My X32 seems to have an accelerating (pulsing) fan problem.

The problem affects various Thinkpads and is described in detailed here:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_fan_noise

In short, when the fan is on, every ~5 seconds there is a pulse noise, which is the fan accelerating momentarily, before returning to the normal speed. The problem seems to be present at all fan speeds (except 0 and maximum of course), and is quite unpleasant in a quiet room.

The aforementioned Thinkwiki page left me somewhat confused. On one hand, it says it is a firmware problem, and therefore a fan is not at fault. On the other hand, it seems to suggest that on other models (e.g., T43) changing the fan unit sometimes makes the problem go away. Several threads on these forums also suggest that, for instance: Any updates to solving the T43 fan pulsing problem?

The Linux-oriented Thinkwiki goes as far as suggesting an ACPI script to trick the embedded controller and override the firmware bug. Unfortunately, no similar tools exist for Windows, and TPFanControl seems to offer no solutions either.

I do have a spare X3x fan, but before I tear this poor X32 open yet again, I'd like to perhaps hear from folks with similar experience:

Have you encountered a pulsing fan problem on X31/X32?
If so, can replacing the fan solve the problem, or is it truly a FW/SW issue only?

These machines are not that far removed from the T23, which has an occasional pulsing fan problem.
In a T23, it's the inductors on the bottom falling off, causing this pulsating.
It's due to poor soldering of these inductors.
Only this morning I had a related problem with an A31p: it would charge the battery, but at any given time it could switch between AC and DC, with both adapter and battery connected!
Replacing the 2 inductors (left of the CPU on the A31p mobo) solved the problem.
One of the inductors had an almost fully corroded contact, due to bad soldering.
Maybe resoldering the 'old' ones might have solved it, but one old inductor was making a high pitched noise, so I replaced both.

So it may be an issue with the planar is what you're saying? Hmm...

Hi dr_st,

I'm curious (as I love my X32 so much ), did you ever find out what was going on with yours? I've never had the fan pulsing thing happen with my X32 but would like to know as much as possible - just in case.

Cheers,

I assume it's the fan itself, but it doesn't bother me enough to try swapping fans... I will wait for this fan to die completely first.

Sounds like a plan.