# PAVILION S3100N overheats



## nork (Dec 28, 2005)

It overheats and shuts down. Very snall case. A friend says he thinks its a bad hard drive. I dont buy that. In fact i have googled that these pc's have that problem but i found no fixes that i havent tried already.
I think i can fix this but i need to hear from people who know more than i do to see if this is doable.
The cpu has a massive heatsink mounted sideways with a fan on it. The fan is very very fast and loud. The air flows from the fan thru the heatsink and out the back. I can use windows settings to have the fan come on and off enuf so that the problem is taken care of but its awful noisy. The fan is the type with 4 pins, there are no molex connectors at all and there are no other sets of pins on the mobo except for the one for the cpu fan. Cant use a different case as everything is proprietary, even the darn main atx connection is very small!

I propose to first find a fan that will fit the cpu but has only 3 pins so that it runs all the time but hopefully a bit slower and quieter. Then i propose, since the mobo only has the one set of pins for a fan, to splice into the wires for the cpu fan and connect a small fan that way. The fan will sit on the back of the case and expel hot air, same as the cpu\hs\fan does.
I believe, if the splicing is allowable, that that would solve my issues of extreme noise and overheating. Can i splice like that? I figure its ok as if there were molex connectors i have seen fans stacked on one line and this is only one extra small fan, fan being about 2 inche wide all around, thats the only size that will fit the space at back of the case.
Sorry this is so long.
Thanks for your help.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Hello nork...

I would hold off on splicing, and attempting to control fanspeed for the time being...

Your issue sounds like overheating for sure, high fan speeds and freezes/shut-downs...

My first suggestion is to clean the dust out of your system. Use canned air that is available at most office supply stores and electronics department stores.


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## nork (Dec 28, 2005)

Sorry, i should have mentioned that i did that. I have an air compressor, cleaned out everything incl the power supply. I did all the standard things except i am going to change the fan, see if that helps. Turns out the fan is a standard 4 pin cpu fan, 7 cm square, so i have another. Wiil update this.
thank you


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## nork (Dec 28, 2005)

I learned something i should have realized. The existing fan is standard 7 cm square. So i took another fan from another hs\fan setup and installed that fan.
This new fan is only 3 pins so it stays on all the time.
There is a difference. The case itself doesnt get hot like with the original noisy fan and the air that is expelled is cool where the air from the original fan was very warm, so things are improving here it seems. But i might only be part of the way home.
A few questions though:
1- is there a prog i can get that will make the machine work a bit so i know all will be well under stress of normal things like playing a minor game, using word processor, internet, file transfer, the normal stuff? If so is it readily available?
2 - I also installed speedfan. Is there anyone who can help me with it a bit so that i can do the learning a bit later, lol? I dont understand the settings and wordings inside speedfan. I do notice in one area that there are plus marks, the v shaped plus marks, but also a down arrow and one fire sign, which i am guessing that speedfan is saying its too hot.
3 - Can anyone answer my question about if i can add that other very small fan by splicing it into the line that services this new fan? I may not need it now in this case but i would sure like to know the answer for future ref. Or point me to an online tutorial that shows all about using wiring to changes voltages and such things? So far i havent been very lucky in my google search for what i want, mainly about the splicing.
.
thank you


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Could you take a few photos of the interior and rear exterior of your case?


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## nork (Dec 28, 2005)

I uploaded a pic, using the attachments feature here but i dont see where it went!


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## nork (Dec 28, 2005)

Got it this time
On the right is the fan, appears to be dirty but its not. Then we have the fan holder (the black part with white tape on top), then the fans from the heatsink, then you see the holes at the back of the case. See the yellow spot , just below that in black is the very small 20 pin atx power connector.

And now this pc is starting to turn itself off when its not even running hot, or doesnt appear to be running hot.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Check to make sure the heatsink is secure to the motherboard and has little to no play.

Did you remove the heatsink to change the fan?

Check the area around the CPU for visibly bad capacitors. Use the link for reference.

bad caps - Google Search


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## nork (Dec 28, 2005)

heatsink is secure, it screws into the mobo and you can only turn the screw until its totally tight, so there is no play at all.
Yes, i removed the heatsink, so i cleaned off old thermal and put arctic silver thermal grease on.
No bad caps that can be seen by the eye.

It just turns off all by itself and now its not even hot when it turns off, everything is cool, southbridge, heatsink on cpu, air being pushed out is cool, and even turns itself off when the side of case is removed.
I am reading about these being bad mobos. Too late for an rma for sure.
I think i have done all that i can do at this point. The bios is dumbed down so no help there not that there would be anyway.
I had speedfan installed and all seemed to be well and then it shut down. I turned it back on and uninstalled speedfan just in case it was causing a problem. But it still turns off,and, again, there doesnt seem to be a heat issue anymore with the new fan i installed on the cpu\hs.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Another thing to consider is the power supply. I couldn't make out from the photo, but it seems that you have the slim version of the PC. Is this correct?

Do you have a multimeter and do you know how to basically use one?


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## Wrekx (Oct 10, 2011)

Speed fan lets you modify voltage. Did you modify any?


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## nork (Dec 28, 2005)

Gavinzack
Sorry, i didnt see your post. Yes, i have one, and i barely know how to use it.
With some coaching i think i can do it.

Wrekx
I tried speed fan, didnt seem to matter, still shut doiwn. but i installed another fan, will try speedfan on that one.

Btw, no bad caps that i can see.
Thinking of trying another cpu as well as i believe i have another of that socket, lower mhz.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Okay, multimeters vary depending on manufacture and model. Do you know how to set your multimeter to read DC voltage?

If so, set it to do so and power up your computer. Take one of the MOLEX connectors (rectangular 4 pin connector). There should be 3 colors... black, red and yellow. Use the common (black) probe to make contact with the black wire and use the red to make contact with the yellow wire. Note the voltage. Next, contact the red probe to the red wire and note the voltage. 

Also, on each wire, keep the probes in contact for a few minutes and note any changes in voltage.

What are the voltage readings on the red and yellow wires.


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## Wrekx (Oct 10, 2011)

I didn't mean to mess with speedfan. I just remember speedfan giving a warning within the program. If you raise voltage you raise heat, so if you didn't mess with speedfan you can rule that out.

I'll leave you to it though.


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## nork (Dec 28, 2005)

Gavinzach, thanks for the info. I dont get notified even though i am set up to be notified of each new post.
I will do as you suggest and get back to you, will take some time.
thanks

Also, i have a power supply tester. Is this any good? Its just a cheap one, paid $10 or so for it.


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