# dell laptop fan problems



## akshayag (Sep 2, 2005)

this is my second post, and i really got great feedback on my first one, thanks. i have a 2650 dell inspiron and when i start it the fan works only for 3-4 seconds and then stops and doesn't work at all after that. my laptop heats up in 20-30 minutes after that because of the fan not running. i know that it works becuse it does during first few seconds bur then stops. i also checked my BIOS but it doesn't have any thing on the fan. also my battery is i think giving up since my laptop is 3 yr old, so what is the best place to buy a cheap battery. thanks


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## tinyhu (Sep 7, 2005)

as far as battery replacement, might be best to check online for a battery reseller, or even eBay might work too. Shouldn't cost too much, $100 or less I would think.

Regarding the fan, kinda sounds like the system isn't sending a signal to the fan to run after those first few seconds. If it was siezed up, it wouldn't run at all. There might be a BIOS issue, or a motherboard problem there. Check Dell's website and see if they have a BIOS flash/updater utility and try that. If the BIOS is at fault here, then flashing it and updating it might just fix the problem. If that doesn't work, then I would start looking at a possibly motherboard issue, though exactly what might cause that I'm honestly not really sure. Communication problem somewhere would be my guess.

It may just be a bad fan too, that could be. Doesn't sound like it to me since it does run initially for the few seconds.


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## crazijoe (Oct 19, 2004)

Hello,
I have a couple of Dell laptops. A Latitude C840 and an Inspiron 5100, The both do the same as yours. The BIOS will force the fan(s) on at startup to check it. After that, the fan(s) will not spin unless it is needed. When the processor does heatup, the fan(s) will spin slow or fast depending on the heat that the CPU generates and this depends on the workload that the CPU is experiencing. After the CPU has cooled down, the fan will either slow down or stop. This is designed this way to conserve battery power.

Hope this helps.


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

On my old ThinkPad the fan would stop after Win2K loaded. Up until that point it was running full throttle. Luckily it never overheated or or anything.


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## shadow121 (Aug 18, 2005)

akshayag said:


> this is my second post, and i really got great feedback on my first one, thanks. i have a 2650 dell inspiron and when i start it the fan works only for 3-4 seconds and then stops and doesn't work at all after that. my laptop heats up in 20-30 minutes after that because of the fan not running. i know that it works becuse it does during first few seconds bur then stops. i also checked my BIOS but it doesn't have any thing on the fan. also my battery is i think giving up since my laptop is 3 yr old, so what is the best place to buy a cheap battery. thanks


Try to flash the bios, use the link below
http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/R75299.exe

Link below is a patch for the cpu:Microsoft SpeedStep fix for WinXP addresses the following Microsoft issue (Q330512): The Processor Performance State Is Not Restored to the Maximum State If the CPU Runs at 100 Percent. 
http://ftp.us.dell.com/fixes/R58935.EXE


Run a diagnostics on the fan. if all else fails

You may have onboard diagnostics to find out if you have , turn of laptop>press powerbutton>tapf12every sec> choose the diagnostic option >custom test for the fan.
If the fan fails it is a straight foward replacement fan
if you don't have onboard diags then use the link below to get the diags program
http://ftp.us.dell.com/diags/CZ110200.exe


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## slap (Mar 8, 2008)

I had the same symptoms (fan starts for a couple of seconds at boot then stops and then the Dell 2650 Inspiron notebook overheats 20 minutes later). 
I installed Speedfan 4.33 (http://www.almico.com)on WinXP, enabled the Dell option, and set it to start when logged in. Now the fan works and the notebook stays on.


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## mohaammeds (Mar 8, 2008)

ok dont get confused ran a dell diags on the system boot the system with the resource cd and boot to 32 bit diags and select the extended test it will test your system fans and let you know if there is any problem with it if you get any error code or msg then give a call to dell and tell them about it. it will be taken care if your notebook is in warranty.


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