The fan on my IdeaPad S10 netbook has been unusually / annoyingly loud with grinding noises. It's much louder than the typically loud fan on laptops.
Thanks, Mark_Lenovo at the posts
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=IdeaPad_Netbook&message.id=2148#M2148
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=IdeaPad_Netbook&message.id=2482#M2482
http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/message?board.id=IdeaPad_Netbook&message.id=2490#M2490
and berenpx at http://www.s10lenovo.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1397#p10964, for insisting that Fan Blade Interference with the Housing can really be an issue.
Too bad receiving in-warranty services from the contracted / outsourced local Lenovo service center is too complicated, ineffective, and consumes too much of my time. So I finally chose the DIY approach instead. I just cannot tolerate the annoyance from the fan anymore. Local service center said they don't have a replacement fan in stock. I would have to wait for a "few weeks" for them to order from abroad (perhaps, Singapore) and would need to call back and check if they have ones in stock or have used up already. I can also queue up by leaving my only computer (yes, this S10) with them during this wait period.
I opened the S10 last night with the help of the Hardware Maintenance Manual and did the following:
Fan Upgrade
- Disassembled the fan,
- Cleaned it with WD40-like oil,
- Fully filled it with white lithium grease,
- Fixed the blade interference issue by "heightening" the housing with 3 pieces of 0.5-mm thick plastic sheets (I used the "leftover" part of a cellphone SIM card), and
- Sealed the space introduced by the plastice sheet with UHU Plastic Repair Adhesive.I really saw traces of the fan interference: there are a lot of scratches at the inner surface of the fan housing.
Thermal Grease Upgrade
Replaced the cheap "insulation" pads between the (1) Intel 945 northbridge chipset + (2) ATOM CPU and the heat sink with Arctic MX2 thermal grease.
Soft and Quiet Mouse Click Mod
By adding a layer of electrical tape onto the micro swtiches for the two mouse buttons, which are located under the palmrest, as suggested in http://www.s10lenovo.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=577&start=10#p11188
P.S. The technician at the local service center did the fan and thermal grease things for me once last time, as posted earlier; but when I looked at what he did this time, it was not thorough, effective, and neat. I don't think he understood what he was doing.
Thanks much everyone who provided me with all the required information!
