this topic. We talked about how the warranty isn't clearly stated as being held by the manufacturer and not the retailer. By all rights, friends got in contact with me to remind me about the EU Directive under which a 2 year warranty must be provided and the 'The Sale of Goods Act', which further protect us from this kind of action. More info can be found here if you're interested.

Part of the article mentions that it's always better to get in contact with the company's head office as sales teams rarely handle such incidents well.

In any case, I didn't have to bring these up. They admitted they couldn't help replacing the fan but they did give me the details to contact Clevo in the UK directly regarding this problem. These are, of course listed on the Clevo site anyway. I'll be happy to forward them to anyone who asks. An PM will be on the way to you shortly Shadows1990

I haven't been able to contact anyone by phone yet as I'm away from home, with internet access but no outgoing phone line. I'll be sure to contact both Clevo and OCUK after Christmas. Always a fun prospect knowing how much the public love to join in the festive-old tradition of cramming up the phone lines with complaints.

Now to the replies:

My general impression is that it's a wear-and-tear issue. I get the feeling that sooner or later all fans in the M860 models will succumb to this. Not a positive thought but with the ammount of people talking about this issue it does seem reasonable.
I've taken my fan apart again and thoroughly cleaned it. The sound is still echoing out.I know it's the fan because I took the fan out while I powered it and true enough the sound was coming from the fan by itself. I even removed the top half of the casing.
My only though after all this was to test how much the fan could tilt on the spindle, which is quite notable. So I conclude that the high speeds must be pushing the spindle out of alignment ever so slightly, but enough to cause noise. It must be general wearing.

Thanks for the idea. It had crossed my mind but having browsed through the bids I could not find anything that would align up within the M860's chassis. Email me a link if you find anything that would.

Hi Neil. I'll forward the email to you again in the next could of minutes. It's still [email protected] right? If you don't get it I will PM you the contents of my message instead. It'll be under the title 'Kobalt Nexus/ M860TU Components'. It's good to hear that your offering such services. Don't worry, my plan is to definitely buy from Kobalt next time, even if it involves saving up a bit longer.

 

glad your almost there Oiad. think kobalt are the cheapest in the uk since the nexus was released. good luck with the fan mate and cheers for the rep.
+1 to you too for all your troubles.

 

Hi, got the email fine this time. I'll get a reply back over to you next week when back in the office, we will either have the parts in as spares or will be able to get them very quickly so it won't be a problem now. It's worth pointing out that the contact in the UK isn't directly Clevo as such so I doubt they won't be able to help with warranty etc.

Just to clarify, this actually doesn'tactually apply in the UK. It's often argued over but online purchases are covered under The Sale Of Goods Act, Distance Selling Regulations and areas like Unfair Contract Terms - the 2 Year Warranty is in an EU directive. That doesn't make it law and the UK hasn't adopted it so when a UK company offers a 1 year warranty as standard it is acting correctly and legally. Most European countries however have adopted the directive into their own (equivilent of) sale of goods act and therefore have to offer a 2 year minimum.

 

So the directive isn't statuatory, it's just a guideline? I imagine it could be enforced otherwise.

 

Basically yes. European Directives aren't law by themselves, they only become legallly binding when EU countries adopt them into their own law. I should have made it clearer in my other post - the main reason that we haven't fully adopted it is that our sales acts actually already provided much better protection than the EU directive as the directive is not technically refering to the warranty on a product but the guarantee which is quite different. Warranty is covered and supplied by the reseller, guarantee is more consumer rights and so on.

 

My fan started this 'grinding' a few weeks ago.

I'll use my warranty for replacement at the new year.