laptop turns itself off

[rh71]

Friend has an HP Pavilion n5425 that shuts itself off after a brief blank screen. Could be as quick as only 15 minutes into a session. HP support already had her try safe mode and it did the same thing. She tells me the fan is louder than usual, which leads me to believe it's a bad fan no longer capable of keeping the CPU cool enough so the thing shuts off in self defense. Sound about right ?

I'm wondering if this is a known issue for this thing (or laptops in general) and also how much it would cost... if she were to bring it to a local place vs. shipping it back to HP. Those fans can't cost that much, but I imagine labor would. Anyone have good/bad experience with this kind of thing ? Is it a do-it-yourself job ? I've never worked on the inside of a laptop before other than throwing a NIC in there through a panel.

Any help appreciated.

[Kaluriel]

If the fan is louder than usual then its probably turning faster, its only if its making a weird sound would it be not working. Mine usually works faster/louder when it needs to get rid of heat fast.

Has she tried checking the laptop bios for temperature of the cpu if it supports temperature monitoring that is. If it is overheating then you'll notice the temperature constantly rising with no asimpote to a point.

[rh71]

I don't believe there's a way to check the CPU temp but I'll ask her to check the BIOS. Just something I've noticed with my old desktop though... the ball bearings in the CPU fan (3 years old at that point) were acting up, causing the thing to be louder, but spin slower (checked RPM via ASUS monitor)... and in turn the temp was sky high. I never had it shut down on me completely, but laptops I figure were different. Anyway, I never knew fans adjusted its speed according to temps so I figured it was only slowing down due to mechanical failure in this case.

[rpertusio]

On my Dell laptop, I have had the fan replaced (by a Dell technician) 2 times. The fans got louder and louder. Although it may be easy to replace, opening the chassis of a laptop will usually void the warranty, just fyi.

With a bit of sleuth work, you may be able to obtain an HP service guide, which will show you internal diagrams of the laptop, including the location/type of fan that is in there.

The Dell laptops that I have opened up have a tiny fan 'header'. The fan can be replaced easily. I would assume that HP laptops are not much different.

- rp

[rh71]

thanks.. since she's not exactly close to me, it may be easier for her to have it repaired by a professional... whether HP or a local shop. Have any idea on the repair cost - ballpark ? Perhaps your Dell was still under full warranty.

[rpertusio]

Unfortunately, I don't have a repair cost estimation.

It might help if you contact HP and see if you can purchase a single-incident service request
[ HP Warranty Support ]

- rp

[jman01pa]

I just worked on an Dell laptop that did the same thing. It had 14 different viruses infecting 86 files. Assuming this was the cause of the problem I wiped it clean and reinstalled all his apps. After the fact I realized the rear fans werent working. Fortunately his machine was still under warranty and got them replaced. All is well now.