Laptops, as computers, generate heat while working and one of the ways to control and regulate their temperature is through the use of small fans. These fans expel warm air generated by laptop processors or other components and also draw cooler air inside. Since laptop fans control the operating temperature and directly influence the performance of the processor, it is necessary to replace or repair a broken fan immediately. A broken fan can cause a laptop to freeze or shut down and can even lead to more serious damage.Turn off your laptop before starting the repair process of the fan.Access your laptop fan by removing the cover that protects it. Use a small Phillips screwdriver to remove the screws that hold the cover and then lift the cover off, revealing the fan inside.Inspect the look and the condition of the broken fan. If the damage is too severe, it might be best to replace the whole fan and not just the broken blades.Clean the inside of the fan and around it as well, using a can of compressed air.

Notice how lint, dirt and dust accumulate around the fan and other inside components. Remove all dust and lint with canned air, making sure there is no residue near the fan.best way to clean buildup on wood floorsUse a small Phillips screwdriver to remove the case cover of the fan. best leather cleaner for tan seatsSet the cover of the fan aside for later, along with its mounting screws.upright vacuum cleaners best priceRemove the old fan blade by gently lifting it from the axis. Look at the bottom of the fan case to see if there are smaller parts of the blade inside; remove them if you find them.Place the new replacement fan blade onto the axis, making sure it fits snugly into the fan case.

Note that it is ideal to buy the same brand of a replacement fan blade, as it is the most compatible option.Re-install the case cover of the fan by tightening the screws with a Phillips head screwdriver. Reinstall the laptop fan cover as well, making sure to put everything on the same place as before.Run your laptop fan by turning on the laptop to see and hear how it works.Keep you laptop's vents unobstructed. Pixland/Pixland/Getty Images Laptop fans expel air and make a soft to moderate audible sound under normal use. If your laptop's fan is silent, the air near the vents is calm and the laptop is very hot, it's likely that the fan is not working. Laptop cooling fans play a crucial role in laptop longevity and functionality, and an overheated system doesn't work well, if it works at all. Make sure to replace a broken fan immediately to prevent hardware failure. Listen for Noise A properly functioning laptop fan sounds like a soft propeller fan; however, the fan may not be audible when you first turn the computer on, because it is running at its slowest possible speed.

To provide more airflow and cool the system, the fan speeds up as you continue to use your laptop -- it will likely switch to a faster, louder mode after about five minutes, when your laptop reaches its operating temperature. The best-cooled laptops may have incredibly quiet fans that are only audible in silent rooms by careful listeners. Note that your fan may be broken or obstructed if it makes irregular pulsating or loud screeching noises. Feel for Air Even if you can't hear the fan working, you should be able to feel the air coming out of the vents. The airflow may be very light when you first turn the computer on, but it picks up once the system reaches its normal operating temperature, at which point the laptop fan should start expelling air from the main exhaust vent, usually located on one of the laptop's sides. Put your hand, palm-facing the system, about half an inch away from the vent and feel for airflow. If the laptop is silent and there's no airflow, the fan maybe broken.

If you can hear the fan working hard, but only feel gentle airflow from the vents, the fan may be obstructed, in which case clear the vents with a compressed air blast. Watch for Errors If the computer regularly restarts without warning, slows down to a halt in normal use or gives you the dreaded BSoD, or Blue Screen of Death, there may be a problem with the fan. The fan itself is attached to a heatsink as part of the cooling unit, so even if the fan is blowing air, there can be a problem with another part of the unit. Your system may overheat if the cooling unit comes loose or the thermal compound that bridges the CPU and the cooling unit wears out. Check the Temperature Even if the fan is expelling some air from the vents, it may still have a hardware problem, such as a motor issue, that prevents it from cooling your computer sufficiently. Some laptops display a temperature reading when you turn them on, but if yours doesn't, use a hardware monitor program to check the CPU's temperature (see Resources).

If the program registers a constant temperature of over 160 degrees Fahrenheit when your laptop is doing absolutely nothing, the fan may be broken. References Computer Hope Issues: The Fan in My Laptop Computer Speeds Up and Gets LouderPCWorld: How to Clean Your Laptop's Cooling FansHP Consumer Support: Reducing Heat Inside the PC to Prevent OverheatingPCWorld: Fix a Noisy, Overheated Laptop Photo Credits Pixland/Pixland/Getty Images Suggest an Article Correction A laptop’s internal fan is a part of its cooling system that keep its CPU and GPU cool and protects it from overheating. A laptop’s internal cooling fan draws air from the air vents located on the bottom of the machine and throws out hot air from either side left or right. The fan may be located either on the left or right side of your machine. In this tutorial, I will teach you how to fix the laptop fan if it doesn’t spin on startup. If the fan stops rotating then the cooling system of your laptop shuts down, thereby increasing the CPU and motherboard temperature.

If this problem is left unnoticed then this can damage the internal components of the laptop due to overheating. So I will tell you some possible cases in which the laptop fan doesn’t work, also I will tell the solutions of these cases. Possible Cases Of Laptop Fan Not Working Or Spinning You should place your laptop on a firm level. Do not use it on your lap. A flat surface is highly recommended. In most cases a laptop fan will not work after you boot up the laptop. There is no reason why the fan stops suddenly after a boot up. In this case you should shut down the laptop and then start it again after 2-3 minutes. The fan will start working. 2. Heavy Dust Accumulation Overtime the fan accumulates dust on its blades that reduces its efficiency to cool down the machine, the fan gets clogged due to dust. This might be a possible case in which the laptop’s fan stop spinning. You should clean the fan by disassembling the laptop and cleaning the fan blades to remove dust.

You can take the help of any hardware engineer who is qualified at this job. The Fan should be thoroughly cleaned once in every 3 years and if it needs replacement then you should replace it with a new one. 3. Blowing Compressed Air Into Fan: We can blow compressed air in laptop fan through its vent to remove dust. But compressed air can sometimes become a case in which the fan gets stuck. Actually the high pressure applied by the compressed air on the fan can leave it in a stuck state. Blow air from your mouth several times in the fan’s air vents located on left or right. After doing this several times, the fan will start working. High pressurised compressed air should not be used in the air vents. Sometimes it happens when fan is in working condition but fails to operate due to minor motherboard faults like blown capacitors (bad capacitor). These capacitors provide the necessary power to fan to operate. The bad capacitor can be identified by visually inspecting it, the top of the bad capacitor always bulge outwards, therefore, indicating that it is open.

Re-solder new capacitors on the motherboard. Only use capacitors with the same voltage, temperature and power ratings. When the laptop’s battery percentage reaches less than 20% then the internal fan will automatically stop due to low power and you won’t even get notified. This problem is rare but when it happens it can damage the motherboard and CPU due to overheating because the cooling system is stopped temporarily due to very low charge left in the battery. I have encountered this problem on my ASUS notebook and DELL Inspiron laptop. My ASUS laptop was low on battery and percentage reached to less than 20% and ultimately it reached 9%. The internal laptop fan turned off automatically and I was not aware that the fan is not spinning. After one hour I realized that the laptop is overheating because I started feeling the heat on my fingers and palm. The touchpad was very hot. I checked the temperature with Speccy and found that the CPU temperature was 60 degrees as the fan was stopped.

If this problem happens with you then immediately turn off the system. Remove the battery and re-install it. Plug in the charger into your laptop and switch it on. If you have a laptop cooler then immediately place the laptop on it, if you don’t have one then build yourself at home see here. Now start the laptop, this step is necessary because the fan will start removing the heat. Fully charge the battery and in future make sure to always plug in the charger when the battery level reaches 30%. Sometimes the laptop fan stops spinning. It may happen due to electric current fluctuations. This doesn't mean that the fan has failed completely. A quick reboot will fix the problem. Whenever the fan stops spinning your notebook's internal temperature may rise up to 65 degrees and the bottom of the notebook will heat up. If you notice this then immediately shut it down and start it again to remove the excess heat. When you start the notebook you will feel very hot air coming out from the fan with a burning smell.

Always restart your portable computer if you come across this and never switch it off otherwise the heat will damage the motherboard parts. You can use Speccy a hardware monitor application for Microsoft Windows. It tells the temperature of laptop’s hardware according to its usage. Today most laptops have Intel Core processors including i3, i5 and i7. So the idle temperature of these CPUs is 40 degrees. So if Speccy shows 40 degrees then this means the fan is working properly. Other processors like Intel Core 2 Duo has an idle temperature range of 28-40 degrees. Another way is that put your ear close to the air vent located either on left or right side. You will listen an air blowing sound and feel air coming out of the vent. If you neither feel any air and nor hear any blowing sound then don’t worry because the laptop fan runs at different speeds. At lowest speed your ears cannot detect its working. Run a game that can increase the CPU usage. When the game starts the fan will start to rotate at high speed and blow out hot air which can be even felt with hands.

If the laptop fan is not spinning then the laptop's bottom (or where the CPU is situated) will become hot, this can be easily felt by touching the laptop's body. Real-Time Laptop CPU Temperature Monitoring The laptop fan may stop working anytime due to electric current fluctuations like whenever your laptop's battery is very low or depleted and you connect the charger. Monitoring the laptop cpu temperature in Windows system tray will help you keep track of the temperature. Basically the normal temperature does not go above 50 degrees. If the temperature is unexpectedly high at normal usage then the fan may have stopped working. You can use speccy to monitor it in real-time. In 'General' tab select 'Metric' in 'Temperature'. Click the 'System Tray' tab. Check all options here. In 'Output' select 'CPU'. In 'Sensor' select 'CPU 0-Average Temperature'. Refresh Every '1' sec. Click 'OK' and minimize it. The temperature will be visible in 'System Tray'.