ACER ASPIRE 1650 - Fixing NOISY FAN

jackthelad321

HI

Ancient Acer Aspire's Fan is, and always has been, loud as a god damn chainsaw. Never realised until recently the problem could be fixed through oiling the fan or blowing dust out. Haven't used it for years but now am going to leave it at my desk like a pc. Shame is, the thing is so loud it wake my girlfriend/ housemate up if using.

I guess the reason I am asking is, since no video online uses an ACER, and I am fairly thick when it comes to computers, what should I be looking for when cleaning the fan. Do I need compressed air, or could a hoover do the trick? Or maybe something else..?Also, if I am to apply oil, must I take the fan out of the computer (and is there other things I should be aware of?). Heard disc brake oil works a charm, that or sewing machine oil.

Basically anything useful that may aid me would be greatly appreciated. (oh yes I am aware you need to take battery out before fiddling, I don't use one in any case just ac power)

Jak:)

johneire31

older laptop fans are pretty noisy to begin with, ideally you should take the fan out and clean the grill, check the heatsink and thermal bonding on the chips it services, replace thermal paste if needed. You can blow the dust of out of the grill with a can of compressed air and finish by using a cotton bud to clean the more stubborn grit of the fins of the fan and the grill. you can add a drop of oil carefully to the spindle but you must be accurate here for it to have any benefit, use a needle to direct the oil to the shaft. its better and easier if you dismantle the fan casing so you can get in to clean and oil. Have a good look at the fins on the fan to see if they have come distorted by fatigue over its life, you may be able to file a dodgy fin to stop it scraping the casing, again, its delicate work and very easy to break a fin doing this and if you do you have noise on a different level altogether. If you can get into the heart of the fan you would be better to use thin grease on the spindle, it will last longer and it will absorb any play caused by wear.

j

jackthelad321

johneire31 wrote: »

older laptop fans are pretty noisy to begin with, ideally you should take the fan out and clean the grill, check the heatsink and thermal bonding on the chips it services, replace thermal paste if needed. You can blow the dust of out of the grill with a can of compressed air and finish by using a cotton bud to clean the more stubborn grit of the fins of the fan and the grill. you can add a drop of oil carefully to the spindle but you must be accurate here for it to have any benefit, use a needle to direct the oil to the shaft. its better and easier if you dismantle the fan casing so you can get in to clean and oil. Have a good look at the fins on the fan to see if they have come distorted by fatigue over its life, you may be able to file a dodgy fin to stop it scraping the casing, again, its delicate work and very easy to break a fin doing this and if you do you have noise on a different level altogether. If you can get into the heart of the fan you would be better to use thin grease on the spindle, it will last longer and it will absorb any play caused by wear.

j

Would you say it might be easier to put a new fan in, if the old one is just noisy, or is it hard getting newer ones to fit older laptops (and are they expensive)?

I am studing for an exam this week so won't be worried about it till next week. Also, where can I get thermal paste?

thanks for taking the time to answer

Jak

johneire31

Firstly thermal paste is available in any good electronics store like Maplins or you will even get it in PC World. It costs about €10 and the best type is called 'Artic Silver'

The problem with replacing the fan with one from the same vintage is that you may get the same problem with the replacement as the mileage would be similar and being the same make of fan could likely suffer the same faith. Getting parts for older laptops at times can be a challenge and can also be pricey, but you could get lucky so it is worth a try.

Getting a new fan for an older system is problematic also as they often need to be modified to make them work and sometimes the bios software don't agree with them and it can be hard to calibrate them to run right. I don't know if you can order a replacement from acer, perhaps you can but I would imagine it would be very expensive. I good secondhand one would be something like 20-40 euro bought online, do a google of you laptop model.

If you can take the fan out then I would say you would be good enough to do the repairs mentioned above if you take your time. Putting in a replacement involves pretty much the same amount of dismantling of the laptop.

j

jackthelad321

johneire31 wrote: »

Firstly thermal paste is available in any good electronics store like Maplins or you will even get it in PC World. It costs about €10 and the best type is called 'Artic Silver'

The problem with replacing the fan with one from the same vintage is that you may get the same problem with the replacement as the mileage would be similar and being the same make of fan could likely suffer the same faith. Getting parts for older laptops at times can be a challenge and can also be pricey, but you could get lucky so it is worth a try.

Getting a new fan for an older system is problematic also as they often need to be modified to make them work and sometimes the bios software don't agree with them and it can be hard to calibrate them to run right. I don't know if you can order a replacement from acer, perhaps you can but I would imagine it would be very expensive. I good secondhand one would be something like 20-40 euro bought online, do a google of you laptop model.

If you can take the fan out then I would say you would be good enough to do the repairs mentioned above if you take your time. Putting in a replacement involves pretty much the same amount of dismantling of the laptop.

j

Thanks man, I'll certainly give the repair a go first as outlines by you. 20 quid for paste and compressed air I estimate, even reducing the noise 50% would make a big difference. As I am tied up this week it'll be next week before I have a go at it, it's so old that even if I made a mess of the computer I could live with it, but i'll follow your ideas/ instructions and use a few online videos to make sense of the parts and how to take them out etc.

I'll let you know how the repair efforts go.Again thanks for the help

Jak