Noisy fan + won't shut down

[MindyAZ]

Hi all! I know there is a noisy fan thread or 2 because I read them. They most often do not address the problem and only tell people to return it. Or the problem was solved in a random way that can't be quantified for the average user.

I bought my ep121 used from a previous owner, so I can't really take it back or send it to get fixed. It's warranty is long run out. I'm guessing the person never figured out that the fan was running unusually.

So basically I have two issues. One is that the fans pop on full speed after 3-4mins every time ( same as having the thermal sensor out). When you click shut down, it takes you out of windows, but you can hear fan and see the light at the top on ( it'll stay on indefinitely until you hard shut it down with the button at the top). If you chose 'restart' from windows start menu, it'll shut down all the way, but won't restart ( use restart to shut down). This is all after reinstalling windows 7 home premium from the asus disks ( it was unuseable before so I don't know if it did it before the the recovery installs). I did the reinstall about 5 times or so. Same results.
Oh and the bios is the 501( it was already on there when I checked?)

What I did:

• Put on Windows 7 fresh from its stock disks.
• Tried removing the thermal sensor from bracket, but the sound was the exact same.
• Tried put a cooling pad under the whole thing where the sensors were attached, no change
• Used a third party program to check temperature(85c from a cold start for cpu and no fan would list so I couldn't control the fans manually).
• Found a sensor through a website in Europe but it'll be $40usd to get it. So if someone has it through a different site in the United States I'd appreciate it because I can't find it anywhere but the Swedish or the French site. Asusparts

I would deeply appreciate any help!
( Also any advice on if you might think it's the thermal sensor or the fans themself?)

[MindyAZ]

Forgot to add that the fans do not run differently in Bios menu or safe mode or anything. They always automatically pop on high speed after 3-4 mins.

[CF77]

check for cold solder joint problem along the sensor and lm78 on board.

[Agent 9]

Download and run CPUID to see what temperatures it reports; also CPUZ to see what speeds the CPU is running at. If you have the machine apart some time soon and you have a tube of thermal paste [and the knowledge of how to remove old thermal paste and reapply new stuff] then do so. And you might want to consider trying the modded BIOS [BIOS] EP121AS 501 [Modding Thread]

[MindyAZ]

check for cold solder joint problem along the sensor and lm78 on board.

What's the lm78? I see the thermal sensor ( the one attached to the back casing and slides into a tiny bracket on the board. We're talking about the same one right, the ribbon cable sensor? And also what would the problem be? Is it usually loose or something?
Thank you so much!

[MindyAZ]

Download and run CPUID to see what temperatures it reports; also CPUZ to see what speeds the CPU is running at. If you have the machine apart some time soon and you have a tube of thermal paste [and the knowledge of how to remove old thermal paste and reapply new stuff] then do so. And you might want to consider trying the modded BIOS [BIOS] EP121AS 501 [Modding Thread]

Okay I"ll look for those programs. I was using speedfan and something else suggested in the other noisy fan thread. I did see the thermal paste fix but I wasn't sure how it related when the cpu wasn't getting hot? The temperature reading I was seeing seemed totally off since the fan turned on whether the thermal sensor was plugged in or not. And the cpu would read a weird temperature ( same all the time ) when it was coming from a cold start after being off all night and day..

I'm going to attempt using those programs first.

I'll check out the modded bios, I just don't want to get myself in a stick situation since I'm not so bios savy ( I can get in and do bare minimum).

Thanks again! I hope I can fix this fan thing. I really like this slate

[Steve S]

<<...check for cold solder joint problem...>>

<<...And also what would the problem be?..>>

...A cold solder joint is a soldered connection where the solder didn't flow between the two parts because one part wasn't adequately heated (typically). Unfortunately, it can be difficult to visually identify such a problem unless the soldering was really botched, and that's not typically the case with mass-produced electronic assemblies. More commonly, you need a multimeter, some freeze spray and (mostly) a bit of luck.

Although it sounds like you might have a defective thermal sensor, the fan turn-on delay ("...the fans pop on full speed after 3-4mins every time...") doesn't sound typical to me. I would suggest that you contact Asus Tech Support and at least enquire about the cost of replacing the thermal sensor. As a back-up, see if you can order the part from overseas. My guess is that these are you two best options; if it does turn out to be software related, Asus probably has the best chance of figuring it out...

Good luck...

[MindyAZ]

I'm not sure about freeze spray, but i do have a multimeter.

As for the part I only found 2 places online carrying it. One is a French site and the other is Swedish ( called asusparrts). It will be $40, due to shipping costs, at6 both sites. The delay also happens when I unplug the sensor -from it's bracket. Basically, (turn it on, it posts windows login comes up and fans turn on). It might be only actually 1-2 mins. But also it happens in safe mode, in bios, etc. off and then high speed.
if you don't mind me asking, what's typical? Do they pop on as soon as a person pushes "on"button?

Thank you again.

<<...check for cold solder joint problem...>>

<<...And also what would the problem be?..>>

...A cold solder joint is a soldered connection where the solder didn't flow between the two parts because one part wasn't adequately heated (typically). Unfortunately, it can be difficult to visually identify such a problem unless the soldering was really botched, and that's not typically the case with mass-produced electronic assemblies. More commonly, you need a multimeter, some freeze spray and (mostly) a bit of luck.

Although it sounds like you might have a defective thermal sensor, the fan turn-on delay ("...the fans pop on full speed after 3-4mins every time...") doesn't sound typical to me. I would suggest that you contact Asus Tech Support and at least enquire about the cost of replacing the thermal sensor. As a back-up, see if you can order the part from overseas. My guess is that these are you two best options; if it does turn out to be software related, Asus probably has the best chance of figuring it out...

Good luck...

[MindyAZ]

Here is info based on cpuid and speedfan


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[CF77]

Since Ep121 started shipping around Feb last year..your unit may still be within warranty period. Just send it in to fix.