My laptop fan spins the wrong way!

[excesslint]

I recently noticed that the fan in my replacement laptop does not blow air out like it's supposed to. So, I opened it up and confirmed that it's spinning the wrong way (because the blades are curved and it's not just upside down). It's not under warranty anymore so I'm wondering what to do. It's been running hotter and louder lately and I'd really like to fix it.

 

[hodsocks]

Most laptops seem to drag air in from underneath and blow warm air out the side, if the laptop is getting hot it is often because the heatsink that the fan is blowing air through gets clogged up with dust and fluff blocking the air flow. If you can easily get at the fan you can clean it out easily, if its not readily accessible I use a can of dust buster to blow out the crud.

 

[excesslint]

It's sucking air through the vent, confirmed both by sticking a piece of paper in front and seeing it sucked to the vent and also, as I said, I opened it up and see it spinning the wrong way and feel it blowing air up, which is to say blowing air into the laptop itself (and inefficiently so since it's spinning the wrong way in relation to the blade shape). I can send you a picture if needed.

 

[jwk3]

All laptops that I've seen suck air into the laptop, so if you have it flat on a desk the air is going upwards, and exhausted out the side of the laptop. the big vent on the underside should be sucking and the smaller, side vent should be exhausting (and is where the heat should be felt)

 

[excesslint]

Why do people feel the need to state the obvious? Are there really people out there so stupid that they find your solutions helpful? Look, as I stated, it's spinning the wrong way per the design of the fan and I'd like to know if I can rewire it, which end to rewire, or do I need to replace it, etc. If you don't have an answer to the issue of it spinning the wrong way, please just don't say anything.

 

[Mark_F]

How many wires are on it? If 2, check the tiny plug is on the header the right way around, or if you can rotate it 180 degrees (i'm not sure if they have catches like desktops).

 

[amuffin]

Take a picture of how it used to be and how it is now.

 

[excesslint]

How many wires are on it? If 2, check the tiny plug is on the header the right way around, or if you can rotate it 180 degrees (i'm not sure if they have catches like desktops).

There are 4 wires. From what I've gathered, in order, first is yellow (+), then black (ground), then blue and red which are for speed control and sensing. Please let me know if I'm wrong. The four come together in a catch (I guess that's what it's called?) but even it was only 2 wires it's only designed to snap in the one way so I can't just flip it 180 deg. It seems like it will be a hassle to take the fan off because the heat sinks are attached to the fan and those look like they might be glued on (or whatever the term is for thermal compound) to their respective chips.

wires:

heat sinks attached to weird fan enclosure:

close-up on fan blades (right now it spins clockwise):

 

[thundervore]

Going by your pictures your fan is suppose to spin counter clockwise, if it is spinning clockwise then it is spinning the wrong way.

If this was a laptop that was last serviced by a third party, and they replaced the laptop with a different model or replaced any components causing them to remove and reassemble your heatsink then i would make them fix their mistake because it is an obvious mistake that you should not be accountable for.

If not, then you are going to have to remove the heatsink, and flip the blower around, if the heatpipes are welded onto the blower then you have to open up the blower and flip the fan around.

Good luck!

 

[Mark_F]

There are 4 wires. From what I've gathered, in order, first is yellow (+), then black (ground), then blue and red which are for speed control and sensing. Please let me know if I'm wrong.

Usually pin 1 (yellow on this one) is GND
Pin 2 (black on this one) is +12v

I've googled the part number and from your pictures, i see no difference with pictures on parts websites re the colours to the pins, so i don't want to suggest swapping the yellow and black unless you can properly test either the 2 pins with a multimeter or the fan plugged in to a seperate supply first (try connecting yellow and black to the 2 terminals of a 9v battery if you can, and see which way it spins relative to which wire is on which terminal).

Or if you can't/don't want to do that, as said above report to where the replacement came from and see what they say.

 

[fatir930]

lmao im replying after 8 years. so my solution is that you can open the smallest srew and flip the fan/motor 180 degree.