Replacing fans (expert help needed)

[Mavrick]

Here we go, don't fall asleep:)

I have a Compaq Presario 2500 (exact model 2504EU) which has two out of its three fans not working. The working fan is just a little fan that only comes on when the computer gets really hot and is separate from the other 2.

The two non-working fans form an assembly complete with a heat sink that connects to the CPU. I'm not sure if both the fans have died or have just become disconnected from the motherboard. It seems a little strange that they would both go at the same time but, they have two separate power connections to the MB so it can't be that just one cable has come unplugged but two.

Here is my problem. I'm going to take my computer apart following the very user friendly manuel at the HP site....

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00246219.pdf

.... to get to the fans and the heat sink I must first remove lots of other bit and pieces but, it says in the manuel that any old so and so like myself shouldn't REPLACE (it doesn't say remove, just replace) the monitor, which I will have to do to get to the fans, as it says that when a new monitor is fitted you need to reprogram the EEPROM ( whatever that is ) and this can only be done with a special service utilitity program that mere mortals like me don't have.

Is the reprogramming only needed for new monitors (display assemblies) or will I have to reprogram the EEPROM when I go to put the old one back on after fixing the fans? Obviously I will have to disconnect the monitor from the MB, which will still have some power thanks to the CMOS battery.

Please help me. If you think it's safe to remove it without having to reprogram it, I will attempt it tomorrow.

[TheOldhamWhisper]

Personally, I wouldn't even attempt to open up a Notebook! These things are not like a PC and you really need specialist tools just to get into one (if you are to have any chance of it working again!).

Are you sure that you have the right manual there? Is it a laptop or a PC you are using?

[MarcusMel]

EEPROM = Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory.

Essentially it is Read Only Memory (ROM) that requires special methods to change what it has stored in it.

So nothing will happen to what is in it when you disconnect it.

Do be very careful not to damage the plastic flexible ribbon cable that connects the monitor to the MB.

Make notes on every action you take so you can reverse anything you do.

[Mavrick]

That's the right manual Oldham. Yes it's a laptop. I'm pretty brave when it comes to taking things apart, especially as it's well out of warranty and it would probably cost me more taking it to a shop and having them source the parts and fixing it then it would be to get a working second hand Presario of ebay. I'm also going to fit a new power jack in it at the same time as it has been a bit dodgy for months.

Thanks alot Marcus Mel. That was what I was hoping for. That's good advise with the note taking. I think I have already muddled up half the screws on the laptop when I was playing with it on an earlier occasion. I'm going to spread all the parts over the kitchen floor on different bits of A4 paper with labels on them.

[Win2Win]

Why not just buy the fans for the outside, that is what I use, have done with all my laptops, helps them last longer, the inside fans never come on, and it keeps it much cooler. http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&from=R10&satitle=laptop+3+fan&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D3&sadis=200&fpos=LL165RT&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=1

[TheOldhamWhisper]

A good (cheap) alternative for keeping laptops cool are those 'Cool Bag' inserts that you stick in the freezer for a couple of hours. Get 2 or 3 and sit the laptop on one when you are using it.

[Mavrick]

I saw them external cooling pads. I didn't know how good they were as they only run of a USB port. I have to take it a apart anyway as the power jack is really wobbly and it keeps eating chargers. I think I will try and repair the fans and give the CPU a spray of that Arctic Silver 5 spray and then buy some external fans to use when I am at home to try and make the new ones last longer.

[Mavrick]

All done.

I didn't have the new fan unit so I just took the computer apart in the hope that the fans were just full of dust and that's why they weren't working. Well, they were full of crap all right but even after cleaning them they still arn't working. I'm a bit confused how both of them have died at exactly the same time. They have separate power leads going to the motherboard, so unless they both share a control unit or something on the MB it must just be a coincidence. I fixed my power jack whilst I was at it and will order a couple of fans when I'm back in the UK at the end of the month. One thing that was abit worrying was when I lifted the fan and the heatsink unit of the MB, the CPU was stuck to the bottom of it and came off with it There is meant to be a special locking mechanism to release it from the MB but, it just came right off with the fan assembly as it was stuck to the thermal pad which attaches to the heat sink.

For anyone thinking of taking there laptop apart to fix anything or replace their DVD drive or something then it is really easy if you just follow the service manual that you can find at the manufacturers website. If I can do it then anyone can!!

I took a couple of photos of my computer in bits, but they are both 3mbs each so I'll need to workout how to compress them if I put them on here