Is my laptop fan broken?

mostly useless · Sep 5, 2014

Recently my laptop overheated a couple of times while processing video. I've had it for maybe 2.5 years and never cleaned it out (I know, I'm stupid). I don't want to push the computer in case it messes up, but I'm not sure if the fan is blocked or broken. I can't really feel any air blowing out of the vent on the side, however when idling SpeedFan tells me that HD0, Temp1, GPU and Core are staying steadily between 45-50. Now I'm using Firefox to brose this forum HD0 is 44C and the other 3 are all 56, again they're staying steady. I tried using compressed air in the heat vent and nothing at all came out.

So is my fan broken? Should I be feeling any air being pushed out with these temperatures? And if it was broken, wouldn't my laptop be getting hotter and hotter instead of staying roughly steady? I'm pretty useless with this stuff, so please keep it simple for me!

Thanks for reading.

EDIT Should probably have mentioned its a Samsung NP305E5A.

DarkSable · Sep 5, 2014

It wouldn't be getting hotter and hotter because you aren't stressing it at all - it'd be heating up to the heat of the chips at idle load and staying about there, since heat can dissipate into the surrounding case and the metal heat-sink even if the fan isn't blowing.

I would try giving it a mild load, and seeing if you can feel or hear anything from the fan, and failing that, a medium load.

I would also strongly suggest opening it up and looking at the fan to see if it has, say, pet hair clogging the fan. (I've seen that one pretty often.)

drapacioli · Sep 5, 2014

Can't say if those temps are normal without knowing what CPU and GPU you have. If the fan wasn't working though it would likely be running much hotter, and possibly unstable. If you're that concerned, clean the fan ducts out and buy a cooling pad. Make sure you get one that PUSHES air in if your laptop has a side exhaust, or PULLS air out from the bottom if the side vent is intake and bottom is exhaust (I know, weird but apparently some laptops do that). I use a cooling fan when gaming and I typically see temps stay 10-20C cooler

mostly useless · Sep 5, 2014

@DarkSable: Thanks for the advice. I don't trust myself to take it apart, and annoyingly there's no panel to quickly access the heat sink. By a medium load, do you mean just doing something not very intensive? If so, any suggestions as to a suitable process?

@drapacioli: Thanks, how would I clean the fan ducts? I tried compressed air, but nothing came out.

Is there any way software could be causing this issue?

drapacioli · Sep 5, 2014

By that I meant make sure everything from the fan to the exhaust vent is free of debris. To do that completely you would have to open it up. I'm not sure about the software. To me it just sounds like there's no air movement, not a problem on it's own if the laptop is running cool. Try what DarkSable said about testing a higher load to see how the temps and fan speed responds.

mostly useless · Sep 5, 2014

How do I test a higher load? What does it mean?

drapacioli · Sep 5, 2014

It means try doing something to cause the CPU to work. Play a video, run a windowed game, or do something with the computer that will make the CPU work more than it does at idle.

mostly useless · Sep 5, 2014

Thanks, I tried playing Goat Simulator, which sent my temperatures up to 90 celsius within about 5 minutes before I quit, at which point it cool down. There was only the tiniest airflow even at 90, so I'm guessing the fan must be clogged. I'll need to take it somewhere, but I was just wondering if there was any chance a setting could be causing the fan to run too slowly?

DarkSable · Sep 5, 2014

mostly useless :

There's a minor chance of that, yeah. Reboot the system, watching for a hotkey labeled 'BIOS.' It'll probably be delete or f11/f10. Get into your bios and check fan control settings.

drapacioli · Sep 5, 2014

It's possible, but in my experience most consumer laptops have that stuff locked down. Did the fan spin up at all, or was there no airflow because it wasn't spinning up? It's also possible the fan isn't running (easy enough to check, just put your ear at the vent and try to listen for it).

I would definitely have it cleaned if it's spinning up and just not moving air. You could take it to any computer repair shop that you trust, or Best Buy will probably have it done too for a higher premium. When that's solved if you're still having problems you could try a cooling pad. In my experience the Cooler Master X3 does a very good job. It's very bulky though: http

/www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-NotePal-Cooling-R9-NBC-NPX3-GP/dp/B0079T2KHG

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