Help me fix me Mitac 7321?

Bossk128 · 20 Feb 2007 at 23:00

I can't find a laptop forum.

I've 'inherited' a bust Time branded Mitac 7321 laptop. It's knackered cos the fan on the CPU HSF doesn't spin anymore. I got a replacement on an auction site, but it also doesn't work. I'm guessing the mobo doesn't send power to the fan header any more, any ideas why?

BIOS has no fan settings, and a reset to factory default doesn't help.

Thanks for your time, I hope somebody can tell me why the pins have got no juice.

cokecan · 21 Feb 2007 at 10:27

are you sure the lappy even still works??

if the fan on the cpu had stopped spinning, there would be no airflow round the components of the laptop so anything coul dhave died in the heat??

WoZZeR · 21 Feb 2007 at 11:45

If the laptop is worth nothing you could just try wiring a fan straight to the battery power or something like that. Depends on fan voltage and battery voltage of course but at least it saves throwing the laptop away.

Bossk128 · 27 Feb 2007 at 12:32

Sorry for the hiatus, I was expecting an email reply from the forum SW, guess I forgot to subscribe.....

The laptop deffo does work because it POSTS and starts to install Windows until it shuts down with the heat (well, it's only done this twice as then I figured out what the problem was!).

Alternatively wiring the fan in is something I'd quite like to give a try too. Any good ideas where to wire it to? The HDD is mounted in a caddy type thing, and the battery is now flat as a pancake (haven't bough a new one til I know it works!). But I still wouldn't know which voltages are safe to plug the fan into.

Thanks for the replies, I'd be well chuffed if this could get up and running!

WoZZeR · 27 Feb 2007 at 12:42

First things first, I'd test the fan, have a nose at the fan see if it's got any voltages on it, is the connector the same as a pc connector?

Bossk128 · 27 Feb 2007 at 13:28

It's a small three pin connector, like the connector on a GFX card fan. I haven't checked that the fan is working, but after trying two fans I made the assumption it was the fan header. I'm taking the word of the auctioneer that the new fan works........ :confused:

I coule plug it into my desktop mobo and see if it still spins......

Davey D · 27 Feb 2007 at 15:18

Have you got a multimeter? as you could then test to see if you have any voltage output

Bossk128 · 27 Feb 2007 at 15:23

No I don't have a multimeter, maybe I should invest in one.

WoZZeR · 27 Feb 2007 at 15:47

Yeah, if it says 12V on it you could try in on your pc. Is there a voltage printed on the fan?

You could try the 2 bits of wire and a bicycle lamp bulb to check the output on the laptop fan socket, bit fiddly tho'.

Bossk128 · 28 Feb 2007 at 09:12

It's a cd0542097b-2f but I can't tell if that's a model number for the HSF in total or just the fan. Sticker says 5V, 0.9W.

I see that popular electronics equipment shops can have multimeters on sale for about £5. This'll be alright, eh?

WoZZeR · 28 Feb 2007 at 09:35

Yeah, get one of those and we'll see if we can get your fan working.

You might have one of those popular electronic shops up your way.

Bossk128 · 17 Apr 2007 at 09:59

Jeez, it finally arrived (after one getting lost in the post). The 'good' news is that I can read about 4V off the MB pins (quickly, before it the HS heats up too much). Bad news is that the fan shows infinite resistance - I'm a noob with a multimeter, but this means the fan is kaputt? So, my fan was broken and I bought a second broken fan. Great. And I gave him +ve feedback.

I'll keep hunting for a new fan, until after a couple of drinks I just get a refurbished T41 instead. I mean, even if the fan works I still need a new battery and a wireless PCMCIA card....

Cheers.