Loud Fan Won't Turn Off

**Kiko** · 04-06-2012, 07:21 PM

I have an HP Desktop 530J and am running Windows XP SP3.

There are three cooling fans, and the loud one only used to go on for a few seconds or minutes when the room got hot or when I was using excessive CPU. Now the loud one goes on as soon as the computer boots up and NEVER goes off. It is really annoying.

I took off the cover and vacuumed all the dust inside and I even took a couple of the fans apart to clean the insides, but the problem persists.

Is there some kind of temp. sensor that could have burned out or is malfunctioning?
Is there a software command I can use to turn the loud fan off?

Edit: Now there is a new symptom. The computer spontaneously turns itself off with no warning. Is that what it does when it thinks it is overheating?

TIA

**patrick88** · 04-06-2012, 08:32 PM

Might want to check the cpu fan and heatsink. It sounds like your cpu is over heating.
If it keeps doing this. you will be replacing your cpu.

**Kiko** · 04-06-2012, 09:23 PM

It does seem like the rear of the processor is getting quite hot.
I don't know what a heat sink is. Do you think the CPU fan has stopped working?

**patrick88** · 04-06-2012, 09:50 PM

Open the tower n to see if the fans are all on.
The heatsink is the round or square thng that has a fan sitting on it. If it's full of dust your cpu will over heat. your mother board is telling you something is over heating. You need to solve this problem soon. If not your spending money. New cpu or new computer.

**LLigetfa** · 04-07-2012, 05:49 AM

Chances are it is a PWM fan and the high speed could be one of two things. Either the fan is out of control or there is a call for more cooling. If the pulse wire is open, the fan may run at full speed. I frequently replace those fans but usually because they stop turning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_control

You might be able to monitor temp and RPM with SpeedFan. I have used it with several laptops before.

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

You might also check for a BIOS update from HP. Also, check out HP's support forum.

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/support-drivers.html

**Kiko** · 04-11-2012, 02:13 PM

Okay, I've had to borrow another tower to get back on line.

It was the CPU fan that was running on high speed all the time, and after an hour, the computer would power down.
The problem got much worse, once I took out the CPU fan and heat sink, cleaned them and put them back.
Now it runs on high speed for only a few minutes before the computer powers down.

The case is open when I'm testing this, so I don't know why the board should be overheating. Is there some kind of heat sensor that could be failing? Or is there something in the CPU board that is overheating, even though I don't detect any heat?

**Gary Swart** · 04-18-2012, 12:00 AM

I suggest you keep tinker with this until the CPU fries. Whatever you do, don't take it to a repair shop. They'd want to put test instrument on things and diagnose the problem.

**BobL43** · 04-18-2012, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by Kiko

Okay, I've had to borrow another tower to get back on line.

It was the CPU fan that was running on high speed all the time, and after an hour, the computer would power down.
The problem got much worse, once I took out the CPU fan and heat sink, cleaned them and put them back.
Now it runs on high speed for only a few minutes before the computer powers down.

The case is open when I'm testing this, so I don't know why the board should be overheating. Is there some kind of heat sensor that could be failing? Or is there something in the CPU board that is overheating, even though I don't detect any heat?

When you removed the heatsink and fan unit and cleaned them up, you ABSOLUTELY needed to (is that clear enough?), apply a heat transfer paste as per the instructions supplied with it. I have always used Arctic Silver when I build my Desktop PC's see: http://www.amazon.com/Arctic-Silver-.../dp/B0002VFXFE The CPU and or its socket has a sensor to detect the overheating and shut the CPU down to protect it, so that part works. If you do not want to destroy your PC, then buy and apply this paste, and then get back to the fan issue. Is the noise just it running at high speed, or does it squeal and strain like it is constipated?

**patrick88** · 04-19-2012, 04:06 PM

i guess I should have said. Don't remove heat sink n fan.
Thank you bob for pointing that out.
At this point i would take back up computer n make it your prime pc.
I have a laptop that a friend of mine gave me. It was over heating. I removed windows n it runs fine now.

I am not saying do this

**Kiko** · 04-21-2012, 03:11 PM

Problem solved.

I took out the fan and heatsink assembly one more time, and this time I noticed a small crack in the plastic heatsink mount, which caused the copper disc on the bottom of the heatsink to pull away from the CPU board. Apparently, it was still making small contact before I had removed the heatsink. But once I removed and reinstalled it, there was no contact, which is why it powered off so quickly.

I bought an all metal replacement heatsink/fan, so this problem should not happen again.

BTW, Gary, the repair shops wanted from $100 -$300 to diagnose the problem and much more for parts. I'm sure they would have also tried to sell me an unneeded CPU board as well.

By "tinkering" with it myself, it only cost me $25, and I also gained a lot of knowledge.

Thanks to all who responded.

**BobL43** · 04-21-2012, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by Kiko

Problem solved.

I took out the fan and heatsink assembly one more time, and this time I noticed a small crack in the plastic heatsink mount, which caused the copper disc on the bottom of the heatsink to pull away from the CPU board. Apparently, it was still making small contact before I had removed the heatsink. But once I removed and reinstalled it, there was no contact, which is why it powered off so quickly.

I bought an all metal replacement heatsink/fan, so this problem should not happen again.

BTW, Gary, the repair shops wanted from $100 -$300 to diagnose the problem and much more for parts. I'm sure they would have also tried to sell me an unneeded CPU board as well.

By "tinkering" with it myself, it only cost me $25, and I also gained a lot of knowledge.

Thanks to all who responded.

Good news and success is always good to hear. congrats! you did use the heat sink paste this time though, right?

**DonL** · 04-22-2012, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by BobL43

Good news and success is always good to hear. congrats! you did use the heat sink paste this time though, right?

A lot of the new CPU Heatsinks do not use the Monkey Poo heat sink paste, they now have a Silicone Heatsink Pad.

Not sure what is best, they both seem to work good.

**BobL43** · 04-22-2012, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by DonL

A lot of the new CPU Heatsinks do not use the Monkey Poo heat sink paste, they now have a Silicone Heatsink Pad.

Not sure what is best, they both seem to work good.

Last PC I built was over 3 years ago, and I haven't heard of the silicone pad thing. I'm going to look into that.

OK, only thing I found was various types of paste and phase change compounds, but for silicone pad, I found this rather unrelated place, but it does have something to do with heat for sure. http://www.lovemybubbles.com/?ref=cj

**DonL** · 04-22-2012, 09:15 AM

Originally Posted by BobL43

Last PC I built was over 3 years ago, and I haven't heard of the silicone pad thing. I'm going to look into that.

OK, only thing I found was various types of paste and phase change compounds, but for silicone pad, I found this rather unrelated place, but it does have something to do with heat for sure. http://www.lovemybubbles.com/?ref=cj

Wow, I like it...

**DonL** · 04-22-2012, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by BobL43

Last PC I built was over 3 years ago, and I haven't heard of the silicone pad thing. I'm going to look into that.

OK, only thing I found was various types of paste and phase change compounds, but for silicone pad, I found this rather unrelated place, but it does have something to do with heat for sure. http://www.lovemybubbles.com/?ref=cj

You know why they call it Silicon Rubber ?

Because they have Silicon, and You need a Rubber.

My Bad.