Laptop Fans?

[elohelomg]

I was looking into a laptop recently, and, something weird happens. When the computer turns on, the fans start spinning, but when the os loads up, it doesn't spin.

Does the fan need to spin constantly, or does it start and stop? In any case, the fan is being changed.

[Atasas]

I believe, your fan runs as per system default requirements

else,

there are zilion of apps to manually overrun such (do not recommend personally)

[shought]

This is pretty normal I believe.

My laptop does the same (or a similar) thing, I believe it is more common to work with different 'levels' of spinning though (25%, 50%, 100% or something).

Try doing some CPU intensive stuff like encoding a movie, the fan will probably start spinning after some time.

[elohelomg]

This is pretty normal I believe.

My laptop does the same (or a similar) thing, I believe it is more common to work with different 'levels' of spinning though (25%, 50%, 100% or something).

Try doing some CPU intensive stuff like encoding a movie, the fan will probably start spinning after some time.

I'm afraid of frying the comp. There is NO spinning of the fan.

[HX1]

Simple solution... when you boot your system and BIOS is running the fan will should start and run at full speed regardless.. Get Everest Ultimate and run it on our system.. It should give you temps and RPM's for your fan/s.. Mine runs like that when I startup..and as long as I am running in any other mode it is full on.. after I start my OS.. if it is a cold start after being off all day or overnight.. then it will not need to spin to radiate the heat sink to stabilize the temperature coming from the processor..

Temp monitoring and RPM monitoring of the fans should let you know if it is working correctly.. depending on your processor and system it may have varied temps which are quite normal..

[elohelomg]

Simple solution... when you boot your system and BIOS is running the fan will should start and run at full speed regardless.. Get Everest Ultimate and run it on our system.. It should give you temps and RPM's for your fan/s.. Mine runs like that when I startup..and as long as I am running in any other mode it is full on.. after I start my OS.. if it is a cold start after being off all day or overnight.. then it will not need to spin to radiate the heat sink to stabilize the temperature coming from the processor..

Temp monitoring and RPM monitoring of the fans should let you know if it is working correctly.. depending on your processor and system it may have varied temps which are quite normal..

Heres the weird thing. When i plug it in without the heat sink, it starts up. Once the heat sink is put in, it turns off.

The comp is currently stripped apart. So i can physically SEE the fan not spinning.

[HX1]

The heat sink is definitely a needed part of the system... What are you temperatures running? Did you make sure you have the fan plugged in correctly?..

Last but not least I DO NOT recommend you turn on the system for more than a second or two.. without the fan in place.. You overheat the board and your out a computer.. I would put everything back together... just as it was.. and use Everest to see if the laptop is actually overheating or if it is stable.. See if the fan has been making noise or is really dirty... You might also ( and this is extra )... Look and see rather any wholes or vents have been covered or obstructed in the laptop case.. Mine actually had heat shielding put over the cool air intake.. and was having to try to pull air in through the small cracks in my system..( where it was put together at ) so I opened it up and dropped the temp 10 degrees Celsius .. sort of off topic.. I also coated the spindle with full synthetic 5W-30 Motor Oil.. after it started to make noise.. and 'spin-out'.. after I had done a thorough cleaning.. and it has been fine ever since ( well over a year )..detailed though.. ( saved a PSU in an HP Box - almost 10 years old too that way )

BUT.. Put it back together monitor your system first... if it starts to overheat then shut it down... There are several thing that can be done to help a fan.. or at least with the problems I have had.. but be careful..

EDIT: One of the reasons the fan may be stopping is because the heat sink helps disperse the temperature away from the processor through kinetic energy.. and the fan cools THAT when the temperature reaches a certain level.. its not like a house fan on you.. direct cooling.. quite different.. as with most systems..

Sounds as though the sensor is on the board and working as it should..

[LeetPirate]

What CPU is in the laptop? It sounds like it works as it should. If you enabled passive cooling before active cooling in the OS then the system drops the power usage on the cpu before resorting to turning on the fan. You would have to check the cpu speed with CPUID or Everest and either disable all power savings or run a stress test to cause the cpu as suggested earlier. The cpu won't get damaged by heat, or atleast it shouldn't because all modern cpus have thermal shutdown protection so it will cut off the pc forcibly when it gets too hot.

When my laptop boots the fan is off until the temp reaches a certain level.

One last thing, since you messed with the heatsink please buy some good quality non electrically conductive thermal paste to replace it. Nothing with silver particles, you must use non electrically conductive paste like Arctic Cooling MX2 or MX3 because a mobile cpu does not have the metal case to protect it like a desktop cpu so any thermal paste leakage onto the components will electrically short them and destroy things.

[HX1]

Yeah thats right ... there are also cooling options inside Windows 7 in the Power Options.... all of which are active after booting in/up w/e..

[elohelomg]

Yeah thats right ... there are also cooling options inside Windows 7 in the Power Options.... all of which are active after booting in/up w/e..

I know the comp wont get fried and all, but still, sorta kinda afraid. I put it all together, turned the comp on, and it was loading up. The os turned on, everything went accordingly, but, still no spin. The replacements aren't too expensive any how, 20 bucks ish. Better safe than sorry. But might still check it with everest. hm...

[HX1]

Well.. if it has become unstable through overheating and has been giving reboots.. Then I would say you definitely have an issue.. AND yes definitely monitor the system with Everest and make sure you know what temperatures it is running.. particularly around the warmer areas/parts of the day.. My systems always show signs of running a little warmer in the afternoons.. but never nothing really major.. Well mine was going to be a 14 dollar part.. but it was rare and I had to send to Japan to get one.. LOL.. so I fixed mine instead.. but all I am saying right now is make sure there is actually something wrong..

Temperatures are dropping.. ( in most places.. ) and just because your fan isn't spinning all of the time..doesn't mean it should be..I would simply make sure all is as should be.. and monitor the temperatures which will allow you to know rather it is working correctly or not.. ( right now my fan is not spinning either.. but it may in a little while or after the temperature i raised ding CPU intensive stuff...) and by adjusting the settings mentioned above so as to get more colling out of the fan..

[crezla]

How do you guys clean your laptop fans when they get stuffed up over long periods of use? Is vacuuming ok or recommended? I heard that there are compressed air cans for such things but my guess is that they blow the dust deeper inside than suck it out.,..

[HX1]

How bad is it? If you have huge dust bunnies hanging on to the blades..and in other parts, I recommend taking it apart.. UNLESS you have a warranty.. then you shouldn't touch it...

Generally an AirDuster is used and blown from the outside in.. but to make the fan spin in a way that blows it out of the computer.. Then you should take the directional tube and make sure you haven't blown anything on to the heatsink... ( by blowing directly to it and looking ) I have hear people using vacuums.. I think its a great idea.. but it can be a matter of how well you can clean it ( depending on what sort of vacuum you have..

If its really bad you should get some Q-Tips, Brushes ( auto-detailing ), Screwdriver, AirDuster and possibly a vacuum if you have one... Take it apart and remove the fan.. cleaning it thoroughly with the Q-Tip..all areas.. ( some other steps can clean the internals.. but thats getting down to the bone.. AND you need full synthetic motor oil too...LOL ) You can loosen the dirt and dust with a few of the detail brushes.. being very gentle.. and then you can vacuum out any remnants or loose particle.. other areas may need to be gently Q-Tipped but you have to be careful not to leave behind any snagged fuzz...( why it is important to keep the Q-Tip away from the board as much as possible... LOL ) usually the air duster will remove any remaining dust and with it open should blow out of the case easily.. Next is using some of the detail brushes and AirDuster to clean the areas of the heat sink that are in front of the outlet.. brushed, then blown out.. checking and making sure you have cleaned and unobstructed the airflow path thoroughly.. Then AirDust the whole thing to remove any sediment or anything that settled back in or was broken loose. Put back on the covers to the case... after assembling the fan and other parts.. and you should be good to go.. Not really needed to do this very often unless you live work or use you computer in a very dusty environment..where build up is often and quick.. usually making sure the fan area is unobstructed and surfaces are free from heavy build up insure that free air flow is working... and that the surface of the fan are smooth and creating the airflow needed.. Really bad dust-bunnies can also create sort of an insulation as well, which can raise the temperature in some cases.. Any dust left in certain areas will act as a magnet to slowly build up on.. so thats why in some areas it is important to use a q-tip to wipe the surface clean.. and as long as the power is off and battery is removed you could consider wetting the tip of it with a Streak free.. fast drying glass cleaner.. only slightly to help lift the dust off of the the parts..

I never remove the heat sink or anything other than the RAM and the fan housing..( which has to be cleaned well..in some cases because its quick and a few places exist underneath which can can some dust with all of the stuff stirred up.. ( why it is important to give a final once over with the AirDuster once done.. even after vacuuming..)

[LeetPirate]

If it's really badly covered in black dirty powder all over I take out the entire heat sink and wash it with water and a non abrasive smooth dish washing liquid, by hand of course because using any scrubber will scratch the hell out the the heat sink. Once it is washed out and I spray out all the dust with the water I leave it to air dry and when it's dry I use ArctiClean to clean out and prepare the thermal surface then I replace the thermal paste before reinstalling the heatsink. No silver or electrically conductive paste for laptops though, as I pointed out before because any spillage or leaking due to heat or otherwise will short out components and destroy the cpu.

Forgot to mention, I don't wash the fan, once I have the heatsink out I clean out the fan easily with a moist tissue or wash cloth. ;)