Cooling fan

[Gene]

Has anyone had any experience with changing a cooling fan in a laptop? I
have a Compaq Presario 1600 XL145 in which the fan don't run and causes
shutdowns.

 

[kony]

Has anyone had any experience with changing a cooling fan in a laptop? I
have a Compaq Presario 1600 XL145 in which the fan don't run and causes
shutdowns.

1) Open laptop and take voltage reading at the fan plug. If it
has no voltage you have a circuit failure instead of fan failure.

2) Note fan connector type. Replacement will need have same
connector and compatible lead length else you'll need to crimp or
solder on the old connector to new fan, or buy connector "parts"
(plastic shell and metal inserts) separately).

3) Note fan make, model, dimensions, and if you can't find fan
manufacturer's spec on the fan or don't know what it's typical
RPM was, also note the current listed on the label. With this
info you can then seek similar replacement, either by 'net
searches for "laptop fan", by seeking major fan manufacturer's
part numbers for suitable replacement then searching for those
parts, or visiting electronics retailer or surplus 'sites and
browsing their fan offerings.

If you listed the fan specs here you might get lucky and receive
replies as to where you might find similar fan(s).

If origina fan has a sleeve bearing you might be able to just
lube it, preferribly with a high-quality, heavyweight (20wt or
higher) oil, in the bearing behind the label. If it's a
ball-bearing fan this won't work, but if all else failed you
could seek another fan using same bearing size even if rest of
fan was different and just replace the bearing. That last option
is typically a last resort but if done properly it will also
provide an acceptable result. Unless your laptop uses a very
unusual fan you should be able to find a suitable replacement,
new fan.

 

[Gene]

1) Open laptop and take voltage reading at the fan plug. If it
has no voltage you have a circuit failure instead of fan failure.

2) Note fan connector type. Replacement will need have same
connector and compatible lead length else you'll need to crimp or
solder on the old connector to new fan, or buy connector "parts"
(plastic shell and metal inserts) separately).

3) Note fan make, model, dimensions, and if you can't find fan
manufacturer's spec on the fan or don't know what it's typical
RPM was, also note the current listed on the label. With this
info you can then seek similar replacement, either by 'net
searches for "laptop fan", by seeking major fan manufacturer's
part numbers for suitable replacement then searching for those
parts, or visiting electronics retailer or surplus 'sites and
browsing their fan offerings.

If you listed the fan specs here you might get lucky and receive
replies as to where you might find similar fan(s).

If origina fan has a sleeve bearing you might be able to just
lube it, preferribly with a high-quality, heavyweight (20wt or
higher) oil, in the bearing behind the label. If it's a
ball-bearing fan this won't work, but if all else failed you
could seek another fan using same bearing size even if rest of
fan was different and just replace the bearing. That last option
is typically a last resort but if done properly it will also
provide an acceptable result. Unless your laptop uses a very
unusual fan you should be able to find a suitable replacement,
new fan.

I removed the fan from the case and tested it and it runs. It is a 5VDC
0.50W fan and it ran with just 3V, so I would assume it is ok. I am not sure
how I would test the voltage going to the fan unless I would connect
everything back up without actually assembling the laptop. If there is a bad
circut, is it safe to assume that the m/b is the problem?

 

[kony]

I removed the fan from the case and tested it and it runs. It is a 5VDC
0.50W fan and it ran with just 3V, so I would assume it is ok. I am not sure
how I would test the voltage going to the fan unless I would connect
everything back up without actually assembling the laptop. If there is a bad
circut, is it safe to assume that the m/b is the problem?

Yes, you'd need to connect at least enough that it receives
power. Assuming that the fan was supposed to run all the time,
you really don't need to reassembe to the point that laptop
"works" to run an OS or anything like that, merely being able to
have battery or power adapter connected, push the button, see
what happens. Even a separate video card, memory, keyboard, etc,
would not need connected. Again, this assumes fan always ran
immediately at power-on of system. If that's not the case,
recrease minimal environemt needed such that fan was expected to
run, then use a multimeter to take reading. If plug is then
inaccessible you might need a duplicate fan header plug to plug
in a couple of leads (wires) that extend out of 'book casing far
enough to take voltage reading.

I have no idea where fan connects on your particular notebook but
yes, it is usually a motherboard failure. There could be a
visable sign of it, like a dicolored/burnt trace, or something
like an inline fuse which could be checked for continuity. A
motherboard fan circuit would possibly be easier to repair than
many other motherboard problems but certainly it might require
some skill to do it. An alternative would be to find the 5V
output on the power board (circuit connected to AC adapter input
jack) and wire fan direct to that, but of course it's going to
always run at full speed, if it had been controlled to run at
variable speed that feature would be lost. Such a modification
is not something I can provide more detail on since i don't have
the laptop in front of me, if you feel you know how to do it
you're already in a better position to figure out where/how.

 

[Gene]

kony: Thanks for the in-depth response. I am going to try a partial assembly
to test the connection. I'm not sure if the fan is supposed to run all of
the time, it has not run at all from the first day I got it (bought it used,
cheap). I have the service manual and didn't notice anywhere in there wether
it is supposed to run all of the time, I will have to take another look.

Another issue I wondering about is Compaq only supports the drivers up to
win2k and this has XP pro on it. For the most part, it seems to run ok
except for the fan and occasional shutdown issues. Do you think I would be
better off putting win2k on it?

 

[Gene]

kony: Thanks for the in-depth response. I am going to try a partial assembly
to test the connection. I'm not sure if the fan is supposed to run all of
the time, it has not run at all from the first day I got it (bought it used,
cheap). I have the service manual and didn't notice anywhere in there wether
it is supposed to run all of the time, I will have to take another look.

Another issue I wondering about is Compaq only supports the drivers up to
win2k and this has XP pro on it. For the most part, it seems to run ok
except for the fan and occasional shutdown issues. Do you think I would be
better off putting win2k on it?

Ok, I tested it with a partial assembly and it ran. I reassembled the laptop
and now I noticed that the fan runs during bootup, then as soon as windows
starts loading the fan stops. The shutdown problem is still there, usually
it shutsdown when I attempt to do a search or go online. I am wondering if
this is an xp issue ( no xp supported drivers from compaq). I wonder if
installing win2k and downloading the compaq drivers would make the
difference. I also checked through the manual and there is nothing in there
stating whether the fan runs all of the time or not. Any opinions? TIA

 

[kony]

Ok, I tested it with a partial assembly and it ran. I reassembled the laptop
and now I noticed that the fan runs during bootup, then as soon as windows
starts loading the fan stops. The shutdown problem is still there, usually
it shutsdown when I attempt to do a search or go online. I am wondering if
this is an xp issue ( no xp supported drivers from compaq). I wonder if
installing win2k and downloading the compaq drivers would make the
difference. I also checked through the manual and there is nothing in there
stating whether the fan runs all of the time or not. Any opinions? TIA

Try the Compaq drivers, on XP.
Check the bios settings.

As for the shutdown issue, could easily be the fan (so it
overheats) or something else, for the time being I'd focus on
getting the fan working then see if the shutdown problem is
resolved.

For all the people that are in love with XP, I'm not one of them,
feel XP was Microsoft's method of screwing up 2K, making it only
worse... If you think it'd work on 2K then by all means, install
2K. You might try a Compaq-oriented newsgroup, perhaps fellow
owners of the laptop would have some insights.

 

[~misfit~]

Try the Compaq drivers, on XP.
Check the bios settings.

As for the shutdown issue, could easily be the fan (so it
overheats) or something else, for the time being I'd focus on
getting the fan working then see if the shutdown problem is
resolved.

For all the people that are in love with XP, I'm not one of them,
feel XP was Microsoft's method of screwing up 2K, making it only
worse... If you think it'd work on 2K then by all means, install
2K. You might try a Compaq-oriented newsgroup, perhaps fellow
owners of the laptop would have some insights.

I'm new to this thread but aren't there utilities around the net that allow
you to specify how/when the fan runs on most laptops?

Just a thought, I remember downloading one for a Toshiba once (although I
think it was generic, for most laptops).

 

[Gene]

Try the Compaq drivers, on XP.
Check the bios settings.

As for the shutdown issue, could easily be the fan (so it
overheats) or something else, for the time being I'd focus on
getting the fan working then see if the shutdown problem is
resolved.

For all the people that are in love with XP, I'm not one of them,
feel XP was Microsoft's method of screwing up 2K, making it only
worse... If you think it'd work on 2K then by all means, install
2K. You might try a Compaq-oriented newsgroup, perhaps fellow
owners of the laptop would have some insights.

I will have to give the 2k drivers on XP a try, see if that makes a
difference. The only thing that really puzzles me is that the fan runs until
the OS starts to load, that is what makes me think it might be a compaq
driver issue. I've been running XP Home on my home computer for the last
year and a half and haven't really had any problems, yet. The only OS that I
had ever really had any problems with was ME, but that's another story. I
haven't thought of the compaq newsgroups, might give that a try also. Thanks
for your time, kony.

 

[Gene]

I'm new to this thread but aren't there utilities around the net that allow
you to specify how/when the fan runs on most laptops?

Just a thought, I remember downloading one for a Toshiba once (although I
think it was generic, for most laptops).

I will have to search around for that, thanks for the reply.

 

[Gene]

I will have to search around for that, thanks for the reply.

If you would have any idea what that would be called, could ya let me know,
I have been searching around and can't find anything. I will keep looking
though. Thanks

 

[Bennett Price]

Has anyone had any experience with changing a cooling fan in a laptop? I
have a Compaq Presario 1600 XL145 in which the fan don't run and causes
shutdowns.

If you can, put a conventional table fan next to the open case (or
otherwise well-ventilate the unit) and see what happens.

 

[~misfit~]

If you would have any idea what that would be called, could ya let me
know, I have been searching around and can't find anything. I will
keep looking though. Thanks

Sorry Gene, I can't remember the name of it, it was quite a while ago. Maybe
ask in a laptop group?

 

[Jerry Lewis]

Gene,

You could only measure the fan speed if there's an RPM cable leading
into the fan. There is a device you can buy that will measure the RPM
speed for you.

If you are looking for a replacement fan for your laptop you should
try this one website called HardwareCooling.com