OT: Laptop's fan wheezing and howling

[QuikSand]

... at least it seems to be the fan.

Anyway, this has happenad intermittently for some time (maybe a month or so), but now it's at least 75% of the time that I am using the machine. When the machine gets running (enough to turn the fans on) then I get a dreadful noise form the fan area... it's just awful. Loud enough to mostly disturb whatever I happen to be doing, unless it's absolutely critical.

Of course, the last time my IT guy visited to look at it, there was no sound... until about ten minutes after he drove away.

For those of you in the know with IT stuff... is there anything practical that I can do about this? My non-IT mind has ideas (like jamming a pencil or something into the fan exhaust outlet to keep that particular fan from turning) but I don't want to go ahead without the blessing from a supposedly benevolent but basically anonymous seal of approval. Anyone there for me?

[cartman]

That fan is probably the CPU fan, and if you disable it, your laptop will soon follow it into a non-working state. Have you loaded anything over the past month on your laptop that runs in the background, creating a high load on the CPU? It could also be that you changed a setting that controls how often the fan runs. I know some laptops allow you to have the fan run more often when on AC power vs. battery.

[QuikSand]

That fan is probably the CPU fan, and if you disable it, your laptop will soon follow it into a non-working state. Have you loaded anything over the past month on your laptop that runs in the background, creating a high load on the CPU? It could also be that you changed a setting that controls how often the fan runs. I know some laptops allow you to have the fan run more often when on AC power vs. battery.

Hmmm... the ugly noise's appearance more or less coincides with the presence of Championship Manager 03/04 on my computer, and I know that is a high-intensity application. However, the fan problem seems to occur independent of whether I have CM active at all. It seems to occur any time my fan is running.

But I'll defer on disabling the fan itself. Your description of "non-working state" was sufficiently clinical to chill that thought.

[MizzouRah]

Never jam a pencil into your CPU fan :), next thing you know your processor overheats and costs you even more $$$. Get it replaced, tell your IT guy you only hear it when it goes to high speed after running a system intense software program. Most laptop fans have two speeds, low and high. It's normal for it to kick up to high from time to time, especially when you're using a si program.

He should just call it in and get it replaced.


Todd

[sooner333]

If your machine is running poorly and you have a newer Dell Inspiron, those computers have dust problems; if you spray an air duster in the fan hole or just blow really hard, you might fix the problem.

[QuikSand]

If your machine is running poorly and you have a newer Dell Inspiron, those computers have dust problems; if you spray an air duster in the fan hole or just blow really hard, you might fix the problem.

I have an air dusterm and have used this at the behst of my IT guy... so far, all it accomplihes is that it stops the fan for a few seconds.

"Dust problem," eh? Maybe I'll check and ee if there's more out there on this... mine is a Dell, though I don't recall whether it's from the Inspiron line.

[Dutch]

If I remember correctly, doesn't CM run with 100% processor usage? That would cause the machine to heat up. Try turning off any motion/scrolling text settings, if there are any.

[RPI-Fan]

There are indeed scrolling text things, but I don't know if there's a way to turn them off.

[QuikSand]

If I remember correctly, doesn't CM run with 100% processor usage?

Yes, it seems to. Don't know what I can do about it, though.

[RPI-Fan]

Even if you could turn it off, it seems like something is wrong with your fan, and it should probably be replaced anyways.

[3ric]

There are indeed scrolling text things, but I don't know if there's a way to turn them off.

There's a skin available that turns off the scrolling news ticker.

[Fritz]

quiky - does just run high, or is there a rattle/squeal?

[Marc Vaughan]

Try checking out the fan area when the laptops turned off - see if there's some string or 'gunk' in the fan which is causing the whining ...

If you can't fix it by yourself then if its under warranty call out the service people if thats an option - definitely worth getting attention.

[QuikSand]

does just run high, or is there a rattle/squeal?

Definitely more than a high-activity sound... it's more squeal than rattle, but it sounds more like a really loud, low wheeze to me. I hate to sound like the dopes calling to to Car Talk, but it would be pretty easy to replicate the sound in person - just not so easy in text.

I can't find anything causing an obstruction, and have used the air jet cleaner a few times just in case... to no avail. My IT guy is checking on the warrenty - it might be a close call on timing.

[ice4277]

My burning question is, has the apostrophe in the title of this thread been used correctly? ;)

[QuikSand]

Of course it has.

[Desnudo]

Definitely more than a high-activity sound... it's more squeal than rattle, but it sounds more like a really loud, low wheeze to me. I hate to sound like the dopes calling to to Car Talk, but it would be pretty easy to replicate the sound in person - just not so easy in text.

I can't find anything causing an obstruction, and have used the air jet cleaner a few times just in case... to no avail. My IT guy is checking on the warrenty - it might be a close call on timing.

Could you upload a .WAV file of you making that noise? It would help a lot in the diagnosis. :)

Also, if instinctually the noise doesn't sound right, then it probably isn't. Better to be safe than sorry and replace the fan rather than the CPU.

[Dutch]

It's probably just running the fan at a higher RPM during intensive CPU activity (such as CM). I'm not so sure it's something to get alarmed about...as long as your CPU isn't overheating.

[Tekneek]

Heheh. This sounds like my laptop. I thought the fan was about to go, so I called the "internal support" guys to have them replace it. Before they came by to pick it up, the hard drive's performance got a little flakey. It turns out the fan was absolutely fine, but the drive was DESTROYED. It let out its last whimpers and was dead. The drive was replaced, the fan was not, and I never heard those noises again.

Go figure. I would've bet a lot of money that it was the fan based on the sounds and past experience. Good thing nobody was ready to take that wager.

I would not kill the fan. I've found that any type of fan around the computer is there for a good reason and killing it could produce unexpected results. In case it eventually turns out to be something else, keep a backup of your important files in the meantime.

[QuikSand]

Heheh. This sounds like my laptop. I thought the fan was about to go, so I called the "internal support" guys to have them replace it. Before they came by to pick it up, the hard drive's performance got a little flakey. It turns out the fan was absolutely fine, but the drive was DESTROYED. It let out its last whimpers and was dead. The drive was replaced, the fan was not, and I never heard those noises again.

Go figure. I would've bet a lot of money that it was the fan based on the sounds and past experience. Good thing nobody was ready to take that wager.

I would not kill the fan. I've found that any type of fan around the computer is there for a good reason and killing it could produce unexpected results. In case it eventually turns out to be something else, keep a backup of your important files in the meantime.

Sounds like a backup of my critical files might be in order. Thanks.

[Desnudo]

I would not kill the fan.

I wouldn't kill it either, but I would replace it. Fans are cheap and it never hurts to have an extra laying around.