CPU Fan Question - general electronic question

[bfrikken]

A friend of mine has some problems as follows, (Can anyone help with his question):

His laptop fan broke (a blade broke when the laptop was dropped). He wants to try replacing the fan, cause everything starts up fine and then overheats and shutsdown. Before chalking up certain issues as impossible to fix, he wants to try with jsut the CPU FAN.

Here's the problem/question:
Quoting him:

I plug the part number into google and come back with a few places that carry it...for $69!
the company doesn't make them anymore
well, I figured if I could just find a fan with the same dimensions then I could probably get it to work
turns out it is a 60mmX60mmX10mm CPU fan (not an uncommon size)
but, the power requirements are quite odd on this one and I can't find any that match, do you think it matters much?

I need a 5V 1.4W 2-wire, the others are 12V 2W 3-wire
the third wire is just for sensing RPM's which I could just clip and would probably be fine
I can't find anything anywhere with those requirements, but newegg has ones that meet the dimensions for $4
my only concern now is the power consumption, though

since these are desktop fans, they're configured to plug straight into the mobo which most have standard power of 12V
but I don't think the laptop can power that
would the fan just be underpowered then and not rotate very fast or at all?
or rather, the wattage is the power consumption and is the amount it will draw, the voltage I think may just limit the rpm's
but most pull over 2 watts, the original only pulled 1.4, so I wonder if anything higher can be powered

[LCHIEN]

A friend of mine has some problems as follows, (Can anyone help with his question):

His laptop fan broke (a blade broke when the laptop was dropped). He wants to try replacing the fan, cause everything starts up fine and then overheats and shutsdown. Before chalking up certain issues as impossible to fix, he wants to try with jsut the CPU FAN.

Here's the problem/question:
Quoting him:

I plug the part number into google and come back with a few places that carry it...for $69!
the company doesn't make them anymore
well, I figured if I could just find a fan with the same dimensions then I could probably get it to work
turns out it is a 60mmX60mmX10mm CPU fan (not an uncommon size)
but, the power requirements are quite odd on this one and I can't find any that match, do you think it matters much?

I need a 5V 1.4W 2-wire, the others are 12V 2W 3-wire
the third wire is just for sensing RPM's which I could just clip and would probably be fine
I can't find anything anywhere with those requirements, but newegg has ones that meet the dimensions for $4
my only concern now is the power consumption, though

since these are desktop fans, they're configured to plug straight into the mobo which most have standard power of 12V
but I don't think the laptop can power that
would the fan just be underpowered then and not rotate very fast or at all?
or rather, the wattage is the power consumption and is the amount it will draw, the voltage I think may just limit the rpm's
but most pull over 2 watts, the original only pulled 1.4, so I wonder if anything higher can be powered

the fans come in standard sizes, physically.
Most all are 12V. I would assume the laptop fan runs off 12V, I would check the label on the original fan, it usually states the voltage as well as the power. Or you can get the voltage from the manufacturer's data sheet (usually on the internet), assuming you can find his name and part number on the original fan.
the blade pitch varies and hence the air flow and then relatedly the power consumption is also related. Obviously, more pitch = more airflow = more watts = more amps. The manufacturer chooses a airflow that will cool the components adequately. Additional tradeoffs are the noise and battery life effect.

Probably you will be OK matching the power consumption, you'll get near the same airflow and cooling and similar battery life.

If you sub a smaller power one it will run hotter, may stop running and hotter always = shorter CPU and component life.

If you go for more power, you will run cooler, be noiser, and your battery life will be reduced some. if you're talking .6W difference, then what additional load is this on the battery? Well, I'm going totally off the top of my head, most laptop batteries are 10V, lets guess 3Ah so you get roughly 30 watt-hours. If the laptop runs for 2 hours then it draws 15 watts. So .6 extra watts to the fan is a extra .6/15 or around 4% extra load. That would translate into roughly 4-5% reduction in battery time.
Maybe as much as 10% taking into account efficiency and other things.
At some point the power supply which upcoverts from the battery will run out of power but I would guess .6 extra watts is OK (50 mA at 12V)

He's right about the two-wire vs 3-wire thingey, just cut off the RPM wire.

[DUD]

One other option is to take a fan blade off new or used motor and slide it on the shaft of the old motor. I have changed the blades on desktop PC's, I imagine it could be done on a laptop. Bill

[25]

If the fan is rated for 12v it will probbably run off of a lower voltage. It just won't turn as fast. Try it and see. Most laptop fans I have seen have more than 4 blades on the fan, if your friend feels really adventurous, have him cut off a blade from the oppisite side and try to balance the blade out.

[scorrpio]

http://eagepc.com/product_details.ph...id=116&id=4490

60x50x10, 3600rpm, 5V. $4.83 Looks like what you need...

[bfrikken]

http://eagepc.com/product_details.ph...id=116&id=4490

60x50x10, 3600rpm, 5V. $4.83 Looks like what you need...

Passed this on to him. I believe this is what he wanted! Thanks!

[LCHIEN]

Passed this on to him. I believe this is what he wanted! Thanks!

if the orig fan was 1.4W, this one will only be .75 watts, half the power (and probably therefore move half the air.)
Gonna overheat even if it turns at the designed speed.

You'd better find out what the original fan voltage was.

[scorrpio]

For $5, worth a try. The air flow difference might be small enough to keep system from overheating. The 1.5W fans seem to be pulling 20-23CFM compared to 15 on this one. And 15CFM is a lot better than 0.

[cgallery]

Can't an exact match be found on eBay?

[bfrikken]

He's found exact matches.... for 65+ dollars. The part has not been produced for a few years. It's an ECS Laptop that allowed him to use some desktop components. Kind of a build your own deal.

[cgallery]

He's found exact matches.... for 65+ dollars. The part has not been produced for a few years. It's an ECS Laptop that allowed him to use some desktop components. Kind of a build your own deal.

I realize that. If you search eBay for "ECS LAPTOP FAN" and search within the description, you start finding units that are around $30. Only a few, but worthwhile to check anyhow.

I routinely use eBay to find parts to fix machines (including laptops) that haven't been manufactured in years.

Also, ECS laptops were resold by quite a few different resellers, under their own names. So you have to be smart in how you search. Sellers may not use the fan P/N or ECS in their description. You may have to find the names of other vendors that plastered their trademark on the outside.

[radhak]

Personally, I'd look at the cost of the laptop, the value to me of it running continuously, and long-term impact of overheating on other parts of the laptop and the hassle of the buy-try-replace cycle, and then think '$65 is not too bad'.

Not to forget that if the part is no longer in production, it might as well go out of the market by the time he is ready to throw the towel and go for it.

[bfrikken]

I realize that. If you search eBay for "ECS LAPTOP FAN" and search within the description, you start finding units that are around $30. Only a few, but worthwhile to check anyhow.

I routinely use eBay to find parts to fix machines (including laptops) that haven't been manufactured in years.

Also, ECS laptops were resold by quite a few different resellers, under their own names. So you have to be smart in how you search. Sellers may not use the fan P/N or ECS in their description. You may have to find the names of other vendors that plastered their trademark on the outside.

30 bucks is still quite a bit more then the 11 i think he paid for the other. I'm quite sure he's not looking to put anymore into it at all.

[bfrikken]

Personally, I'd look at the cost of the laptop, the value to me of it running continuously, and long-term impact of overheating on other parts of the laptop and the hassle of the buy-try-replace cycle, and then think '$65 is not too bad'.

Not to forget that if the part is no longer in production, it might as well go out of the market by the time he is ready to throw the towel and go for it.

Well, if you read my first post. I quoted from him that 69 bucks was too high.

He's very experienced with PC assembly and repair. Inexpensive solution is where he is at. He could spend 400 bucks for an all new laptop too.