IBM ThinkPad T60 Fan Error

I have to say wow! for this IBM ThinkPad or Lenovo ThinkPad, that maximum number of these machines run out to have Fan error when used for more than 2 to 4 years of time. Well, my T60 went through same problem with fan making noise for some days and beeping with Fan error popping on the top left corner right after the POST screen leading the pc to shut down after some time.My model of Lenovo T60 notebook has hardware specification with 14.1-inch display, equipped with a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo T2400 (4M Cache, 800 MHz FSB) Centrino (Merom) processor, 2 x 2GBDDR1667MHz (PC-5300) memory, Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 and a 320GB (5400rpm) hard drive. This machine doesn't have the biometrics scanner as in Lenovo ThinkPad T61.

Picture 1

     Lenovo ThinkPad T60

So when I got the "fan error" on the screen as shown below, I researched about it on the web to find out that this does happen when the machine is overheating, on top of that the dust plays equal role to bring the fan down to create noise out of it. However, I have also read Lenovo machine's fan is not lubricated during its manufacture. Therefore, accumulation of dust on fan creates noise while spinning with full speed.  

 

Now to solve this kind of error, I was just bypassing it by pressing ESC key at first, which I did several whenever I switched ON the notebook. But then the cooling fan noise irritated me also I have found out that if the fan completely stops working it would have to order new one and replace it. So I had better idea of cleaning this CPU fan and lubricating it instead. Besides, I was aware that if the fan doesn't even work at all it's going to wear out the CPU inside because of the over heat. Finally I got on to the work of disassembling T60 which can be shown below. 

Picture 2

Keyboard Faced.

Picture 3

 Removing Hand rest cover. 

I opened it and finally the cooling fan was visible with lots of dust on. Had to take out the fan module out of the machine to clean out the dust. 

Picture 4

   Dust visible on the Fan area.

Picture 5

 Closer View of dust on Heat Sink and Fan.

Picture 6

Dust accumulated on fan.

Picture 7

Machine after Fan module was removed.

Picture 8

 Closer view of Fan module slot.

Picture 9

 Fan module.

Picture 10

Cooling Fan taken out from Heat Sink to clean the dust.

In above Picture 10, need to be very carefully while unlocking those copper lock that press the aluminum plate covering the cooling fan to prevent the lock from breaking out. The dust can be cleaned with the air can or the cleaning brush. When the dust is cleaned thoroughly, lubricate the shining shaft of the cooling fan. The lubricating material that I used is Silicone Grease from Sharp. Now insert the fan in the shaft hole to give it a spin so that the grease melts properly. Finally close down the fan lock and reassemble every part back and get ready to test the machine. For some attempts the Fan Error might appear on the screen, bypass it by pressing ESC key. For me I got rid of the Fan error after 3 attempts of windows 7 shutdown. So Good Luck to those who have Fan Error!

 

Solving HP Compaq nc6000 no startup.

My nc6000 lappy also ran into same problem. The pc was gifted to me one & half years ago. Had good times playing with it. But on last 8 April, 2008. I put the pc into standby and returned home from my friend's house in my bicycle.
On the way, had some hard jerk that made the bag having my nc6000 to hit my back hardly.

After reaching home, I saw the standby LED blinking ok. So I pressed the power button to checkout if its alright.
But the amber LED glow up. Thought the battery was charging. Nevertheless, pc got shutdown after sometime. And when I turned it ON again, the cooling fan runs but no post screen and after some time amber LED glow up, after which
pc gets shutdown.

Its been couple of weeks, I've been going though the posts in this forum. It is really annoying to press at the top right of the pc with your hand and wait for the XP to boot and wait at login screen. And you never know when the screen will go blank as the pressure on the hand is not constant. Likewise, it was working few time when I untigh and again tightened the screw located at the top left side of the cooling fan. But this approach stopped working as well after few days.

I've tried every options posted in this forum so far. Have even tried the soldering in the DC jack pins only on the mother board. The only option left was using the hot air station in that MAXIM 1987 chip which is a SMD having tiny pins. Don't have the idea about the hot air soldering things. So I just went to buy the magnifier with the torch and used my old fine tipped soldering rod as mentioned in this forum.

It was not my first attempt of soldering but then the pins in that chip is extremely tiny. So my hand was shaking as I brought the soldering iron near to the pins to re solder. But finally I practiced the soldering in some useless mobile phone pcb having the SMD devices. And tried soldering this MAX 1987 chip. This time the hand wasn't shaking that much.

So I finally re soldered all the pins of that chip. And yes, I got the mother board working guys. Thanks to the people who shared the idea of the solution to be re soldered. And have suggestions to those who are trying to solder the chip, plz don't burn out your mother board and spend your precious money in buying new one. Get the people who are expertise in soldering to re solder the chip. Good Luck.