Minibook X N100 Fan Problem

Laptops Minibook X N100/N150/5100
1

Hello,

Recently the fan of my Minibook X (the N100 variant) developed an issue. It is still sort of working but it makes a weird noise while spinning (somewhat mechanical) and sometimes it stops completely making a quite loud noise, then restarts, then stops again making again the loud noise etc. Despite my attempts to fix it (took the fan apart, sprayed it with WD40 contact cleaner, checked if something is loose and comes in contact with something it shouldn’t and creates friction etc) I haven’t been able to pinpoint what causes the issue.

I found the fan model available for purchase in eBay so I will go ahead and order it but it takes some time for delivery. So the question is, as the previous Minibook X model had a processor (N5100) with the same TDP as the N100 (6 Watts) and it was fanless, would it be too bad an idea to completely remove the fan and run it solely on passive cooling while waiting for the new fan to arrive?

2

I have the exact same problem with a Freebook with I3-1215 processor - I can stop the noise by tapping on the latop case in the area where fan is located ( this may take several taps to stop the noise). Tried WD40 to fix this problem but diidn’t work.Like the OP, I have ordered a replacement fan from Aliexpress and am still waiting for it to be delivered. I’ll post the results of fan noise issue when it is received and installed…

3

Hello,

I think both laptops use the same fan model (snowfan yy6004h05s). Would you be kind enough -if that indeed is the case and it works properly for you- to let me know which one you bought? There seem to be 2 different listings for it in AliExpress.

4

Just in case it is useful as information to anyone. The fan eventually started making such a noise while spinning that it became unbearable so I went ahead and completely removed it. Two positive findings:

  1. The laptop boots normally even without the fan (some laptops when they sense the fan as not present or even present but faulty, they refuse to even boot)
  2. The temperatures are well under control even without the fan and this at a room temperature of about 26 degrees celsius. Using the laptop for media consumption, the CPU temp never exceeded 75 degrees celsius and the SSD temp never exceeded 53 degrees celsisus. Just as a stress test I played World of Warcraft for about 1 hour on it and the temps went up to 86 and 60 degrees celsius respectively, which are still ok.

So it is good to know that if in like 2 years time from now the fan fails again and at that point there aren’t any replacement parts available anymore, the laptop doesn’t automatically become e-waste.

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