[wplug] laptop fan humming?

[Dave Tremel]

Zach-

If you do a search on eBay for "latitude c600 fan" or "latitude c600 
parts," you should find what you are looking for.

Taking the laptop apart is actually easier that you think. The main 
issue is removing all of the screws on the bottom of the case. You also 
have to remove most of the screws on the rear of the case. There are 
several screws on the rear that hold the top bezel on. You are going to 
be replacing the fan on the bottom right. You will have to completely 
remove the top palm rest/bezel to get at it.

The best option is to do a little exploratory surgery first to see how 
the laptop comes apart. This will also help you to figure out how 
comfortable you are with taking the laptop apart and putting it back 
together. You'll also be able to get a look at the fan to make sure it's 
the part you really need to replace. Working on a flat surface and 
placing all of your screws on a sheet of paper will give you the best 
chance of putting it back together when you're done.

Blowing compressed air into the fan while the computer is off isn't 
going to hurt it. That may clean it out enough so that it doesn't make 
quite as much noise.

As for turning the fans off, that's a really bad idea. As you have seen, 
the CPU temperature is going to spike. At the least, this is going to 
cause the CPU to throttle back and the laptop may lockup. At the worst, 
the CPU will overheat and the laptop will never work again without 
replacing it. You may also have to replace several other parts at that 
point.

If you need help, respond back to me off list and I'll try to give you 
some guidance.

Thanks,

-Dave

Zach wrote:
> On 12/17/05, Dave Tremel <djtremel at zbzoom.net> wrote:
>> One word: eBay. I've replaced many parts on an old CPi over the last
>> several years. They have been acquired for a fraction of the price that
>> Dell would have charged.
>>
> 
> Morning Dave,
> 
> I see. I searched for "Dell C600 fan" on Ebay but didn't get many
> fits, and the ones I looked at didn't make it clear if "cooling fan"
> is same as "exhaust fan" which is what I need. BTW I downloaded a
> utility called I8KFN and was able to turn off the fan using:
> 
> C:\>i8kfan
> Inspiron 8000 fan control utility V1.0 - extracted and optimized by MH
> 
> Usage: I8KFAN <inner fan speed> <outer fan speed>
>        Fan speeds: 2=high, 1=slow, 0=off, -=don't change
>        Example: I8KFAN 1 1 -> set both fans to slow speed
> 
> C:\>i8kfan 0 0
> Setting inner fan to off
> Setting outer fan to off
> 
> So right now I have this setting (both set to 0).
> 
> I assume the inner fan is the CPU fan? Is setting it off bad? A few
> minutes later the outer fan came back on (very noisily as usual - now
> sounds more like a grinding noise than a humming!) and i had to issue
> the command again.
> 
> If i set inner fan on it starts a low pitch humming which I haven't
> heard before so does this mean my inner fan (CPU fan) has never been
> working before? That doesn't seem right. I set the speed to lowest (1)
> when I  tried that. As soon as I set the outer fan to 0 the noise
> immediately stops as the fan spins down so I know that is the problem.
> 
> In the meantime I don't want to damage my CPU, motherboard or RAM,
> video card (on-mboard) etc.. so should I set the CPU speed to slow
> even though I didn't notice it ever being on before (low humming) and
> should I set the outer fan (exhaust) to slow even though the noise is
> rather horrendous until I can get a new one from Ebay or can I get by
> for a few months with it off as long as I only run my laptop for a few
> hours a day and shutdown when I am done?
> 
>> If you are hardware inclined, it's easy to completely disassemble any
>> Dell laptop and completely replace just about every component.
> 
> I don't have much hardware experience. How do I get the case apart
> without breaking it?
> 
> Zach
>