Solutions to Vaio Z Fan Problems

As some of you guys know, I constantly break my Z1. I've opened it probably two dozen times by now (and broken three keyboard ribbons in the process, such as yesterday when I was trying to fix my fan ). Well, in opening it all of these times, I think I have every solution to fan problems now.

For the past several months, my Z has been overheating and shutting down. It would only stay on when in Silent mode via the Vaio Control Center. Doing basic things like watching a video while in Balanced mode would make it heat up to 80-90 C, and I've seen other people here report similar problems.

Well, I think I finally figured out why this overheating problem happened. The fan lades are basically cased in a plastic container that attaches to the golden heat sink. This plastic container is two pieces that snap together. Well, if you drop your laptop, you may cause the plastic container to not fully be snapped together. You may also cause it to not be completely attached to the golden heat sink. I'm assuming this causes hot air to leak out or basically just doesn't allow the fan to fully suck it away from the processor and graphics card.

Yesterday, I used electric tape to completely seal the two plastic pieces together. I also ran the electric tape along the part of the plastic that attaches to the heat sink. In other words, it's very hard for any of the pieces to come loose now or for any hot air to escape. It's like one solid piece now.

And my results? My temperatures dropped 20-30 degrees for intensive tasks. My laptop no longer shuts down in Balanced mode, nor even in Performance mode. It's back to how it was when I first got it.

I should also note that I opened up my fan not even two months ago and cleaned it out, hoping this would lead to a drop in temperature (before I realized that the pieces might not be fully snapped together). When I opened it yesterday, there was a ton of dust on the blades and blocking the escape vent. I live in an extremely clean house, so dust is just going to get in there no matter what. While removing the dust didn't seem to make any difference in temperature before or now, it's always a good idea to try to open up your laptop and clean out the fan because it could definitely build up and lead to blockage over time. I can't imagine what someone's fan might look like if they've never cleaned it out since day 1.

Another issue I've seen on these forums is fan noise. Well, all you have to do is get some fan lubricant and squeeze a few drops into fan blade's metal "stick" thing where it goes into the motor. This gets rid of any odd noises and makes it sound as smooth as silk. My fan was making a loud, loud grinding noise for months, and this instantly solved the problem.

Just for completeness, you should also try to replace the thermal compound between the heat sink and CPU/graphics card. While this has never changed my temperatures, in trying to fix my fan, I've seen many people have success with it.

All in all, I don't think the fan or heat sink ever really break or need to be replaced. If the fan runs, it runs. The heat sink is very strong metal and doesn't bend. But if you drop your laptop or something, you may cause the fan's casing to come loose. So I think when it comes to your fan, it's all about maintenance.

 

Good work. Repped.

btw. that "stick" thing is the shaft.

I'm a bit leery about the thermal compound because of the different thickness of the pad on the graphics chip. I've seen people putting copper shims in there to try and bring the surface level with the CPU.

 

Hi everyone. I felt I really had to make this contribution somewhere for all to see. I have owned 3 generations of Sony Vaio Z seres laptops. My current machine is a Z21V9E. running Windows 7. When I bought it I raved about how fast it was and how portable.

Since then, like all Vaio Z's before it, the processor slowed down, the CPU usage was constantly at 50% or more, the fan noise was unbearable and the battery life was less than an hour. I tried eveything, including Winzip utilities - upgraded every driver known to man and eliminated every excessive startup programme.

Yesterday I ordered a Mac.

Today, working on the Vaio became so uncomfortable I was ready to throw it out of the room. Slow, contant locking up and very, very noisy. I began searching on the web for the umpteenth time for a solution......

Guess what Sony has been hiding from everyone? Actually, to be fair to Sony, I don't think they are unique... Sorry Sony, I know it's not your fault now.

It is IE that is causing the problem. No, please suspend your disbelief until you try it. Use task manager to see what is eating up your resources. I almost guarantee it will be IE.

Then go to Micorsoft's support site and visit this page How to reset Internet Explorer settings

Reset IE to its default settings (remember you will lose cookies etc along the way) It takes no more than 5 minutes.

I am stunned. My laptop is transformed like it came out of the box. It is rapid, quiet, and I have been working on battery for 1 hour and 10 minutes now with Photoshop, Outlook, Word, Excel and Skype alll running. I still have 81% battery life!!!!

I don't expect you to believe this experience. It is such a simple solution I didn't believe it myself. Still don't. I NEVER participate in these forums, but I felt I simply had to relieve the pain of others. I have lived with these issues for the lifetime of 3 laptops and always put it down to the speed of the processor needing constant cooling. Don't suffer in silence - there is a solution!

And to think I ordered a Mac.....

Frankly I don't even blame Microsoft for this. I think it is all these insidious add ons (Google please stand up and be recognised). but at least there is a cure.

 

I thought one of the first places people checked when their computer fan is in overdrive is task manager to see what's using up those CPU cycles? When IE loads and looks like this



it's probably time to reevaluate your tendency to clicking "agree" or "install" on random popups

 

LOL. I had one guy complain his internet connection was very slow. Turned out he had set about a dozen tabs to auto load when IE was launched.

Anyway, back on-topic. Don't use oil to lubricate the shaft; that will just mean that you'll have to do it again in a couple of weeks. Use a light grease instead - that seems to work much better and the effects last longer.

 

Recently purchased VGN-Z790 for a restoration project. I've always loved the design of these lappys but never could justify the $2000 price tag. Dropped in a T9900 to replace the P8700 and 4 gb of PC8500 and 4gb of PC10600 memory which downclocks quite nicely, Then I ran into the dreaded overheat problem. My GPU temps idled at 62C, ran about 75 in web browsing or word processing, about 90C with a DVD playing and in light gaming hit a phenomenal 110C right before the lappy went into protection and shut down.

Ok cut to the chase...I opened her up again and repasted the chips (only 2 of 'em have paste the GM45 has a pad.. The critical one of course is the Nvidia 9300 which had been burning up. On close examination that chip is obviously the one Sony was worried about as it has paste on the chip suface AND a thermal pad on the rest of the die around it. In my well used Z this pad had shrunk so that it was no longer in contact with the heat sink at all! And my first pasting of this chip was admittedly hasty and not very uniform. I cleaned the chip face and thermal pad with alcohol wipes and then spread new thermal paste (Shin Etsu X23) over the chip face AND the thermal pad. By rights it might have been better to remove the pad before spreading the paste but I was getting short on X23 so I just let the pad take up some of the space. After reassembly I also filled any open space between the heat sink and the die/pad with X23 as well to hopefully get the maximum heat conduction from my overheating 9300 to the heat sink and heat tube.

When I started it up again I was amazed to find the idle temp had dropped from 62C to 49C and max gaming temp was now in the 90C range! Wow! No more protection shutdowns either! Clearly the cooling system in these little lappys was barely adequate when new (90C in any kind of gaming seems to be about normal from what I read here) and if the paste/pads have deteriorated or the fan gets plugged up with crud you're in real trouble. If you have one that runs hot...assemble you air duster, favorite paste...and if you're a stickler..some new pads and have at it! It helps!

I hope this helps some of you who like me may be unwilling to give up on these otherwise great little machines.

 

Hi Surfer John,

I have a Z1 (late 2010) and been dealing with overheating for about two years. In my previews attempts to manage the problem, I detached the palmrest, cleaned de fan blades and dripped a couple of lubricant. That worked out for a while but now that doesn't help anymore. My Vaio is always working in very high temperatures. The rattling sound is not as high as it used to be. Sometimes the fan works even very silently for a while, I can feel the hot air going out, but quickly goes back to rattle. When I start the PC, the fan struggles to spin. Then, it starts spining, but always making a low rattle noise and air flowing very little out.
To reach the shaft of the fan and the heatsink, for me, a very difficult task. I have already download the service manual, but I am very worried in messing up in trying to go further on the disassembly. Do you have any suggestions?

Thanks very much in advance!

Best regards.

 

Be careful while handling the fan - the blades are brittle and break rather easily. Once you have removed the cover and exposed the fan, the rotating part just lifts straight out. Then you can clean and lubricate the shaft and the bushing (the hole where the shaft goes).