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R52: cannot remove fan

R30/R40, A30/A31, G40/G50 and Z60/Z61 Series. NOT for AMD-Ryzen.
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BlueScreen
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Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:24 am
Location: Frankfurt, Germany

R52: cannot remove fan

#1 Post by BlueScreen » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:11 am

Dear All,

I opened my R52 the other day (Type = 1847-CTO, warranty lapsed) wanting to unmount the fan and CPU (to remove dust and apply new thermal paste).

However, I cannot remove the fan (after taking out its three screws), as it seems to be stuck down over another chip (maybe the GPU?, ATI Mobility Radeon X300) with some rubbery black contact material.
The copper "heat sink" part looks different from that in the maintenance handbook, extending further down to this other chip (which is somewhat below the centre of the computer).

It appears that someone else had a similar experience with their T43 (http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... &view=next), although I am not really keen to start cutting away this black stuff with a knife! (the contact area is something like 20-mm square and I would have to carve out under the copper, which seems like taking a big risk of damaging the chip(s) underneath).

Sorry I didn't take a photo while it was open...

Does anyone have any tips how to proceed to unmount the fan?
Why might the heat sink in my particular R52 not correspond with that in the maintenance handbook? (it is ca. 4 years old...but so is the August 2005 handbook...)

Many thanks, MT

sjthinkpader
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Re: R52: cannot remove fan

#2 Post by sjthinkpader » Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:09 pm

For a R52 with X300, there should be another metal bracket held down with 2 long screws to be removed. After that, just grab the edge of the heatsink and lift up. It is stuck usually but it can be removed without tools.
T60p 2623-DDU/UXGA IPS/ATI V5200
T60 2623-DCU/SXGA+ IPS/ATI X1400
T43p 2668-H8U/UXGA IPS/ATI V3200
R50p 1832-NU1/UXGA IPS/ATI FireGL T2
X61t 7762-B6U dual touch IPS/64GB SSD
X32 2673-BU6/32GB SSD
755CDV 9545-GBK Transmissive Projection LCD

BlueScreen
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:24 am
Location: Frankfurt, Germany

Re: R52: cannot remove fan

#3 Post by BlueScreen » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:52 am

Hi sj

Thanks for the tip. I didn't see any other screws to remove (myself and 2 colleagues spent a long while sniffing around), just the "standard" three screws with fairly deep counterbore (some kind of suspension built in).

The elongated heatsink appears to be a single piece. May I ask what precisely do you refer to with "another metal bracket"?

I will look again for two more screws, presumably down near the graphics chip....
Should these screws be immediately visible/conspicuous?
Just to check: They are screwed in from above the board (i.e. not through from the underside of computer)

Do you happen to know if IBM/Lenovo released a tech note for this?
(The maintenance instructions are so clear, and then...sigh...the fan heatsink is different)

Kind regards, MT

sjthinkpader
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Re: R52: cannot remove fan **PIX**

#4 Post by sjthinkpader » Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:16 pm

R5x series using ATI 7500 chips use a short fan and no heatsink on the GPU. 9000/9600 GPUs use a separate aluminum or copper heatsink with two screws to the right thru the Ultrabay cage and a third screw to the left thru the KB bezel. The two screws to the right are from top and the one screw on the left is thru the case bottom.
Image
(heatsinks are rotated 90 deg counterclockwise in the picture)

R52 X300 use a long fan and this long fan is press down by a "L" shapes bracket similar to the heatsink brackets in the area over the GPU.
T60p 2623-DDU/UXGA IPS/ATI V5200
T60 2623-DCU/SXGA+ IPS/ATI X1400
T43p 2668-H8U/UXGA IPS/ATI V3200
R50p 1832-NU1/UXGA IPS/ATI FireGL T2
X61t 7762-B6U dual touch IPS/64GB SSD
X32 2673-BU6/32GB SSD
755CDV 9545-GBK Transmissive Projection LCD

misfit
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Posts: 203
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 1:47 am
Location: Pukekohe, New Zealand.

Re: R52: cannot remove fan

#5 Post by misfit » Thu Sep 01, 2011 4:46 am

sjthinkpader wrote:For a R52 with X300, there should be another metal bracket held down with 2 long screws to be removed. After that, just grab the edge of the heatsink and lift up. It is stuck usually but it can be removed without tools.
Hi. Is that the only difference with an X300-equipped R52 and an R52 with a lesser GPU? I was just disassembling mine and found that bracket (and long fan) where the HMM for the R52 only shows a short fan. I looked for a different HMM but with no luck.

That's one big change from the HMM, I just wondered if there are many more, anything that might catch me out.

Thanks,
Shaun.
T60 2007-72U [T7400, UXGA FV]
T43p 2668-H2M [FV]
T43 2668-84M [FV]
R52 1847-A18
T42p 2373-KXM [FV]
T42 2374-M97 [SXGA+]
R51 1829-E5C [FV]
R40 2723-BAM [SXGA+]
R40 2723-26M
X32 x 2 2672-CM5/W58
X31's x 8 Four working.
X30 2672-4HM
X24 2662-FMT
Etc.

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