Help: ThinkPad T20 cpu fan problem

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

The T20 has a problem with too big of a gap between the heatsink and the
lug. this is because it was meant for a "pad" rather than grease, but the
pad will deteriorate over time, and is not very efficient,
What some folks have done is either:
Replace the fan assembly with one from a T21. This has a more massive heat
sink and comes into closer contact with the CPU
or
Put a metal shim between the lug and the heatsink to tighten up the gap, and
use good thermal grease, I find the Arctic Silver works well.
Also blow out the fan, there is probably lots of dust in there which can
slow it down.
"Mike" <mike_2004z@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4d5437c6.0409122143.4f06efc0@posting.google.com...
> Hi,
>
> I'm having this problem with my ThinkPad T20's cpu heatsink/fan and I
> can't figure out how to fix it. The symtom is the cpu fan is on (as
> needed) when I'm only runing either with the battery OR AC power
> alone. But the laptop is locked up after maybe 10 minutes if I run
> both battery (the battery is in the laptop) AND AC power at the same
> time. I narrowed this down that for some reason the lockup due to the
> fan not running when cpu is hot.
>
> I already did the following but still no luck:
>
> - Take out the heatsink/fan assembly and clean it good.
> - Re-seat the cpu.
> - Apply new thermal pad to the cpu.
> - Clean the inside of the laptop of any dust.
>
> I'm running Win2K on this machine with all correct drivers and IBM
> power management software. Also, the charging unit in the laptop
> works fine and correctly charges the battery to full (an old battery
> but still can hold a little over 2 hours of power). Any help would
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Mike