Dell Inspiron N5110 CPU Fan doesn't work

Question

Hi everyone,

I've a problem with a DELL Inspiron N5110.

When I turn on the laptop, the fan is working for 15 seconds then it turns off by itself.. but the Windows boots properly and the other components work fine.

I know that I can't use my laptop if the CPU fan doesn't work because it will overheat the cpu and the motherboard so..

Could you please give me an opinion ?

Thank you

ejn63 · Accepted Answer

The fan will spin at powerup self test time, and then won't come on (or run at full speed) until a temperature setpoint is reached.

Depending on who replaced the mainboard, verify that the thermal pads were replaced when the heatsink was removed from the system. If that part was not replaced, the system will run very warm.

ejn63 · Answer

Run the Dell diagnostics on the system - it will test the fan. If the fan passes the test (F12 at powerup to get to the diagnostics), but doesn't operate correctly under Windows, you may have a driver issue - have you reloaded the OS at any point? If you did, did you install all the required chipset drivers?

If the fan fails, you'll need to replace the heatsink-fan assembly (not a trivial exercise on this model, as the mainboard has to come out of the system).

If the fan seems to spin freely and it's not a driver issue, the other possibility is a bad thermistor (temperature sensor) -- that will require a replacement of the system board.

DELL-Rishi · Answer

Hi M_MARIAN,

Also, update the BIOS, if possible - http://dell.to/1JZP8qH - and then run the onboard diagnostics - Restart the system and press f12 key on startup - choose diagnostics. Let it run the diags and if you encounter any errors - make a note of the complete error and report the same to us.

Most cases, BIOS updates tend to fix these issues.

If the system is under warranty, Please click my DELL-username and write me a private conversation with the service tag and your contact details(Name and Email). If there is no warranty, then you could contact our team to get a quote for a paid service call - http://dell.to/1vnT6CQ

Let us know if you have any other queries.

m_marian · Answer

Thank you for your response, the motherboard I've recently replaced it. Until then, the laptop didn't turn on at all. Now that i've changed the motherboard it loads the Windows 7 verry smooth. (ram, cpu hdd etc work really fine)

I did some research on the internet and some people say that it is normal and the fan will start at a high temperature but.. I don't know I don't believe it. Why does the fansink spin at the beginning when i turn on the laptop and just after a few seconds just shuts off. The fan must go on all the time isn't it ?

However I will run the diagnostics and I hope it is just the fansink that causes problems.. the motherboard I hope that has no issue.

m_marian · Answer

I did it all by myself, installed the new mainboard, changed thermal pads etc..

I ran the diags, NO ERRORS ! And reinstalled new Windows 7 with all the drivers.

And... guess what, the fan starts when it reaches a high temperature.. thank u all !

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Dell Inspiron N5110 CPU Fan doesn't work

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