Laptop fan not functioning correctly..


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I'm having an issue with a laptop i bought quite some time a go, it's been in storage and never used.. i've just fired it up and it cuts out after about 5 seconds.. i started my removing the ram, hdd, cmos but still had same issues. I decided to open it up, disconnected keyboard, usb, cd drive, display, etc etc.. still cutting off after 5 seconds.

Eventually i got to the fan and noticed that it was only spinning for a second or two and then stopping, a few seconds later it would cut out... could this be the root cause? I can't do anything on the laptop it cuts out so quick, i've opened it now so warranty is probably void.

The fan blades spin fine so i'm not sure if its the fan thats at fault? I haven't removed the heat-sink yet, would it be worth taking a look underneath?

Any other suggestions?

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Is it a Dell? I have seen similar to this and all we had to do was disconnect the power and battery and hold the power button for around 30 seconds. Plug the power back in and it fired up. However if it has never been used then I doubt it is this but worth trying.

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It's an Acer Aspire, google'd it and the issue has a new mentions but no fix, i've contacted ACER but not expecting much beyond canned responses and i think my warranty will be void now. I'll try re-seating the heat sink tomorrow with some thermal paste.

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its not your fan. its the chipset/gpu chip. over time the little solder balls under the chip crack from all the temperature cycling,and they no longer make contact with the board. I've seen this soooo many times,and the exact same thing happens. the fan comes on for a few seconds then it shuts off. unfortunately the only permanent solution is to reball the chip and reflow back on the board. a temporary solution would be to cover everything around the chip with a puddy or some other material, and hit it with a heat gun for a few minutes. it'll be enough to re melt the solder balls, but again,this is only temporary as the problem will reoccur.sometimes you can get it to run for a few months,sometimes few weeks,and sometimes only few days.

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its not your fan. its the chipset/gpu chip. over time the little solder balls under the chip crack from all the temperature cycling,and they no longer make contact with the board. I've seen this soooo many times,and the exact same thing happens. the fan comes on for a few seconds then it shuts off. unfortunately the only permanent solution is to reball the chip and reflow back on the board. a temporary solution would be to cover everything around the chip with a puddy or some other material, and hit it with a heat gun for a few minutes. it'll be enough to re melt the solder balls, but again,this is only temporary as the problem will reoccur.sometimes you can get it to run for a few months,sometimes few weeks,and sometimes only few days.

Can this happen on new laptops? It's only a few month old and has never been switched on. Am i wasting my time checking the thermal paste and heatsink connection to the cpu?

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The fan spinning up on start-up and then slowing down is normal operation for newer laptops. Every manufacturer has their name for it but I know for my Toshiba they call it "cool and quiet technology."

Depending on the manufacturer, I've sent laptops in before (under warranty) that I had opened and had them repaired for free. As long as you're careful opening it and putting it back together, you'll be fine.

Good luck!

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It's only a few month old and has never been switched on.

If its only a few months old return it to the Manufacturer or store u got it from

there should be at least 1 yr warranty

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I ordered it online, waiting for a reply from both my account manager and Acer but nothing yet, i hate dealing with these type of companies for support.

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I never contacted the companies directly. All I did was fill out their online RMA form.

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