How to fix a laptop noisy FAN

[FTC]

Hi,


I want to share in this thread how you can 'clean up' a laptop fan. In this case, it is a Thinkpad T40 fan that had became too noisy after 1 year folding 24x7.


Well, you start up with the heatsink/fan complex already dismantled from the laptop :



Now, with a fat screwdriver you can 'force open' the fan metallic casing from the cooper heatpipe piece :



... unti it pops out :



Then, with a thin screwdriver you can dismount the rotor part :



So you can see the axis hole, to be oiled :

[FTC]

OK. Second part.

Now a close up of the bearing hole :



And oiling it :



Then clean it all and attach both pieces again :



And for last, straighten up the finishings and it's done..

[smekta3]

Not sure if this fits your scenario, but thinkpad fans have always been running noisy and often dont turn off. So here is the fan control utility for t4x thinkpads.

[FTC]

Not sure if this fits your scenario, but thinkpad fans have always been running noisy and often dont turn off. So here is the fan control utility for t4x thinkpads.

Thanks, in my case both computers (a T0 and a T42) were completely silent since the beginning. Only the T40 fan became noisy at low RPM after a full year at full speed, 24x7... oiling the bearing a bit, as shown, has completely fixed things (already 2 weeks since I did this).

Regarding the fan control utility, I agree it may be a great thing for this computers, if you have the reported noise problem... one problem though is that I've read it's not compatible with the Notebook hardware control
utility, which for me is a *must* for this machines...., since it allows undervolltage of the processor, SMART monitoring, power management, battery control, temperature control and over/under clock of the graphic chip in a very convenient package.