Question HP Laptop with Possible Fan Concerns

[Elkattio]

I have an HP 15-f387wm that at times sounds like it is about ready to lift off into outer space. This problem started about the middle of December when I walked into work and heard the fan roaring. Brought it home, and in the last week, I've purchased a new battery, upgraded to 16GB of RAM, and replaced the old HDD with a 250GB Kingston SSD. All of the HP bloatware is gone as I performed a fresh install of Windows 10. The computer flies now, but the fan is still persistent in making itself heard.

• When opening the Task Manager the CPU usage starts out at 90% or greater but quickly lowers to 10%-15% within a few seconds.
• I can sometimes when becoming frustrated from the sound of the fan, give the area next to the touchpad a polite, yet firm, tap and the fan noise will stop.
• I also have an unknown device in the Device Manager; No clue what that could be.

Is it dust? Do I need to open this thing back up and clean it out? Do I need to replace the fan? Do I need to upgrade the CPU (AMD A8-7410 APU with AMD Radeon r% Graphics 2.20 GHz)?

 

[Elkattio]

I opened it back up to look at the state of the fan, and now the wifi is not working while the fan runs jet engine mode non-stop...

 

[Elkattio]

Got the wife working. The fan is still in jet engine mode, though. Any thoughts?

 

[robert600]

If it were me, I'd want to know the temp of the laptop. There's lots of programs for this ... personally, I like CoreTemp because you can put the temps right on the task bar and see what's going on while you run other programs. Obviously, if it's running hot ... the fan is supposed to be screaming. If it's not hot, the fan should be reasonably quiet.
And yes, cleaning the cooling system of a laptop is always a good idea. Maybe it's time to re-apply some thermal paste? ... maybe the fan needs replacing ... that depends really on what the temp is when it's doing it's jet engine imitation ... I'd be very surprised if the CPU is the problem (other than maybe needing a fresh coat of thermal paste.
In any case ... I'd stop tapping the laptop (polite or otherwise) ... I don't see any long term good coming from that.
What you could try (you didn't hear this from me) is ... taking a can of compressed air (or use an actual compressor) and blast air into the exhaust port (needless to say ... the laptop is off when you do this) ... I've seen this work but it's not ideal because you're basically blowing any dust accumulation further back into the laptop and it can end up ... well ... anywhere really. I have seeen it work though and a laptop can run much cooler afterward.

 

[Elkattio]

I don't think it is the temperature, because the fan will start up like that the moment I press the power button, but I will install the CoreTemp program, just in case as soon as I get back to work.

 

[scout_03]

post a picture of this device manager also shut off the laptop and unlug power cable and battery then flipp it gently and see if you dont ear anything moving in the case and the cover where you tap is not open or loose .

 

[Elkattio]

After installing CoreTemp, the fan started showing its displeasure at living once it reached 66C.

My Task Manager at the time of liftoff.

 

[robert600]

After installing CoreTemp, the fan started showing its displeasure at living once it reached 66C.

Ok ... that's good news indeed. That's exactly when the fan should go into 'high speed' mode so I'm thinking motherboard, cpu etc. are all fine. The fan is simply too loud in high speed mode (worn bearing or something). New fans are very cheap and quite easy to install.

Having it apart to replace the fan gives you a great opportunity to clean the entire cooling system, reapply thermal paste to CPU, install a new CMOS battery. For < $20 laptop will be back to 'like new'.

 

[Elkattio]

Oh, joy... The fan and CPU on this laptop are on the bottom of the motherboard. The last time I attempted to look at the fan I was unable to remove the motherboard, only lift it up due to the littany of tiny little wires strewn about. it's gotta be done, though. Thanks for you help.

 

[Elkattio]

The new fan is in and everything is up and running. Once pulling the old fan out, it did not pass the flick test, so I went ahead and put the new on in. I'm not a fan of the volume of the buzz coming from it, but it doesn't sound like a jet engine, and since it is not OEM - rather, an Amazon special - I suppose I should be happy and grateful. Thanks for all of you help. The mods can close this thread out.